What have I got?

[pumpguy]

I just got back from a gun show and picked up a few odds and ends. In a box of primers I bought was a little round tin of what appears to be shotshell primers. They are shallower than the 209s I use and do not have the single "flash hole." They have two holes toward the edge of the primer. The tin indicates it was an Alcan product. The top of the label says Giulio Fiocchi-Lecco and made in Italy. Under that it says NM-NC Primer no. 240. I doubt I will ever use these, but, If anybody knows what they are, I would appreciate the info.:-D

[Ricochet]

Well, they're nonmercuric and noncorrosive. :-D

[pumpguy]

:groner: I guess I should have figured that one out!

[mooman76]

I'm just guessing but I'd say berdan shotgun primers. Are they the same width as regular ones?

[pumpguy]

Actually, mooman, that is how I wanted to describe them. They have a really tall anvil built into them. Whereas 209 primers look like rifle primers pressed into cups, these look like berdan cartridges where the base is actually part of the primer. I did not know they made Berdan primers for shotshells. Just looking at them, they look about the same width. What kind of shotshells use these???

[shooter575]

Italian ones silly [smilie=w:
Sorry,could not help it.
Some of the brass shotshells used berdan I seem to recall

[Johnch]

Now days 209 primers are standard , for at least 30 years

But I have some Rem and CCI 57 and 157 shotgun primers
They were slightly smaller in dai.

From memory there were at least 1 other size that was 1/2 way common before WW1
But I can't pull the number or name out of the cobwebs of my mind

As for the 2 flash holes

There are still a few shotgun primers that look like that
I have some Rio ( Spanish ) and Noble primers that are current production that look like that

What you have sounds like some of the low power shotgun primers made in Ittaly ?? for small bores like 410 , 24 , 28 , 32 and 36 gau many moons ago

John

[Ricochet]

Sounds like they're battery cup primers, just made with two peripheral holes in the cup rather than one central one. Berdan primers are simply a brass cup with explosive mix pressed down into it. The anvil and flash holes are in the primer pocket of the cartridge case.

Now the practical question is, does the diameter of the cups fit the pockets of any shells you load? Or of a muzzleloader that uses shotshell primers?