70s Ruger M77 .308 Lapua Brass, H4895, Which Primers?

[DougGuy]

I have a Ruger M77 made in the 1970s that has been worked over fairly well, lapped lugs, steel bedded all the way out with upwards pressure on forend, pillar bedded screws, I haven't loaded ammo for this old girl since the 1990s and would like to get it back on it's game again.

When I last shot it, it would routinely put 3 into a guitar pick @200yds. I used fireformed brass neck sized only, I used 180gr plain base pointed soft point Barnes Burners, seated out about .025" shy of engaging the rifling, held in place with a collet crimp on top of 41.5gr H4895. This was the cold barrel, first shot, hit a golfball with it every time load. I was VERY happy with this load and this rifle.

I would like to get back to where I left off with this rifle, so am considering the purchase of some of the Lapua PALMA brass with small rifle primers. Do you think it is worth paying a little extra for SR primers or should I just roll with the standard Lapua brass?

Ok next question which primers? I usually use WLP for all my pistol loads, I like the fact that they are somewhat in between a standard and a magnum primer as far as their brisance (is that the word?). Do their rifle primers exhibit the same quality?

[jcren]

Personally, with a 06 burning 4895 (h or imr) I got slightly lower sd and smaller vertical strings with Federal BR primers than Cci or Winchester LP

[Scharfschuetze]

I've always preferred the Federal match LR primers for either 4895 in my NM rifle loads in 30 calibre bolt rifles. I have no empirical evidence that they are any better than other brands, but my scores from 600 yards and 1,000 yards indicate that they are.

I once brought back a foot locker full of once fired Lapua brass from a deployment with a foreign military that used Lapua rounds in their bolt rifles. It's pretty good stuff. It was all primed with LR primers so I can't comment on whether or not the small primer cases would be any better.

[Clay M]

I use Federal Gold match 210's or CCI LR Bench rest.
I can't tell the difference as far as accuracy goes but the Federals a cheaper.
I like the Nosler .308 brass.Try a box of it.
I like it better than the Lapua .
As for powder, I use Rel 15 or Varget.

[runfiverun]

that's pretty close to my standard do everything load except I use the LR brass, never thought about SR primers for the 308 especially with 4895 powder.
I know a couple of guy's that use a magnum primer in the winter with that same load for hunting [shrug] I never seen the need.

for the faster stick powders I'd go with the Winchester primers first and save the federal-Remington brands for a quick check after an initial group size is established.
if you have a good barrel and a good bullet they will shoot well with a fairly balanced load, you have that already. swapping the primers around will show you which one is best suited to your barrel.

[Huffmanite]

Asked a fellow range member about his choice of primer for his long range shooting reloads. Like me, he's retired and while he's generally on our 600 yard range shooting, I'm on our 200 yd range. He has some very nice rifles with darn good optics on them. He is very methodical in his reloading. Anyway, his reply to my primer question was to mention that the last thing he tries when developing a load for a new rifle, powder, bullet and etc., is a primer test. In other words, once he's decided on what brass, powder charge, seating depth, kind of bullet/weight, and etc., has been the most accurate for him, he will then try a variety of brands/kinds of primers. Which primer he generally ends up using? Federal Gold Medal match almost always wins his primer test.

[osteodoc08]

What is the purpose of the rifle? If it's a hunting rifle, the minute gains you'll see aren't worth the hassle IMO. If you want a match primer just grab a box and use them.

[kycrawler]

I just finished working a 338 win load for an Alaska bear hunt. Federal 210 match and win or mag primers resulted in 2.4 inches difference in 5 shot group size at 100 yards. In my 338 rcm the primer swap made no appreciable difference

[DougGuy]

What is the purpose of the rifle? If it's a hunting rifle, the minute gains you'll see aren't worth the hassle IMO. If you want a match primer just grab a box and use them.

It's a hunting rifle. I wound up with Federal GM210M, CCI 200, WLR, and some MagTech. I will use the CCI or Winchester for fire forming cases and use the Gold Match for the final assembly of hunting loads.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

The primer IS the last detail in load development, so testing is in order. I have not found issues of pressure when moving from one brand to another as long as primer type (Large Rifle, Large Rifle Magnum, Large Pistol, Small Pistol) is not changed and the loads are not pushing hard against pressure limits. I have normally used Fed 210M, but lately have had a hard time finding fresh ones, with Win WLR's, CCI 200's, and Tula LR all showing little difference. I have not checked for accuracy differences beyond 200 yards. The small rifle primer is marginal in the .308, it usually works in mild weather, but can have hang-fires when it gets colder. Many believe the small rifle primers start getting doubtful when case capacity exceeds 35 grains powder. 4895 lights up pretty easily so most primers should work well.

[country gent]

I have sleeved Large rifle pockets down to small rifle pocket size several years ago in .22-250, 243, and 308. While there was a small gain in accuracy and slightly lower extreme spreads, I decided it wasnt really worth the added work of converting them. I made a bunch of sleeves over several lunch hours at work and then installed them in the cases.

[fatnhappy]

I'm loading for a taticool bolt rifle in .308 with lapua brass. Neck turned brass, uniformed primer pockets, uniformed flash hole, weight segregated cases. redding bushing dies, a 4" drop tube, seating with a forster BR seating die .01" off the lands.... blah blah blah.

The load is 43.5 grains of reloader 15, a 175 grain sierra matchking and federal BR primers. A mildly compressed load. So far the rifle is a drill with these handloads but I haven't tried the BR primers in the winter yet. So far I like the results. I believe SR primers might not be enough of a good thing with a full case of ball powder, but I would want to test that theory. H4895 is easier to ignite than dry grass in the summer. I think I'd like to here how you make out.



BTW, my ruger 77R (1981 vintage) in 7-08 shoots about as well as yours. Without any of the above tinkering it'll stuff hornady 139 interlock spitzers in tiny little groups at 200 yards.

[Don Fischer]

If it were me, I'd get a small lot and try it. Seem's like people getting into rifle's like that always have the little thing that they swear up and down help even if no one else agrees with them. I believe SMK's are the best accuracy bullet on the market and don't even bother trying any other's, I could be wrong I guess but I am satisfied with what I get with them. I don't believe that you'll have any better luck with lapua brass than Win! Of course I've never shot any lapua brass. Shot Norma though and found that for the difference in price, I could live without it. The only way you'll ever know what will work best for you is to try it. Oh, about Win brass, I find it works as well as I need and is less expensive than anything other than once fired military! At some point all reloaders seem to leave the world of good load's and strive for what is best, even I have! There's only one way to find out and that is to give it a go! Go for it!

[Wayne Smith]

Truth is, only your rifle knows for sure!