Comparison of small primers

[megasupermagnum]

I've often seen comparisons of brisance for large rifle and large pistol primers. What I can't find is a similar test of small primers. In particular, I am curious of a comparison between the Federal 200 and Federal 205.

[JBinMN]

If I am not mistaken, the Fed #200 Small Pistol Magnum Primers(SPMP) are for cartridges that run up to 40,000 PSI & the #205 Small RIFLE Primers(SRP) are run up to 55,000 PSI.

I might infer from that info that the 205 is burning "hotter" than the 200.

Being that the one is SPMP & the other is SRP, I am wondering if you intend on using one to replace the other?

I have heard of folks doing that , but I have no experience in doing so as I understand it is not recommended. Of course, doing so is up to the individual.

I would be interested if someone can offer some better info myself, just out of curiosity.

Anyway... I don't know if that helps but I took a shot at helping out.

[JimB..]

I've often seen comparisons of brisance for large rifle and large pistol primers. What I can't find is a similar test of small primers. In particular, I am curious of a comparison between the Federal 200 and Federal 205.

I haven’t ever seen a comparison of LPP’s to LRP’s but would like to see it if you have a link.

[DHDeal]

There was a good in depth write up years back by German Salazar about Small Rifle primers. I don't know if you will be able to find it though. He was a competitive rifle shooter.

Some primers I use as interchangeably if necessary. An example would be CCI SPM and CCI SR primers. Lots of info about them being the same on the web. Nonetheless, I do check safety before I load too many.

I am using this particular example out of either Ruger Blackhawks or FA83's so strength of the firearm is NOT in question.

[megasupermagnum]

Here are a couple sources for large primers.

http://www.castingstuff.com/primer_testing_reference.htm

https://www.6mmbr.com/primerpix.html



And here is an interesting article too.

https://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/primers-and-pressure-analysis/


I love Federal primers for the most part, I use the large pistol 150, large rifle 210, and shotgun 209A. I was never crazy about the small pistol 100. It's a great primer for things like 38 special, but I never liked them in 357 magnum or 327 federal. I've had them tie up a revolver shooting black powder too, they seem to push out and expand. It never fully locked up, but got harder to turn. Currently I'm using mostly CCI 500's. There's nothing wrong with them, but they are an order-only deal for me. They are always sold out in local stores, but I can often find Federal 200 and 205's. I like options.

Federal has also been lenient with their primer numbers too. The Federal 200 has been listed as a small pistol magnum or small rifle in the past. The 205 I believe has always been a small rifle as far as I can tell. While there is currently a 205m, the match version of the 205 with no other difference, there used to be a 205m magnum as well that was stronger. Or maybe the 205 used to be the magnum version of the 200? Who knows.

Anyway, I do not load anything that requires a small rifle primer, so I can safely use either the 200 or 205. I simply want to get a general sense of how different the two are in terms of relative brisance or strength.

[Valornor]

I’ve pulled apart quite a few primers to try and figure out the difference to limited success.

A lot of times it’s a slightly thicker primer cup that different between a magnum and a standard primer. This helps prevent pierced or blanked primers that can happen with high pressures.

It’s hard to know if the composition is any different unless you spoke to the chemist who is in charge of putting it all together.


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