CCI Primers

[SharuLady]

Hi,

I have read some Older Pro's & Cons on CIC Primers on this and other forums and am wondering what the general consensus is here with them?

Am considering some of these from Midway USA since on sale and no Hazmat charge.

But also to have a good supply in case all of these new laws and possibly restrictions on buying them & other reloading components in the future.

So, I would appreciate any info or experiences with them, whether it be good or bad.

TYIA,

SharuLady

[robg]

CCI are my choice for primers ,always go bang for me .

[Nines&Twos]

I don’t usually use any other brand.

[Char-Gar]

I have never been tied to one brand of primers, having used CCI, Winchester, Remington and Federal over the past 58 years of reloading. CCI is neither superior, nor inferior to other brands. If you can get em cheap, then load and shoot them.

[rancher1913]

love cci's but lately have been using s&b because they are about 10 bucks a brick less than cci.

[Jniedbalski]

S&B also because there cheaper. But CCI have worked just as good in the past

[Pigboat]

I've only had one problem with CCIs and that was with a Charter Arms Undercover. I had about a 20% FTF with that weapon. I could throw them in my Ruger and they would go bang.

[Gee_Wizz01]

I have been using whatever I could get at a decent price. For the last 20 years our gun club has carried Winchester and they were about $8.00 per brick cheaper than anyplace nearby. I do use CCI large pistol magnum primers with H110. Winchester and CCI are my favorites since I have used them more often. Other than that I have not had any problems with any primers I have ever used. I had one failure to fire with a Win small pistol primer about 10 years ago,and I have loaded over 40,000 rds. Use primers you can get at the best price and press on.

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk

[mdi]

I have used CCI primers since I loaded my very first 38 Special with a Lee Loader in '69. I have other primers, but to keep my loads consistent during a work up and when duplicating good loads, I use CCI. I can't remember any bad primers from CCI. Actually I'm amazed at the quality of primers produced today; billions are made with very,very few bad ones slipping by. That includes my experience with CCI, Federal, Remington, and Wolf primers. Actually I have found only one Winchester primer without an anvil and every other "dud" or misfire was not the fault of the manufacturer...

A hint to a new reloader; be aware that "they said" info or stuff read on line can be waaay off from actual truth. You are hearing opinions with few actual comparison testing or lab type tests, and anybody can be an expert on youtube...

[tazman]

Buy them. No mistake there.

[higgins]

I used Winchester exclusively because that's what I had worked up my loads with until a couple of years ago when Winchester LR primers started blowing out at the curvature from the flat part to the sides (on the edge of the primer pocket). They etched my bolt face, so I switched to CCI 200 because I didn't come across anyone who had a failure of that sort with them.

[Shawlerbrook]

Been using them for years with great results.

[iShoot17]

Like everyone else, they work exactly as designed! I’ve never had a problem, even in older revolvers with lighter firing pin strikes.

I used to seek out Federal, but had no real reason. They were the first primers I had ever bought and I seemed to just keep going back. Now I’ll buy just about any brand when I get a good deal!

[SharuLady]

Hi, Ty one & all for your comments & opinions on the CCI Primers.

Like those who are also using S&B primers, I too like the lower cost of them but.... I haven't been able to locate them anywhere in the 5K lots which I would prefer to purchase.

I have looked at Federal, Remington and they are much more expensive. I have looked at Winchester (have some) and they are comparably same cost of the CCI's except right now they are not on sale & not having the free Hazmat offer.

I do appreciate all the comments that has been put forth here.

TYVM,

SharuLady

[RogerDat]

They work fine for me in all sizes. They were the "preferred" primer in Lee equipment since they were just a bit less likely to go off than some brands. More of a thing when primers where in a tube or tray that allowed for a chain fire. I have used some Winchester and they also worked. For the consistency reason mentioned I tended to stock up on CCI I have some S & B but don't recall if I used some or not. They were a give em a try purchase since they are cheaper.

[Petrol & Powder]

I don't have brand loyalty for primers. I've used them all. It has been said before that CCI primers are a little more difficult to ignite and I agree with that observation. In a handgun with a marginal mainspring (hammer spring) you may experience more failures to fire with CCI.
HOWEVER, that isn't really a primer problem. If the gun is set up properly, CCI primers work just fine.
I had a snubnose K-frame that I sent to a professional gunsmith for some work, including a trigger job. When that gun was delivered it would not reliably fire CCI primers. I corrected what the professional had done and it worked beautifully with all primers, including CCI.

Many reloaders will tell you that Federal Match Primers are the easiest to ignite with a light firing pin strike and CCI are the most difficult to set off with a light firing pin strike.

[LUBEDUDE]

It depends upon my application.

For competition guns with light springs I only use Federal Match.

I use any and all other brands for everything else. In fact I recently bought 20 K CCI primers on a sale at Midway.

[Ateam]

cci has always been my go to. Just bought 20k from midway during their last sale/no hazmat/free shipping. When the stars align that way, it is worth it to stock up. Also cci, winchester etc primer carriers are like a 1/4 the size of the federal boxes, which matters if you are stacking them deep.

[GhostHawk]

I agree with posts # 2, 4, 5.

They are my first choice all options being equal.
I have yet to have a problem with them.

I bought a fair amount back when they were 3.00$ per hundred. Feeling pretty good about that now.

Have also used Federal and Winchester with no issues.

I have not yet felt the need to go cheap. Not saying it won't happen someday.
But for now I prefer CCI's when I can find them.

[Taterhead]

I probably use CCI primers 80% of the time. Never had one not go bang. I like the way that they feed through my APS priming system on my progressive press.

Like others have said, in the recent years, S&B primers can be found for about $20/k at Cabelas. I've used thousands of those too, but they are slightly more fiddly than CCI in feeding into mixed headstamp brass.