Primer brand matter?

[gkainz]

Here I am a day late and a dollar short - story of my life - but have been slowly, half-heartedly gathering reloading components for .45 ACP and .223 for starters. So far I have only Winchester primers for large pistol and small rifle. I picked that brand first as I use them for shotshell reloading and they were all that was left on the shelf that day.
So, does brand make any difference in the final load? Reloading for hunting and targets, not competition (yet).
Thanks!

[bobthenailer]

I have used most popular brands over the years with good results , for the past 30+ years my go to primer is Federal but i will use any popular brand if the price is right , i just check the loads accuracy with the new brand of primer verses the load worked up with Federal primers and adjust the powder charge if needed to get = accuracy and go shootin.
I also shoot alot of DA revolvers where i have changed the springs to get a lighter trigger pull in double action and Federal are about the best for this type of shooting.

[dragon813gt]

I have found no difference in them. If you have a firearm that has a light strike then you might need to use a brand w/ softer cups like Federal.

[DLCTEX]

The Lee progressive press recommend Win. and CCI only due to the softer metal used in others. Other than that I use whatever I can find and whatever I can get best price on, which has been Wolf. I have had no problems with Wolf.

[David2011]

My revolvers all get Federals to make sure they go bang after installing lighter mainsprings. The autoloaders all have full power mainsprings so will shoot anything. With the current primer crunch I hope my rifles will shoot as well as I buy what's available. Trying to reload for the upcoming tactical match season the small rifle primer situation is grim.

David

[9.3X62AL]

All of my wheelguns use OEM mainsprings, and they ignite all primer makes reliably. Specific to your 223/5.56 x 45 loading, I recall an article in American Rifleman from the mid-80s concerning the use of W-W ball powder (WW-748) for match loads in the AR-15. The author C.E. Harris recommended the use of Winchester small rifle primers with that powder, stating that said primers had an aluminum oxide fuel element that meshed well with the Winchester powder. My primer make usage is about 45% each CCI and Winchester, and 5% each Federal and Remington.

[wv109323]

Throughout my reloading career I have used CCI, Federal and Winchester. I really have never seen any difference. I think each primer may have some unique characteristic but all are usable.
CCI are sometimes noted to be a little large in Diameter and may cause trouble in progressive machines.
Winchester are a little hotter than other brands.

[Nocturnal Stumblebutt]

I consistently use CCI and Winchester, all of my revolver loads get Winchester as my older S&Ws need a soft primer. All my rifle loads use CCI because they are what I have always use, auto pistol loads get whatever (though usually winchester, unless the are scarce and need to be saved for revolvers) since they don't seem to be too finicky. Some people may swear up and down about which primers burn which way BUT, UNLESS you are buying match grade primers, the manufacturing consistency of standard grade primers tends to put them all in the same range.

[drklynoon]

If one is loading Max loads then I suggest the normal back off for any change in components but I have not seen significant difference between CCI, Federal, and Winchester. I just bought my first brick of Remingtons for my .45 acp and am not concerned at all.

[runfiverun]

winchester uses lead styphnate.
federal used aluminum sphagnate.
ed recently [little over a year back maybe two now] changed from using all winchester primers over to using federal primers.
bout the same time he switched over from using "the load" of red dot to using "the load" of alliants 2400.
i'm guessing same velocity, at lower pressure, finally sank in.

[winelover]

I've always used CCI primers. However, in this day and age, I'd use what I could find. Most places are out of small pistol and small rifle non-magnum primers!

Winelover

[Wal']

Same story as rfr used Winchester from day one, allways worked & no reason to use any other..............then I fitted Wolff comp springs to all my pistols, lighter hammer strike :) then had to find a primer that worked....... with Federal ending up my choice of SP primer.

[JLDickmon]

and rotsa ruck fining any of them right now...

[Wal']

and rotsa ruck fining any of them right now...

Just picked up 5000 2 days back.................................then I guess there isnt a run on them down here...........yet.

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

I think the primer question is dependent of other variables.
My 280 Rem, with the powder & load I shoot and get the best accuracy from, would not group
under 2.5": @100yards with WW or FED 210 primers. A trial of CCI 200 shrank it to one
hole groups @100 & 5/8" at 300 yards. My 308, and Argentine don't give a rip what lights it off.
My CZ223 likes FED match primers.
Both my Handi rifles use Federals cause they have a light strike

Point is, it may not matter or it might. 8-)

[357maximum]

Point is, it may not matter or it might. 8-)


Now theres your answer as true as it gets. :lol:

I have several toys/loads that prefer one brand far and above the others......I also have toys that do not care where their spark comes from.

Most of my HIGH PRESSURE uses for small rifle primers show a preferance for REM7.5's Alot of my mid level rifle loads for LR show a preferance for the CCI BR-2 ...that is about as far as I can carry any correlation of generalalities.

It depends on what the load is for on how far I take primer testing.....and sometimes your testing will show you only that is does not matter....sometimes one primer will shrink groups alot........................so YES...it depends.

[km101]

and rotsa ruck fining any of them right now...

http://www.powdervalleyinc.com/

Just bought 17K a coupla' weeks ago. Good prices & good stock!

[dragon813gt]

Have you seen their current inventory? Their supply is severely depleted right now. No SP primers to be found at all. You can get some SPM primers in a few brands. Check daily as their supply has come in waves most of the year for SP primers.

[Love Life]

Just do what I did and work up loads for all the calibers you shoot using standard and magnum primers. I did that several years ago when it was a necessity due to the 2008 election, and I am now grateful I did since everybody is laying off the magnum primers. Now I am steadily stockpiling magnum primers as well. Once I run out of standard primers in 2025 I will just swap over to using the magnums. Life is still good.

I have noticed in these little "supply bumps" that magnum primers are always the last to go and are perfectly usable. Based on all the reloading manuals I have read the max PSI increase from a magnum primer is easily accounted for by starting at the minimum charge, or just a tad below it, and working up.

[kweidner]

I have found it doesnt matter UNLESS I am shooting br guns or 1000yd rigs. Those are picky because of my accuracy standard with each. Handguns I feed whats on hand and most guns don't care. Rifle is CCI 95 percent of the time. That's what I bought and that is what the load is developed with. I have run others in shortage times. My accuracy standard for non competittive rifles in bores larger than .22 is 1MOA or less. Primer switching does not seem to make much of an issue with that. Now 1/4 MOA is another story.

[kweidner]

Just do what I did and work up loads for all the calibers you shoot using standard and magnum primers. I did that several years ago when it was a necessity due to the 2008 election, and I am now grateful I did since everybody is laying off the magnum primers. Now I am steadily stockpiling magnum primers as well. Once I run out of standard primers in 2025 I will just swap over to using the magnums. Life is still good.

I have noticed in these little "supply bumps" that magnum primers are always the last to go and are perfectly usable. Based on all the reloading manuals I have read the max PSI increase from a magnum primer is easily accounted for by starting at the minimum charge, or just a tad below it, and working up.

Funny you should say that a BR shooter taught me to reload. All he used were magnum. Lowly old .223 would get SR magnum in his reloading bench regardless of powder. I almost wish i kept to that rule as I would only need 4 types of primers to keep stocked on. Course I aint running out in the next 10 to 20 years anyway.

[Love Life]

I have had good luck with the magnum primers. Odd part is the 357 magnum likes standard SPP.

[dragon813gt]

Odd part is the 357 magnum likes standard SPP.

That is powder dependent, not cartridge dependent. Trying to light off H110 with a SPP will not work well. And then you have the reverse where using a magnum primer with 2400 can cause odd pressure spikes. Use what the powder calls for :)

[Love Life]

You are correct dragon813gt. I use 2400 in the 357 and it prefers SPP. Thank you for clarifying that.

[1bluehorse]

I prefer Winchester cause' I like the way their color matches the brass....:-D truly though, for us mere mortals that still think a 1 inch group at a hunderd is really good shootin, primer brands don't seem to make much of a difference...:coffee:

[Petrol & Powder]

OK, I'll throw my $0.02. When loading rifle cartridges for best accuracy, consistency is the name of the game. So the goal is to eliminate as many variables as possible. Pick a brand of primers and stick with it. The brand really doesn’t matter as long as you can reliably obtain them. I currently use Winchester but I’ve used Federal as well. I’ve even known some people to buy up large numbers of components from the same manufacturing lot.
Now for handguns, I just can’t see the difference. The function of the primer is to ignite the powder charge and they will all do just that. I would say you can use whatever you want with two caveats:
1. Magnum primers can increase pressures and should be used with caution when loads are at or near maximum pressure. They have their place and can be useful. Just pay attention to what you’re doing when you use them.
2. CCI primers (in my experience) are more difficult to set off when combined with guns that produce light primer strikes. Seems to be more of an issue with revolvers than pistols. My solution is to set up the guns to fire any type of primer. Good trigger actions are not solely dependent on light main springs. Good triggers can be made to be 100% reliable; the main spring is only part of that equation.

[Love Life]

I use Remington primers for my tuned revolvers. Soft enough to go off, but not soft enough to worry me on my Dillon.

As I said with the magnums. Start low and work up. Also take a note or something if using a temperature sensitive powder.

For my long range thumper I prefer TULA LRP. Less ES and SD.

[baer19d]

I've never had any issues with using different primers that what is states in the load data. But than again I rarely shoot max loads.

[jlchucker]

The Lee progressive press recommend Win. and CCI only due to the softer metal used in others. Other than that I use whatever I can find and whatever I can get best price on, which has been Wolf. I have had no problems with Wolf.

Same here. I've never tried Wolf primers, mostly because the gunshops around here haven't stocked them. I prefer Winchester or CCI because of the Lee priming tools that I use. That, and because I used to work at a Winchester ammo plant long ago, and have seen them manufacture theirprimers--although that's probably the same process that other manufacturers use. I avoid Remington primers--mostly because on more than one occasion I've been at my club range when there have been guys shooting Remington factory ammo in various calibers, experiencing some misfires.

given that Ammo manufacturers use pretty much their own components when manufacturing their own factory rounds, I don't really have much confindence in the reliability of Remington primers. That doesn't mean that I won't pick up and reload Remington once-fired brass left at the club range, though--and if circumstances force me to use J-word bullets, I do like Remington Core-loct component bullets. I've never had misfires with Winchester or CCI primers, regardless of the brass used, or the firearm that I'm shooting with.

[Bluetickhound]

http://www.powdervalleyinc.com/

Just bought 17K a coupla' weeks ago. Good prices & good stock!
What a difference a few days make.... Powder Valley's stock is pretty much gone now, except for some of the less popular styles...

[DennisMcharold]

I've had good results with Tula and Wolf, mostly for plinking. However, I had at least 5 primers fail to fire in one lot of Tula. For the price, I'm happy with it.

[Kydaddy]

In pistol I use what I have. Bit more anal about rifle loads and potential impact on accuracy so I never mix primers with them