Primers????

[abunaitoo]

CCI, Winchester or Renington.
Which do you like the best, and why?????

I've been using CCI because was cheap at the time.
I have used others.
Never tested to see what worked best.

[Rick Hodges]

I like Winchesters better than Remington but probably use more CCI than either. (I also use a lot of Federal SR primers). They all work.

[Kestrel4k]

Only very limited experience across all the brands, but have gravitated towards Winchester (on the hot side), and S&B (on the mild side).
During load development, I have often gotten better results from one of the two - a good thing of course.

Was really hard to beat the $20 per 1k that Cabelas had on S&B primers in early 2016; really stocked up on those & have not been disappointed at all.

[osteodoc08]

I’ve used primarily CCI. Why? Because that’s what Dad used. No other reason. Well, they’ve worked well for years and I don’t like change.

[MyFlatline]

Have always prefered Winchester, not sure why, guess I was a ammo fan. When the crunch came, I bought a bunch of Tula primers, Can't say anything bad, they all went boom. Am split now with Win. and CCI, can't tell the difference in standard rifle of pistol

[Valley-Shooter]

Federal, CCI, Remington, and then Winchester in that order. Winchester primers are to hard and I've had them out of round.
I do use what I can get, I have all 4 on hand right now.

[Soundguy]

I prefer Winchester, but use plenty cci. When primers were hard to find I loaded many wolf, tula and s&b.

I've never had a primer failure.

[phonejack]

Given a choice I have always picked up the Winchesters for pistol.

[abunaitoo]

Should have posted what primers.
Large rifle.

[jmort]

Winchester and then CCI
Would use Fiocchi if that is all I could get. Any others would be out of desperation.

[Hick]

For Large rifle Winchester all the way. I've also used CCI, but had a few primer failures. Never had a failure with a Winchester primer

[Bookworm]

I'm currently working through the last of my Remington 9 1/2 LRP, purchased in the mid 90's. When I run out of those, I'll next use whatever in the cabinet is the oldest. I have Winchester, CCI, S&B.
I have no preference.

[Minerat]

CCI cause my Mom worked for them.

[Tom W.]

When I was loading for my 7mm RemMag the best I found were the Federal GM Match primers. The did help with accuracy just a bit. Everything else now gets Winchester, because that's what is easily available here.

[earlmck]

I was always fond of Federal but when they went to those geenormous boxes/cartons I started looking at other options. Remington working well for me now. And Winchester. I have got an occasional misfire out of the batch of CCI's I got a few years ago.

[Biggin]

Cci because that's what I started with never had any problems that couldn't be attributed to my own stupidity. They go bang every time but FWIW that's all I'm looking for. Not a benchrest shooter ,yet!

[dragon813gt]

CCI because almost all my loads are worked up w/ them. Used Remingtons but they’re significantly more money. Availability is limited by me and there was no increase in accuracy. I don’t buy Federals because of the ridiculous packaging. If had a gun w/ a light strike I would start buying them. When I have used them they didn’t show any improvement in accuracy. It’s the same story w/ Winchester primers.

I have a lot of S&B primers that I will start using soon. Price was way to good to pass up. Did a lot of research before buying and people didn’t seem to have any issues w/ them.

[osteodoc08]

Forgot to put Federal are a close second to the CCI.

[CraigOK]

I started using CCI b/c thats what they stocked at the club. I've used some Federal and have a box of Winchester, but I'll probably keep using primarily CCI unless I cant get a good enough results with a new gun/boolit or find an insane cheap deal on other brands.

[lightman]

I use more CCI than anything else. I've used most brands and have had very little problems with any of them. I've had even fewer issues with CCI. Most of the issues I have had with the others were with fit. When I was competing I used Federal Match, mostly because that was what Precission Shooting magazine published under match results.

[crowbuster]

cci then winchester

[bedbugbilly]

I haven't had to buy primers in a while as I stocked up on them. I usually use CCI or Winchester - never used any other brand. The main reason was that that was what the LGS had on their shelves. I don't really have a preference - they all make the cartridge go bang. And I use small pistol, large pistol and small rifle.

[fast ronnie]

A friend asked me to load some .44 mags for him and brought me the components. There were 2 boxes of Herter's large pistol and going into PMC brass. I have never seen a primer that was that hard to seat. These components were from 28 years ago, and I had never seen a Herter's primer before. They do seem to shoot well, though.

[M-Tecs]

For most handgun and shotgun whatever is cheapest. For rifle and pistol competition whatever groups the best. For serious accuracy you have to test each lot.

[Soundguy]

A friend asked me to load some .44 mags for him and brought me the components. There were 2 boxes of Herter's large pistol and going into PMC brass. I have never seen a primer that was that hard to seat. These components were from 28 years ago, and I had never seen a Herter's primer before. They do seem to shoot well, though.

Primer pockets may have oxidized.

[starnbar]

You name a brand and I have probably used them for my revolver loads for my rifles I have used rem or win more than the others but I did use a whole bunch of wolf I got dirt cheap and they worked good surprised me a little but they were a little hotter than the win.

[wizofwas]

CCI because it was recommended when I first started reloading. Or maybe it was recommended because the dealer made more money from them. But either way, they work, so why change. I do have a few other brands but don't really see any difference with them. And you're right about the Federal packaging. It is way too big for what is needed. Probably won't buy them again.

[higgins]

A long time ago I started using Winchester in cartridges that take LR primers because I used a few ball powders and reasoned that if any brand was better with ball powder it should be Winchester; at the time Olin made both the Winchester primers and the ball powder. Now it probably doesn't matter (if it ever did) since ball powders are more widespread and all primers should now be formulated for use with ball powders. I switched to CCI a couple of years ago when leaking Winchester primers etched a couple of my bolt faces.

[MstrEddy]

For most things I load, whatever I found on sale and stocked up on.
Fed, Win, CCI, Tula, Wolf, S&B
You name it!

[Mal Paso]

Hmmmm Didn't Winchester have a Fail To Fire issue about 11-12 years ago? Large Pistol? Got a lot of press in Cowboy circles. And then there was the primer splitting issue about 4-5 years ago. I saw a S&W 610 with the firing pin boss eroded from flame cutting. I think Winchester has had more quality issues but there are a lot of folks who shoot nothing but.

Magtech and Tula seem to be "harder" and some revolvers have a trouble lighting them every time. It's not just guns with lightened springs, the trouble I had was with a new Redhawk. Both those factories produce military ammo and it's been speculated they make all primers to mil spec.

CCi used to be considered "hard" but is not now and I've never had a problem. They have the same parent company as Federal considered the softest.

You can find pages of information on powder but nothing on primers. I've heard that Federal Magnums are no hotter than their standard primers but the cup is thicker. I did 2 tests with opposite results. LOL

It would be to have a chart like a powder burn rate but the manufacturers change products and tell no one. This article is interesting. http://www.shootingtimes.com/ammo/ammunition_st_mamotaip_200909/

[lefty o]

federal magnum primers are the hottest primers you can buy. my choices are federal and winchester primers.

[WRideout]

Given a choice I have always picked up the Winchesters for pistol.

CCI wasn't always reliable in my Mod 19 revolver. I use Winchester for small pistol now, but I was given a quantity of CCI in larg and small rifle, which all work well.

Wayne

[Rcmaveric]

Mostly only used Winchester primers in everything. All i can really get that is reasonably priced and local.

[Gewehr-Guy]

I've mostly been using S&B LR primers since stocking up on them before O'bama's last term, and am completely satisfied with their performance. A few years ago I also had some odd burn through on some Win LR primers, even with mild cast loads.

[rcslotcar]

CCI for the win. I've been using them since 1973. I never had the need to change.

[dale2242]

First, I have never had a FTF that was the fault of the primer.
It always turned out to be an issue with the firearm.
Second, I see some here saying such and such primer is "hotter".
How do you gauge that? Chronographing identical loads with different primers?
Firing primers only in an empty case in the dark and watching the flame size/duration?
What is your method?....dale

[jmort]

"Second, I see some here saying such and such primer is "hotter"."

Brisance is how. Here is the only chart out there. You can find many articles on the topic which are useful, for small, large, handgun, and rifle:


Primer Testing Reference

This testing was done to try and rank primers by power (brisance).

Primer tester1.JPG (43461 bytes) This is the home made tester. The shot is fired against a weight which in turn moves a pointer. The pointer remains at the highest point of the shot.

Primer tester2.JPG (37043 bytes) This shows the pointer after a shot has been fired. In this case, it was a Federal large rifle magnum

NOTE: This data is reference only. This is on a DMS (don't mean squat) scale. It is relative to this set of tests and this tester. Take them with a grain of salt and as a guide only. Most of the tests were of 100 or more primers. A few were of 50 when limited amounts were available.

Ranked in order of power

Large Rifle = LR, Large Rifle Magnum = LRM, Large pistol =LP,

Brand/type Power Average Range Std. Dev

1 Fed Match GM215M 6.12 5.23-6.8 .351

2 Federal 215 LRM 5.69 5.2-6.5 .4437

3 CCI 250 LRM 5.66 4.5-7.4 .4832

4 Winchester WLRM 5.45 5.1-6.0 .2046

5 Remington 9 1/2 LRM 5.09 3.5-6.75 .6641

6 Winchester WLR 4.8 4.1-6.0 .4300

7 Remington 9 1/2 LR 4.75 3.7-6.25 .5679

8 Fed Match GM210M 4.64 4.0-5.6 .3296

9 Federal 210 LR 4.62 3.7-5.5 .3997

10 CCI BR2 4.37 4.0-5.0 .2460

11 CCI 200 LR 4.28 3.8-4.8 .3218

12 KVB 7 LR Russian 4.27 3.8-4.8 .2213

13 Rem 91/2 (30 yrs old) 4.16 3.8-4.8 .3427

Pistol primers

14 Rem LP 4.47 3.2-5.6 .5171

15 KVB 45 LP Russian 3.89 3.3-4.2 .2232

16 CCI 300 LP 3.18 2.7-3.5 .2406

17 Federal 150 LP 3.11 2.6-3.5 .2090

18 Fed Match GM150M 3.05 2.6-3.7 .2299
http://www.castingstuff.com/primer_testing_reference.htm

This is for shotgun primers, but very instructive

http://www.armbrust.acf2.org/primersubs.htm

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

When I started reloading, Winchester primers were lowest priced at the LGS. So that's what I used. I never had any problems with them, so whenever I buy primers, Winchester is always first choice. I do like CCI, they seem to be slightly larger or maybe a slightly harder metal cup? Because they seat a little more difficult, which can be handy if I have a batch of brass with loose pockets, CCI's will seat with some resistance where Winchesters won't have any resistance.

I did buy some of the cheap S&B two years ago...I haven't tried them.

I also bought all the vintage primers I could find at the gunshows during the primer shortage. So. boy oh boy, do I now have a selection...some are vintage Herters LPP that fast ronnie mentions, mine also seem oversize...much more oversize than I think the CCI are. I imagine some day, I'll have some brass with stretched pockets that I'd normally have to scrap, that I'll be glad to have those Herters primers, to get one more reloading, LOL.


A friend asked me to load some .44 mags for him and brought me the components. There were 2 boxes of Herter's large pistol and going into PMC brass. I have never seen a primer that was that hard to seat. These components were from 28 years ago, and I had never seen a Herter's primer before. They do seem to shoot well, though.

[RED BEAR]

i see no difference at all. i am no bench rest shooter mainly pistols on the 7 to 15yard range. can't see any difference mainly use cci for no pertecular reason a dollar difference in price would get me to switch.

[toallmy]

Twice in my lifetime I have dumped a brick of primers because of misfiring or not firing to be exact first time was SP last time they were magnum LR both times were from the same manufacturer . I still use their primers but I have trust issues with them and will not order more than a thousand at a time . Both times the primers were purchased by me new - used in properly functioning firearms - in properly loaded ammunition .

[Geezer in NH]

After the last 20 years I love any primers I HAVE let alone any I can get.

Lets get to real in a hurry

[Lloyd Smale]

federal are my first choice for dependablility (easy to set off even with guns that have action work) and they've in most cases been the best for accuracy too. Winchester would come in second with cci a close third. Rem takes up the back. Might not deserve it though. In the past ive had some **** rem primers. Seems like they improved some lately. that said I still went out the other day after a bunch of load development had my 9mm ar15 down to one bullet two powders and two primers. With both powders the feds shot groups about a 1/3 smaller then the same load with the rems. its happened so many times that its hard to ignore. about the only time I will pick another primer first is mag level handgun loads. Cci 350s have allways been THE primer for big handgun loads.

[robg]

CCI and winchester ,have used others but I use an auto prime round tray so I'll use CCI or win unless things are desperate .

[sniper]

Cci because that's what I started with never had any problems that couldn't be attributed to my own stupidity. They go bang every time but FWIW that's all I'm looking for. Not a benchrest shooter ,yet!

YUP! Started with CCI, switched to Winchester...can't remember why...switched back to CCI when Winchester went to brass-colored primers. (Good reason, right? ;-)) Never a failure with either. The red tips were the reason I went with Hornady SST boolits...they just had to work better, right? That didn't work well, either! As long as there was a good reason...or not!:lol:

[trapper9260]

For me is Win. on all. and then CCI for handgun and some Rem for rifle. If I had a pick it would be Win. for all. Use Fed for Shotgun or what ever is the less to pay for at the time of need.Win large pistol it have for Mag and standard use for them so that works for me in what I use it for.