Large pistol primers

[GSP7]

What brand large pistol primers do you like best?

[DAFzipper]

I like the cheapest I can find.

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[Mal Paso]

Federal

They have been the most consistent for guns like the Redhawk which has a light primer strike. Also a favorite with the Cowboy Action crowd.

[oldsalt444]

Whatever is on sale. I usually end up with Winchester. A primer is a primer is a primer. The differences are insignificant except for magnum primers.

[lightman]

I'm a CCI fan. But I've used about all of them.

[mdi]

I have only used CCI. Winchester, Remington and Wolf. When I work up a load I stick with one and if I choose another, I'll do another work up. I don't remember getting any "bad" primers except for 2 or three in the last 30 years (and two CCI primers had the anvils fall out)...

None of the 9 handguns I own that use large pistol primers have ever needed a "hard" or "soft" cup.

[lar45]

I started with CCI and used them exclusively for years until the ammo shortage happened and I couldn't get them, then found a good deal on Winchester and bought like 5 cases, so I'm using Winchester now except for when I need a Magnum primer, then I still use the CCI.

[scattershot]

I used to use CCI exclusively, but now I use whatever I can find on sale. I bought a bunch of Sellier & Bellot because they were cheap, and have had no problems with them.

[Texas by God]

What brand large pistol primers do you like best?All of them.

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[Outpost75]

In my serious bullseye target shooting days I preferred Federal primers, but these days any US made primer by CCI, Federal, Remington or Winchester is fine. I look for the best price on 5000 case quantities.

Of the imported primers RWS and Norma were excellent back in the day and I would actually prefer them now if I could get them.

I've experienced dimensional incompatibility problems with Russian and Eastern-European primers, Tula, Sellier & Bellot, etc. and will not use them.

During the primer scarcity I did get some Fiocchi small pistol primers and they were very good and I would feel confident using them if available for a good price.

[Cast_outlaw]

Currently using and buying Winchester as it’s what I can get I do have chedite in shotgun but also have some federal for both pistols and shotgun but Ive worked up loads with Winchester large pistol and don’t feel like redeveloping my loads I just finished working up. And shooters at my club have had a bad run with CCI lately one member had over 30 dud primes from cci in one case of 209 shotgun

[Chad5005]

i use cci for everything

[stubshaft]

Federal

[Minerat]

CCI, was gifted some Tula SR they work ok in my 17 hh and .380

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Winchester is my first choice, part of my preference is affordability and availability.
But I'll use 'em all, rarely had any issues.

I have acquired some brands no longer available at Gunshows, the only one's of those I had problems with, are Herters "Perfect" LP Primers ...yes, the Irony is as thick as molasses, LOL :grin:

[GSP7]

I have CCI and winchester..... getting short

Only have CCI in stock local , so I be gettin' couple bricks

[Wheelgun]

I also buy based on price and availability. Anymore it’s whatever is cheaper.

I’d always used CCI but then during the shortage I started using federal because that’s all I could find around here.

I’ve used CCI, Federal, Wolf, Tula, Winchester and Sellier & Bellot. All have worked great, no noticeable difference to me, except the Sellier & Bellot are harder to seat in my experience.

I just ordered some Unis Ginex SPP from midsouth to try for $114/5k and Fiocchi LPP for $35/1500

[jonp]

I've not had bad luck with whatever is cheapest or I happen to buy. Tula, Win, Rem, Fiocchi. Doesn't seem to matter.

[10mmShooter]

Federal and Winchester at my go to primers

[trapper9260]

My main are Win's

[Froogal]

Winchester is the only primers I have used, or WILL use.

[ioon44]

I mostly use Winchester but don't have problems with other brands.

[FLINTNFIRE]

I like about any of them and have used all of them at one time or another , tula and wolf before you could not get them were good , cci and winchester are fine , hated the federal packaging , always looking for a good buy and wish wolf was available again , really no preference on large pistol as far as I am concerned

[Dapaki]

I have used them all as well but prefer CCI.

Federal has the WORST packaging!

[Valley-Shooter]

I like Federal, but I'll use anything if primers are scarce.

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[Burnt Fingers]

Between my buddy and I we're shooting around 700-800 rounds per week.

At that point it's boils down to whatever we can get the best price on.

I really wish I had purchased a LOT more the of S&B primers.

We've been getting Winchester pistol primers for $27.50/1000 at the gun show. That's the best price we've found. The one really fully stocked reloading store close to me sells CCI and Winchester at $32/1000. Even that price is pretty hard to beat since everyone is now charging sales tax.

[megasupermagnum]

Whatever is on sale. I usually end up with Winchester. A primer is a primer is a primer. The differences are insignificant except for magnum primers.

This couldn't be farther for the truth. Each primer most certainly is different, and the difference between a standard and magnum is anything but clear cut. Sometimes (many times) a standard primer produces higher velocity, sometimes the magnum does. Sometimes the easily igniting Unique shoots better with a X standard, sometimes a Y standard, sometimes a Z magnum. Usually brand X produces mediocre 70+ fps ES's, and brand Y brings that down into the 20's or 30's.

I have never found a bad primer, in that they didn't fire. I keep a small amount of all kinds of primers to try. That said, day in and day out, Federal is the brand I use the most, and the brand I stock thousands of.

As a general rule, large rifle and large pistol primers are about the most standardized primers there are, so the choices are a lot easier to make. The small pistol and small rifle primers are where things get muddy. Shotgun primers are all over the map.

I only worry about performance myself, but there are two things most are aware of. #1 Federal uses large trays for their primers. They take up twice the space to store. #2 Winchester doesn't nickel plate their primers. They seat hard as a result. It's not bad, but I'd rather they were nickel plated.

Beyond that, I only worry about how they perform in a load. I find Federal is usually about the best. There isn't a lot of talk about Remington primers, but they often produce wonderful results.

[skrapyard628]

For large pistol primers I stick with Winchester. That way I dont have to stock two different LPPs (standard and magnum).

The few occasions that I couldnt get Winchester LPP I bought whatever I could get my hands on...S&B, Remington, and CCI. I havent had any issues with any of them.

For small pistol primers always buy CCI by the case.

[44Blam]

This should be a poll... Maybe make a poll thread?

[Henryseale]

For large pistol, I use Winchester. Had a few duds with Remington.

[6bg6ga]

Anything that goes bang when I pull the trigger with the exception of Russian primers. I made the mistake of getting some of those and had a heck of a time seating them.

[rbuck351]

Mostly I use whatever is the best price but I have a Taurus in 32 S&W that doesn't strike very hard and most primers will have miss fires so I use Federals for it. Hate the packaging but they work. Remington, Winchester and CCI are what I have the most.

[fredj338]

I have used just about every brand, they all work fine. Some guys shooting tuned revo will go Federal, but I just look for cheapest. I do NOT care for Russian made stuff though, poor QC plus supporting Putin, no thx.

[Taterhead]

Overwhelmingly, I load CCIs. I do like Remington too.

All primers I've used have gone bang except an S&B --suspect a missing anvil. Primer cup looked like a circus tent that caved in on itself. I've never seen anything like it. Wish I tool a pic.

I've used CCI, Rem, Win, Magtech and S&B. Only CCI comes in APS strips, and they are the bees knees for my press.

[hermans]

Out here in darkest Africa you cannot really be picky on what type of primer you use, especially with LP primers. So in my time I have used CCI, Winchester, Federal, Remington, Fiocchi, Murom and lately almost all we can get is S&B.
I know many guys say here on the forum that S&B is not good, but I really cannot say that they are any worse that any of the brands I mentioned, and in all my years of shooting 45acp, if I got one misfire out of maybe 150k shots, that is it.
If I had a choice, I would go with Federal (they prime the easiest, nice and soft) and CCI second best.

[onelight]

Winchester the most but have used cci , fed , Remington they all work for me.
I bought 4K LP S&B at a good price they were great wish I had bought 20k of them.

[Jtarm]

Winchester or CCI, though I'm having a few issues in my 625PC.

An Apex pin & spring are en route, I hope they'll fix it. If not i may bevshopping for Federals.

Back in the 80s I bought a Model 24-3 and immediately got a competition action job done on it. The DA pull breaks between 7 & 7.5 lbs, but it's never failed to pop any primer.

I used CCI almost exclusively for 15 years, blisfully ignorant of primer hardness.

[6bg6ga]

Took inventory. I have 7 boxes of Winchester and 7 boxes of CCI primers. The CCI are small and large rifle and the Winchester are pistol.

[gwpercle]

After going through the Great Primer & Powder Depression of 2009 I like any primer I can get my hands on . I've used every brand from Alcan primers to Winchester and they all work .
Don't know about Russian Primers . Bought some Sellier & Bellot primers on sale but haven't used them yet . So far they all work just fine even the old Alcan primers .
Gary

[fredj338]

Out here in darkest Africa you cannot really be picky on what type of primer you use, especially with LP primers. So in my time I have used CCI, Winchester, Federal, Remington, Fiocchi, Murom and lately almost all we can get is S&B.
I know many guys say here on the forum that S&B is not good, but I really cannot say that they are any worse that any of the brands I mentioned, and in all my years of shooting 45acp, if I got one misfire out of maybe 150k shots, that is it.
If I had a choice, I would go with Federal (they prime the easiest, nice and soft) and CCI second best.
S&B have run fine for me in LP & SR, no issues, even in striker fired guns.

[goryshaw]

Availability is king, and familiarity is queen. I've primarily used CCI for 35 years, as they were available when I started. I've used a couple K of WLR when CCI wasn't available, and many 1000s of S&B for service rifle when they were cheap at Cabellas. Stayed away from Fed due to the packaging size, and never tried REM. Only problems I've ever had were seating the WW in PPU brass, I'm more inclined to blame that on the brass. I should get some Fed SP just for my S&W Model 624-3 as it tends towards light strikes since it got a new Wolf trigger spring sometime in the 90s.

[fredj338]

Winchester or CCI, though I'm having a few issues in my 625PC.

An Apex pin & spring are en route, I hope they'll fix it. If not i may bevshopping for Federals.

Back in the 80s I bought a Model 24-3 and immediately got a competition action job done on it. The DA pull breaks between 7 & 7.5 lbs, but it's never failed to pop any primer.

I used CCI almost exclusively for 15 years, blisfully ignorant of primer hardness.
Current unplated Win are pretty soft. The nickel plating tends to make them a bit harder to dent.

[Drew P]

Some don’t run as well in my progressive as others, so that’s a consideration, but for me it’s usually price that wins and S&B has delivered the most savings

[Jtarm]

In my serious bullseye target shooting days I preferred Federal primers, but these days any US made primer by CCI, Federal, Remington or Winchester is fine. I look for the best price on 5000 case quantities.

Of the imported primers RWS and Norma were excellent back in the day and I would actually prefer them now if I could get them.

I've experienced dimensional incompatibility problems with Russian and Eastern-European primers, Tula, Sellier & Bellot, etc. and will not use them.

During the primer scarcity I did get some Fiocchi small pistol primers and they were very good and I would feel confident using them if available for a good price.

A Hornady rep told me Sellier & Bellot are pretty off.

After reloading some of their .38 Special brass, I
believe it. The pockets are incredibly tight. Fortunately there were only about 200 cases, so I culled them. They required so much pressure to seat Winchester or CCI primers, I decided the wear on my press and arm weren't worth it.

[slohunter]

Winchester, and I have tried them all.

[Targa]

I had seating issues with the last batch of Winchester LP primers I used. I pretty much stick with CCI.

[DAVIDMAGNUM]

Whatever is on sale. I usually end up with Winchester. A primer is a primer is a primer. The differences are insignificant except for magnum primers.

......until the differences are significant. Three loads for me that went from experimental failures to accurate successes. All 44WCF, all 220 grains 30-1 alloy bullets. 6.4gr Trailboss and 36gr of Swiss 2f. With Winchester Large Pistol primers and Trailboss ,shooting from a bench-rest position the group size at 100 meters was twice as tall as the 100 meter rams. With everything else being equal CCI 300 primers reduced the group to a 2in round cluster . With Swiss 2f switching from WLP to CCI 300 got rid of the hard dry fouling just ahead of the chamber and shrunk the 200 meter group size from a few feet down to 5in. (yes, using the proper lube with both) The same bullet with a case full of Reloader 7 switching from WLP to CCI 350 had the same results at 200 meters.
I know that this is my rifle, bullet powder, caliber combination and your mileage may vary. I am not saying that Winchester Large Pistol primers are junk. I am just saying a different primer can make a large difference. I am also willing to say that with all things being equal switching from WLP to something else could absolutely ruin your pet load.

[jsizemore]

If I can get a CCI primer to ignite 100% of the time, that gun will ignite any other primer.

[MrWolf]

Between my buddy and I we're shooting around 700-800 rounds per week.

At that point it's boils down to whatever we can get the best price on.

I really wish I had purchased a LOT more the of S&B primers.

We've been getting Winchester pistol primers for $27.50/1000 at the gun show. That's the best price we've found. The one really fully stocked reloading store close to me sells CCI and Winchester at $32/1000. Even that price is pretty hard to beat since everyone is now charging sales tax.

I have the S&B primers and had no issues. Price back then was so good I think I got 10,000 of both small and large.

[mvozz]

I have been using CCI for most of 40 years of reloading. Lately I have been buying from folks wanting to get out of reloading and have had pretty good luck on everything but Wolf. My Ruger Blackhawk pokes holes in Wolf primers. I haven't tried any Remington Large Pistol but Sportsman's Warehouse had a sale for $1.99 a box, needless to say I now have quite a few to try. (Pre-Covid19 so I wasn't hording8-)) I did use some of the Remington small pistol and they worked great in 357 mag.

[243winxb]

WLP in 44 mag & 45 acp