Federal 155 Magnum Pistol Primers?

[Mal Paso]

Somewhere I read that Federal 155 Magnum Pistol Primers were no hotter than the 150 Standard Primers, just had a thicker cup. I can find no information even on Federal's Huge primer boxes.:p I ran some chronograph tests that showed no difference but that could have masked by the 25-27g of powder.

Anybody Know?

Are any Magnum Pistol Primers the same as Standard in power?

Thanks.

[runfiverun]

they wouldn't be magnum if they were the same, at least not in american primers.
you are probably thinking of the wolf primers which use a thicker cup and are called magnum primers and are basicaly designed for higher pressures, but don't have a higher brisance level.

[44man]

Somewhere I read that Federal 155 Magnum Pistol Primers were no hotter than the 150 Standard Primers, just had a thicker cup. I can find no information even on Federal's Huge primer boxes.:p I ran some chronograph tests that showed no difference but that could have masked by the 25-27g of powder.

Anybody Know?

Are any Magnum Pistol Primers the same as Standard in power?

Thanks.
Based on shooting results, there IS a difference. I use the 150 in the .44 and .45. The 155 will triple group size.
I need the 155 in the .475 and .500's, much more accurate then the 150 in these.
I do not go by any change in velocity, only by how they work.

[bobthenailer]

a few years ago before primer prices went through the roof i bought 30,000 fed 155 large pistol primers for $15.00 PER 1,000 when primer prices were still in the low $20.00 range . other than the usual loads that you would use them in , i started useing them in my 45 acp where i had been useing 150s, with the same powder charge weight as before , these were midrange loads , at 25 yards from a rest with a red dot on my 1911 with a clark match barrel , i shot 20 shot group with each primer ,the 155 was a little larger, but off hand you probley wouldent notice any difference . this is just one senairo but it worked for me.
if you work up the load with a hotter or weaker primer you probely can make it work! with slower burning powder factored in . where a weaker primer wont work
ive used small rifler primers in several pistol calibers
i use a fed 100 small pistol primer primer in the 454 casull case with tight group powder from 8.0 to 10.0 grs all with excellent results

[44man]

The revolver is different and working loads with a mag primer in the .44 never fixed it. I could never get the groups to tighten. I thought a powder reduction would equal everything out but I still say it is too much primer pressure before powder burn.
I don't have a .41, I imagine it would be worse.

[Mal Paso]

I think use just enough primer for consistent ignition and a Mag Primer won't rescue a poor load. I tried a CCI Mag primer with 14g of 2400 in a 44 Mag case and although it brought the Extreme Spread in from hundreds of feet per second to a little over 100 fps it wouldn't make it a good load. That same 14g of 2400 in a Special Case, Std. Primer is a great load.

I bought 3K of Federal155Match Primers to go with some H110 a while back before I read 44man and tried standard primers. In the several years I've been reading this forum I've not seen anything on Federal 155s except that blurb on similar power between 150 and 155.

I did some chronograph tests with 300MP powder and found no difference between 150 and 155 Primers but even with the case filled at 27g the Extreme Spread was still 100 fps in a 6" Revolver. That could hide a lot. I think the reviewer that used mag primers was chasing a poor load.

Think I'll load up some of those crummy 14g Mag Case loads with 150s and 155s and see what I find.

Thanks

[ole 5 hole group]

Mal Paso - you had it right the 1st time. There is no difference between the 150 & 155 except the cup thickness, so the 155 is probably only better when you get into very high pressures. As far as accuracy - I don't know how the thicker cup effects accuracy, but it probably has some effect with some revolvers.

The CCI350 is a hot mag primer but will increase peak pressure in most loads.

The WLP is John Linebaugh's favorite primer after pressuring testing all his Linebaugh calibers, as he advised the peak pressure was considerably lower using the WLP than rifle primers and the CCI350.

[Mal Paso]

Mal Paso - you had it right the 1st time. There is no difference between the 150 & 155 except the cup thickness, so the 155 is probably only better when you get into very high pressures. As far as accuracy - I don't know how the thicker cup effects accuracy, but it probably has some effect with some revolvers.

The CCI350 is a hot mag primer but will increase peak pressure in most loads.

The WLP is John Linebaugh's favorite primer after pressuring testing all his Linebaugh calibers, as he advised the peak pressure was considerably lower using the WLP than rifle primers and the CCI350.

Thank You

I shot 20 rounds each today, 150s and 155s, with 14g 2400 in the Mag case, 900 fps range. Between the two averages the "Mag" primers were 6 fps faster. I should have loaded a batch of CCI 350s, and will, but you just confirmed it.

What a great answer! I can use Magnum Primers like hodgdon recommends without stressing 44man with the extra pressure.:drinks:

I should also say that 14g load makes another 120 fps with standard primer in the smaller Special case and should have shown a real jump in speed with pressure increase.

I think 44man is right about mag primers I just don't think the 155 is a true Mag.

[44man]

Thank You

I shot 20 rounds each today, 150s and 155s, with 14g 2400 in the Mag case, 900 fps range. Between the two averages the "Mag" primers were 6 fps faster. I should have loaded a batch of CCI 350s, and will, but you just confirmed it.

What a great answer! I can use Magnum Primers like hodgdon recommends without stressing 44man with the extra pressure.:drinks:

I should also say that 14g load makes another 120 fps with standard primer in the smaller Special case and should have shown a real jump in speed with pressure increase.

I think 44man is right about mag primers I just don't think the 155 is a true Mag.
Yeah, it is hard to figure out. OH, they shoot OK but my accuracy in both the .44 and .45 suffer. The cup hardness makes no difference to me because I use over power mainsprings capable of firing rifle primers.
WLP and CCI mags also open groups.
The 155 works to perfection in the larger cases and the way they make a .500 JRH and Linebaugh shoot is scary accurate. The 150 in these cases will light off anything but accuracy goes away.
I have taken the 155 to 55,000 psi in the .454 with no sign of a flattened primer.
So just what do they change other then primer pressure? I don't equate this with chamber pressure since both primers work fine with max loads. Since all book max loads were developed with a mag primer, there is no danger changing primers anyway.
Even though 2400 does not need a mag primer, it does no harm if you use them.
When I work primers I just look for accuracy and could care less about chronograph readings, SD's, ES's, etc, they really mean nothing.
Look at this group at 50 yards from a BFR .500 JRH using 29.5 gr of 296, a 437 gr boolit and a Fed 155. You can see why I ignore the chronograph but this one clocks 1350 fps, you will not find me looking at the SD's! [smilie=l:

[Mal Paso]

Thank you 44man. It would seem though that Federal's idea of a Magnum Pistol Primer is quite a bit different than everyone else's. So much for a Primer Cross Reference chart.

I've seen brisance charts for some rifle primers but nothing for large pistol. Maybe that's like burn rate and chronographs, just a part of the picture, but it would help.

[timbuck]

Somewhere I read that Federal 155 Magnum Pistol Primers were no hotter than the 150 Standard Primers, just had a thicker cup. I can find no information even on Federal's Huge primer boxes.:p I ran some chronograph tests that showed no difference but that could have masked by the 25-27g of powder.

Anybody Know?

Are any Magnum Pistol Primers the same as Standard in power?

Thanks.

I forgot where I got this info, but somebody tested these primers and got these results:
Ranked in order of power
Pistol primers
Rem LP 4.47 3.2-5.6 .5171
KVB 45 LP Russian 3.89 3.3-4.2 .2232
CCI 300 LP 3.18 2.7-3.5 .2406
Federal 150 LP 3.11 2.6-3.5 .2090
Fed Match GM150M 3.05 2.6-3.7 .2299