During my periods of forum browsing, I have noted various threads dedicated to primers. What primers to use with what load, cartridge, bullet, powder, weather condition, etc. etc. etc. until the cows come home, if cows really do come home.
Anyway, I have time, so I thought I would run a small test. By small, I mean real small, because powder, primers, etc. are in short supply as I am sure you all have noticed. The selected cartridge for my mini test was the 32 WCF (32-20), mainly because it doesn't use much powder. The firearm selected was my Marlin 1894CL with factory open sights.
I loaded 20 rounds for this test in identically trimmed Starline cases. The bullet used was a 115 grain cast flat point coated with Hi-Tek coating. I picked these particular bullets up from a small Roswell, NM maker several years ago.
The powder selected for this test was IMR 4227. This is mainly because I have a good supply of it, and as the forums will tell you, you are supposed to need a small rifle primer to make the stuff work right . The test charge was 10.5 grains.
Ten rounds were loaded using Winchester Small Rifle primers and ten rounds were loaded using CCI Small Pistol primers. All bullets were crimped using a Lee factory crimp die.
I set my bench up in my typical spot and rested the rifle on bags. The temperature during the test was 53 degrees F, calm, at an altitude of approx. 4900 feet. I fired through a Prochrono DLX at approx. 6 feet, at a zombie target at 25 yards. To be precise, it was a zombie pizza delivery guy target. I was not interested in accuracy, but I did hold steady on a different part of the zombie for each ten shot string.
First up was the small rifle primer load. The results are as follows: Avg Vel 1390 fps, Extreme spread 156 fps, Standard deviation 42 fps.
Next was the CCI small pistol primer load. Avg Vel 1484 fps, Extreme spread 102 fps, Standard deviation 33 fps.
The pistol primer load shot nearly 100 fps faster than the rifle primer load, and produced a smaller extreme spread and SD. How about them apples?
Anyway, I have time, so I thought I would run a small test. By small, I mean real small, because powder, primers, etc. are in short supply as I am sure you all have noticed. The selected cartridge for my mini test was the 32 WCF (32-20), mainly because it doesn't use much powder. The firearm selected was my Marlin 1894CL with factory open sights.
I loaded 20 rounds for this test in identically trimmed Starline cases. The bullet used was a 115 grain cast flat point coated with Hi-Tek coating. I picked these particular bullets up from a small Roswell, NM maker several years ago.
The powder selected for this test was IMR 4227. This is mainly because I have a good supply of it, and as the forums will tell you, you are supposed to need a small rifle primer to make the stuff work right . The test charge was 10.5 grains.
Ten rounds were loaded using Winchester Small Rifle primers and ten rounds were loaded using CCI Small Pistol primers. All bullets were crimped using a Lee factory crimp die.
I set my bench up in my typical spot and rested the rifle on bags. The temperature during the test was 53 degrees F, calm, at an altitude of approx. 4900 feet. I fired through a Prochrono DLX at approx. 6 feet, at a zombie target at 25 yards. To be precise, it was a zombie pizza delivery guy target. I was not interested in accuracy, but I did hold steady on a different part of the zombie for each ten shot string.
First up was the small rifle primer load. The results are as follows: Avg Vel 1390 fps, Extreme spread 156 fps, Standard deviation 42 fps.
Next was the CCI small pistol primer load. Avg Vel 1484 fps, Extreme spread 102 fps, Standard deviation 33 fps.
The pistol primer load shot nearly 100 fps faster than the rifle primer load, and produced a smaller extreme spread and SD. How about them apples?