Which primers do you like? And not so much.

I like CCI the best next would be Federal

I have a large hoard of Remington primers - they seem to work, no misfires just yet...

...but are they looked down upon?

So has anyone loaded S&B small pistol?

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I have probably used a 100+k of them.
No issues and they seemed to work well for me. They seemed a hair milder than CCIs, maybe 10-20 fps less with the same charge.
Always picked them up when Cabela's had them for $20/k.

Dudedog said:

I have probably used a 100+k of them.
No issues and they seemed to work well for me. They seemed a hair milder than CCIs, maybe 10-20 fps less with the same charge.
Always picked them up when Cabela's had them for $20/k.




Wait, no they are terrible, absolute garbage , if you paid $60 for 12K of them I will be nice and buy them from you for what you paid, I would hate for you to have to use them.

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Hmmmmm. I was wondering if he paid $60k (as in $60,000) for 12k (as in 12,000). I assume, and sure hope, it was $60 per 1000.

I picked up 12k of them for $60k

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$60 a k or 12k for $60,000, or 12k for $60?

Hmmmmm. I was wondering if he paid $60k (as in $60,000) for 12k (as in 12,000). I assume, and sure hope, it was $60 per 1000

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Yep primers are high right now but $5000 a k is a little steep!

Have used most of the non-match primers, both pistol and rifle, standard and magnum, from CCI, Winchester, Federal, and Remington. No complaints with any of them except for some old CCI large rifle in white box w/ red lettering that were hard to seat.

I have yet to have any issue with primers made and distributed by any of the major brands. I have also found so little difference in loads made by those various primers as to not really be concerned with what brand I buy. Lately, that is whatever I can find. That said, I do not have any guns that have light primer strikes or issues with slam fire.

The biggest issue with primer failure is not the primer itself, but how it has been seated. I tend to seat on the heavy side in order to assure the anvil is already slightly compressed.

I do not reload for my rifle (yet)
Reload .45 colt for the marlin lever, 9mm for the s&w mp, 9mm,.38 spl,.357mag,.45 colt
and 45acp for the blackhawk revolvers.
Been able to shoot all the primer brands I have bought over the years with no problems I've noticed., cci, federal, remington. Magnum, bench .
Small pistol, large pistol, small rifle. I just plink and as long as I don't try to fire small rifle primers in the s&w mp I'm a happy camper.
I get the occasional primer upside down or crunched sideways but rare (maybe once in a brick of primers). Operator failure.

Dudedog said:

The ones I used to be able to by for $30/k!

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Yup. I’m an “all of the above” kind of guy. They all have their place, even the ultra soft Rem #1-1/2. Find the primer based on application and buy until you don’t think you need more. Then buy more.

I use lots of CCI and Winchester primers, rifle and handgun. Never had any problems with them but I have not bought any primers for several years, I stocked up when prices were good and my metallic cartridge shooting has slowed during the last couple years. I've been shooting a fair amount of skeet.

I like Remington 7-1/2 primers for my small rifle cartridges but I've used CCI and Winchester.

I've used Federal at times when I could not get something else but I prefer to stay away from them due to their soft cup reputation.

I bought a 1000 Tula primers once. The availability was spotty and I like to be able to have a consistent supply of things.

I load mostly CCI for pistol. I prefer Remington rifle primers both 7 1/2 SR and 9 1/2 for large rifle. I do use RP 2 1/2 for large pistol. Federal 215’s in one magnum rifle. It’s always been a factor of what’s available locally as to my choices since starting reloading and I haven’t switched after they became available on-line.

gun'sRgood said:

I'm finding that about 2-4 of Winchester's primers are a bit, well, not so much in the QC department. I want to put together some really nice 9's and I'm wondering If CCI or ? would be a better choice? I was the guy telling everyone to get primers as soon as I saw the pandemic hit the USA boarders. I got a bunch but did not take as many as I'd have liked to. Gotta share in times of need.

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Winchester cups are too soft for my liking, CCI is my go-to, as less primers get smashed. If you have alot of crimped brass, Ginex works well, because they are the hardest cups, and survive the crimps during seating. I've heard some glocks don't like them.

Ive used CCI, Fiocchi, Federal, Winchester and Remington primers over the years. I cant recall any issues other than my Bisley .32 punches holes in Federal primers with my stouter loads. Ive switched to the Xtreme SRP for these and .327 Mag loads. Other than being tough to seat in new Starline brass, they all go boom with zero issues.

Stay safe.

I have used:
S&B
Tula
Winchester
Remington
Federal
CCI

And today I shot my first Ginex. Right now brand loyalty isn't an option. It's what ever I can find. All of these primers worked out well for me. If I had my pick it would be CCI.

I’ve never met a primer I didn’t like.

No science, just preference.

CCI 250s for all my magnum rifle loads. Why??? Cause that’s the way I’ve always done it. But they are scarce these days. But 2,500, just for magnum rifle, will last a while although I have given 400 away recently.

Winchester LRP for my non-magnum rifles. Why? Again, that’s what I have always done and it works.

Small pistol? I use everything. I have Winchester, Remington, Federal, CCI, Ginex. I don’t have a preference other than I hate Federal packaging, and the Ginex are a little harder to seat.

.223. I treat this caliber differently. The ammo is for AR platform guns so my preference is CCI #41s. But I have several 1,000 CCI BR primers and a couple thousand CCI SRP. I’ll use those if I ever run outta of #41s, and can’t find more.

Shotgun. My “go to” are Winchester 209s. That said I have a couple K Federal Magnum 209 (M?) I keep around for slower burning powders. I recently loaded up some Longshot hunting loads. When I was done I questioned why I didn’t use the mag primer data and use the Feds? Cold weather was my concern. For shotgun games I’ve recently been using Cheddite. Nary a failure in the 3,000 I’ve used. And they are slightly bigger than the Winchesters. For worn hulls you can really tell the difference seating them, which makes me feel good. I try to use Winchester the first 2-3 loadings, then Cheddite since they really tighten up the primer/pocket fit. But dumping 100-125 hills in a bag, sometimes I get confused and just load Cheddite.

For shot shell, I used what 209 primers that I found. Mostly Winchester, Remington, or CCI but I've used Federal at various times.

They all worked as advertised. But, my inventory of shot shell primers is dropping.

My shot shell loads are target level and not near maximum so it really does not matter which primer I use.

But, for the past coupe years, my shooting has been reduced so I have not bought shot shell primers much in the past couple years.

I'm hoping this craziness will go away soon and purchasing levels will return to some kind of normal level.

Win, Rem, CCI, Fed - they’re all good for general shooting, especially if you want to dump a lot of rounds down range fast.- you get the meaning. For big hand guns (hunting and accuracy) I have to go with Federal. I haven’t shot competition (500+ yards) in years, and that has so many variables in case, powder, bullet type and weight, barrel length that that it makes the question moot. And now there’s so much improvement and diversity in powders I wouldn’t even venture to make a recommendation as to which is the best. Then there’s the individual preference point to consider. So for me now it comes down to availability and price for most reloading and shooting. I haven’t found one yet that I won’t use.

Thomasss said:

I have used many different primers over the years, including match and magnum and haven't notice any significant difference in performance. CCI seem hotter than other brands, but I don't know if that is good or bad unless loading slow burning powders.
Federal does use softer cup metal, so I found them better to be used in revolver cartridges.

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Me too.

I bought the S&B primers for $60 American dollars per 1000 primers. I purchased 12 thousand, which were packaged 1000 per box. For a total of $600 American dollars. Does that make it clear enough? I know I’m a smart a$$ but I honestly didn’t think I would have to spell it all out….

Yamifrk said:

I bought the S&B primers for $60 American dollars per 1000 primers. I purchased 12 thousand ... For a total of $600 American dollars

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If you purchased 12,000 primers at $60/1000,

So if you paid $600 for 12,000 primers, you got a discount as you actually paid $50/1000.

kerreckt said:

Yamifrk said:

So has anyone loaded S&B small pistol?

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Yes, they are some of the best in my opinion. I have loaded many thousands of them.....when they were $20/K. Never any problem.

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My experience with S&B primers is similar, consistent and reliable primer ignition.

Only regret is wish I had bought more at $20/1000.

Yamifrk said:

I bought the S&B primers for $60 American dollars per 1000 primers. I purchased 12 thousand, which were packaged 1000 per box. For a total of $600 American dollars. Does that make it clear enough? I know I’m a smart a$$ but I honestly didn’t think I would have to spell it all out….

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I am pretty sure every one understood what you originally meant. I know I was just giving you a hard time. But as LiveLife said you just confused it a little further with the math explanation.

I wish I could find a couple thousand at $60 per. I am not fussy about which brand they are. But maybe we are seeing signs that the prices are creeping down at least a little.

I've never done alot of testing with primers per say, but being a Winchester Lever-gunner, I naturally stuck with Winchester primers, with the exception of Black Powder cartridges rounds, which I go with CCI Magnum primers.