Favorite rifle primer?

CCI.

They seem to be everywhere here, they are extremely reliable, priced right, and seat very easy.

Some online vendors have different deals on brand x, or brand y- but you need to purchase a lot of them to make up for the hazmat, and I never buy primers I cant inspect.

I use Winchester exclusively.

No reason, that's just what I've always bought..

never had to worry about a change of primer screwing up a finicky load, either..

federal primers

CCI. It's all I've used. I use SRP and LRPM. They haven't let me down, plus seem to be readily available.

CCI for about 40 years.

I have never had a bad one.

I also like Winchester & Remington, but haven't used any for several years except for some sensitivity tests in a misfiring Colt DA revolver a couple of years ago.

Federal won, with Win and Rem in a close second & third.
CCI is the least sensitive, and the reason I like them in semi-auto firearms.

Federal is O.K..
But the huge boxes they come in are a royal PITA to empty into normal size primer handling trays without spilling them all over the floor.

And nobody wants that to happen!

rc

I used some Winchester without any problems during the years of the great primer shortage but I normally use CCI's.

My most favorite primer is one that goes bang every time.

That said, I use lots of CCI, Winchester and Remington 7-1/2.

I have tried them all. Some that are not even made anymore and they all work passably. That said I use Tula/Wolf for the plinking loads cause they are cheap and CCI for the hunting cause that was what I developed the loads with in the first place 30 years ago. The foreign ones are generally harder to seat (metric measurements not quite the same) but will still work well.

cfullgraf said:

My most favorite primer is one that goes bang every time.

Click to expand...

That's why I use Federal.

I use Win for standard primers and CCI for mag primers. The primers are different colors so it helps avoid confusion.

CCI. Very readily available as far as primers go. Great price, great company. My hand primer tool recommends CCI and I have stuck with them ever since.

Hi,

this is great article to start with. I exclusively use the PMC LRM (Russian primers) as they give results similar to the CCI Benchrest primers. Read the article before you scoff at them.

http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2009/06/primers-large-rifle-primer-study.html

Cheers
Andrew

Whatever primer that is on sale.

I'll add my voice to the CCI camp. They work every time and are available everywhere. Next in line would be Winchester.

So far I've used CCI #200 for rifle, and Winchester for pistol. No problems with any of them.

primers

CCI since 1973, This was the only primer my lgs sold back then. I have stuck by them.

CCI since I started reloading over 30 yrs. ago. And like RC, I've yet to encounter a bad one. I have used Win. on occasion, but I just don't use them unless I absolutely can't locate any CCI's. And it's not just because I am stuck on CCI, but because I have fire tested them and find they produce a very consistent bang!

I use them all, but my most accurate loads are with the Federal Match.

I use the ones that I get for $20 per k...Wolf or Tula.

Got to meet Dick Speer at his shop in Lewiston in 1965 and I suppose 80-90% of the primers I've bought have been CCI.

CCI most, some FEDERAL in pistols, have used thousands of Win standard and magnum in rifles , only issues was Win seating way softer than I liked sometimes in rifles(seemed to vary by lot,yrs ago anyway). Switched to CCI because of it, no issues since.

I use Federal or Winchester. If I can't get the gun to shoot with a Federal primer I try Winchester.

Winchester used to be my favorite for the simple reason they were the least costly and worked.

Then in 1999 Winchester made their primers more sensitive, made them brass finish, and their small rifle primers pierced at loads that never bothered the old nickle plated primers.

I don't trust more sensitive primers in my Garands/M1a's, and there are reports of slamfires with brass finish Winchester primers in these mechanisms.

Federal primers are just excellent in handguns and bolt actions, but Federal primers are the most slamfiring primer ever in Garands/M1a's and I don't recommend them at all for gas operated rifles.

I bought bunches of CCI #34 "Mil Spec" primers and they are an excellent primer.

Since the price of American manufactured primers went sky high, I tried Tula and Wolf. These are excellent primers and the TULA 7.62 are advertized as less sensitive, "military primers". They shoot very well in my 30-06 and 308 loads. They are really an excellent rifle primer. My Wolf pistol primers have all gone bang and are milder, velocity wise, than my American primers.

Avoid Winchester and Federal for gas guns, buy by price.

I stick with CCI as long as they are available. My reasoning is simple. Out of all the factory ammo I've used in my life, CCI ammo is the only brand that has 100% without failure gone bang when I asked it to and not before I asked it too. Rimfire, centerfire, shotgun, it doesn't matter, CCI has always worked. I can't say that about any other brand of ammo I've ever used. If they can make 100% reliable ammo, surely they can do the same with their primers. So far they haven't let me down. I have used Remington and Winchester on occassion if I couldn't find CCI. Remington pistol primers seem very soft to me, their rifle primers seem okay. I won't say anything else about Winchester since I don't have anything nice to say.