CCI primer info from the firing line

Good to know, ive been using cci srp for my w296 357 mag loads for a while now. Nice to consolidate the ol primer stock. Now only if cci would make spp more distinguishable from srp. They both have yellow paper over the primer compound.

Information from 2009.How much if any have they changed since then?

I have a chart of CCI primer energy for long ago that shows a SPM has more energy that a SRP. So things do change.

For a while even CCI was caught up in the primer shortage and they used a harder material for their primers.

Somebody on the internet said that in 2009 some unidentified person said. I’m sorry but I will keep using the primer size the data calls for. But that is just me. I don’t find it all that difficult to stock both.

Two things struck me about that conversation. One was the “tech” had to call the specs up on her computer screen and make point by point comparisons before she said some primers are interchangeable. Like she didn't already know that after 38 years on the job. The other thing was she said “many employees” bought rifle primers and used them for all of “their” reloading, not her reloading. But she only said that after she had made an onscreen comparison of the specs. Could it be that “many employees” who reload didn’t need SP’s anyway? I’ll stick with primers designated for the purpose. ymmv

i seem to remember a few threads in the past about substituting SRP for SPP causing breech face erosion in some semi auto pistols. Similar to the flame cutting you see on a revolver's top strap.

If both primers are the same, it would make no sense to carry both under different labels. Tech support is not always accurrate, so I'd need a published statement from CCI to believe it.

I asked CCI about this in 2012, here is their answer:
----------------------
Bob,

I know you’re not trying to be argumentative but we get this question a lot. No matter how many times it is answered and posted and re-posted and stated that so and so at CCI said or wrote to me that the 400 and 550 primer are the same it never stops. So I apologize for sounding aloof, but we do not comment on primer mix amounts and composition, we just do not. The 400 and 550 primers may have similar performance and physical characteristics but they are different primers.

I wish I could say more to help you in your endeavor but that is about all that can be said.

Kindest regards,

Austin @ CCI/Speer
---------------------------------------------------
Hope that this helps.

Bob

higgite said:

Two things struck me about that conversation. One was the “tech” had to call the specs up on her computer screen and make point by point comparisons before she said some primers are interchangeable. Like she didn't already know that after 38 years on the job. The other thing was she said “many employees” bought rifle primers and used them for all of “their” reloading, not her reloading. But she only said that after she had made an onscreen comparison of the specs. Could it be that “many employees” who reload didn’t need SP’s anyway? I’ll stick with primers designated for the purpose. ymmv

Click to expand...

I agree with your final statement but I think you might be reading too much into the way the tech responded and her choice of words. I've been a pharmacist for 43 years and I still sometimes look up routine things because I can't afford to make a mistake. Her statement about employees using them for "their" reloading might just be a matter of semantics.

True. Might be. Or might not be.

Just a thought about the tech. rep's pulling up data for a technical question. I was the west coast rep for a large Itialian Motion Picture Lighting company, and often had to answer questions on the phone from owners and potential customers. I always got the tech. data in front of me and didn't rely on my memory. I'd call her a good customer service rep. making sure she was giving "facts" and not IIRC statements...

I've been reloading for a long time and several years ago, nearly 30, I did "play" with substituting primers (rifle for pistol, pistol for rifle, magnum for standard and vice-versa, and I did use a lot of rifle primers in my .38 Special reloads). But I've found it quite easier to just use what is in my reloading manual. I never had a problem during the "shortages" 'cause I always kept a supply of components on hand. When I got less than a brick of a specific primer I'd buy 2 to replace the dwindling inventory...