357 Magnum Primer question

[J_McLeod]

Over the last month I've learned to take Lee's load data with a grain of salt. Why does the Lee manual say to use a SP Primer, while Hodgdon and Lyman say to use a SP magnum primer?

 

[GLOOB]

The million dollars question is what brand of primer are these manuals using?

For CCI primers, the only powder that would require a magnum primer are the slow, magnum, ball powders that are hard to ignite, e.g. H110.

For Remington or Winchester primers, magnum SPP are recommended for all magnum pressure loads, regardless of powder. This is because the cups on the standard primers can blow out from the pressure, damaging your firing pin and breechface. Or they can flatten, giving false overpressure signs. In fact, Remington 5 1/2 have the exact same amount and composition of priming compound as the 1 1/2. The only difference is the cup thickness. And it says right on the box of 1 1/2 "not for use in high pressure cartridges, including .357 magnum and 40SW."

Federal, dunno. Haven't used/researched them.

Now plenty of people use the wrong primer and nothing bad happens. Whether a standard primer will pierce has to do with how hot the load is, as well as the shape/length of the firing pin and firing pin hole. Conversely, plenty of people use magnum primers for load recipes specifying a standard, by dropping back the charge a couple tenths.

Bottom line: there's a difference in cup thickness and brissance between different brands of primer. Standard=standard/magnum=magnum does not fly between brands, nor does it always make any appreciable difference, anyway.

 

[rcmodel]

It just depends on what powders were used in pressure testing.

A .357 Mag does not automatacally need a magnum primer just because it has Magnum in it's name.

Mag primers should be used with slow burning ball powders like W296/H110, etc in any caliber.

They are not needed with faster powders in lighter loads, or with Alliant 2400 magnum loads in any caliber.

Some of the Lee data was copied from the powder manufactures data before there were magnum primers.

rc

 

[J_McLeod]

Hodgdon's data is the one I trust the most, since I use their powders, and they recommend WSPM primers which I are the ones I'm most likely to buy. Also might use CCI or Wolf.

Lee doesn't specify, and Lyman used CCIs

 

[243winxb]

Correct primers for 38 and 357

Reloading data lists these primers to be used with the 357 magnum. CCI 550 Mag., WSPM, FED 200, REM 5 1/2 Reloading data lists these primers to be used with the 38 special and 38special +P. CCI 500,Rem 1 1/2, Fed 100, WSP, Speer list the CCI 550Mag primer for Alliant 2400. This info is available at all primer manufacture websites. Other threads on the subject.> http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=5724195 And more> http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=382053

 

[J_McLeod]

Reloading data lists these primers to be used with the 357 magnum. CCI 550 Mag., WSPM, FED 200, REM 5 1/2 Reloading data lists these primers to be used with the 38 special and 38special +P. CCI 500,Rem 1 1/2, Fed 100, WSP, Speer list the CCI 550Mag primer for Alliant 2400. This info is available at all primer manufacture websites. Other threads on the subject.> http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=5724195 And more> http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=382053

Thanks

 

[918v]

***

 

[918v]

Hodgdon's data is the one I trust the most, since I use their powders, and they recommend WSPM primers which I are the ones I'm most likely to buy. Also might use CCI or Wolf.

Lee doesn't specify, and Lyman used CCIs

So you use magnum primers with HP38?

 

[USSR]

A .357 Mag does not automatacally need a magnum primer just because it has Magnum in it's name.

Mag primers should be used with slow burning ball powders like W296/H110, etc in any caliber.

They are not needed with faster powders in lighter loads, or with Alliant 2400 magnum loads in any caliber.

For those of us old enough to have been taught by E.K., this is indeed the gospel, and modern handloading books be d@mned.

Don

 

[J_McLeod]

So you use magnum primers with HP38?

I haven't loaded any yet or even bought the dies.

 

[Steve C]

Speer list the CCI 550Mag primer for Alliant 2400.

Speer specifically recommends against using magnum primers with Alliant 2400 starting with the Speer No 13 manual. Having seen pierced and cratered primers using magnum primers and 2400 loads at just above start levels in Speer No10 back in the 70's its seems that they took a while to come around.

From page 526 Speer 13 published 1998:

 

[gamestalker]

I go with Hogdon data. If loading with the slow burning powder's a magnum primer is the listed primer, they're harder to light. I ran out of magnum primer's back when we were experiencing the shortage and had problems with H110/296 burning properely. In addition to higher pressures the powder burn was incomplete.
But on the other hand, I recently used some Winchester SPM primers with the same data being used with CCI-550's and my pressures spiked as well. I think Winchester SP primer's might be an adequate substitute for CCI-550, possibly? I just might give that a try in the near future with a moderate H110/296 charge and work up until I've made an informed decision.

 

[john bh]

I use Hogton , because I basically I use there powders. There are some real variances
in regards to loading manuals.

 

[gamestalker]

It's important to look at the powder being used. I load .357 and load exclusively with 296/H110 and have tried SP primers. I quickly realized a magnum primer is needed for that powder. A bunch of unburned powder and higher than desired pressures was the result. Refer to the data Hogdon provides, and pay particular attention to the powder being used. And don't accidentally confuse data for lead with that for jacketed. Those are two very different worlds of reloading.

 

[Steve Koski]

GS: How did you conclude that you had higher pressure with a non-magnum primer.

Thanks,

Koski