A question on Primers?

[Wildbillz]

Hi All
For year now I have used Winchester primers in my pistol reloading. I am out of them now and looking to pickup some more. With the current shortages that we have been seeing, I can understand that it may be a while. So the question is this..

Is there really that much of a differance from primer mfg to primer mfg? If so which ones are better and wich ones should be avoided at all cost?

I can find Wolf primers no problume. But then I read on line that there is an issue with them. (Small Pistol primers that are having high missfire rates?). Then some say its the large pistol?

WB

 

[jcwit]

I use primers of the same size interchangeably, but, but, I load midrange for the powder charge weight. I stay away from full banger hotsy totsy loads mainly to keep my hands from getting sore. Hands and arms joints are sore most of the time, no reason to agraviate the problem.

If you're loading close to the high end, back off a bit and work up again, keeping an eye out for pressure signs, ect.

 

[LiveLife]

OCD1 reported on this thread that Wolf small pistol primer lot #18-09 had some misfire issues due to harder cups.

I would check the lot number of Wolf SP primers at the store to see if they are the same lot. I believe other threads posted that it was the nickel plated (chrome finish) SP primers that had the problem, not the bronze/brass primers.

If you want to check, you could always buy a small sample (like 100 primers) and see if they ignite in your pistol.

I also have shot Winchester primers primarily in past years, but bought some Wolf LP primers last year due to the shortage. I have shot over 5K+ of the bronze/brass LP primers and they performed as well as Winchester with no misfire to date. I also bought some TulAmmo LP primer from Powder Valley and they are the same primers as Wolf.

 

[ReloaderFred]

Primers come in various "hardnesses", along with brisance (speed of explosion). The hardest primers are from CCI and the softest are from Federal and MagTech. Winchester is about the second softest, with Remington being about in the middle. Magnum primers will have a higher brisance, producing more explosive power and a little longer duration, which is beneficial for igniting hard to ignite powders and large amounts of powder.

In the matches I shoot, several fellow shooters have tried Wolf primers and have had nothing but problems with them. As for myself, I grew up in the 1950's and 60's and still remember the "duck and cover" drills in school when the Russians were threatening to fry us, so I don't buy anything made in Russia. Call me hard headed, but the threat was real and I don't forgive easily.

As mentioned above, if you're not loading at the maximum for the caliber, you can pretty much interchange primers without much problem. If you're a super accurate bullseye shooter, then you would want to work up your load again, but if just a casual shooter, tincans and paper targets won't care much about the primers you use.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[jcwit]

As mentioned above, if you're not loading at the maximum for the caliber, you can pretty much interchange primers without much problem. If you're a super accurate bullseye shooter, then you would want to work up your load again, but if just a casual shooter, tincans and paper targets won't care much about the primers you use.

Is this an implication that only max loads are accurate?

Or that Bullseye shooters only shoot Max loads?

 

[ReloaderFred]

Don't read things into the post that aren't there, jc. We're only discussing primers, and the ability to change from one brand to another.

As a former Bullseye shooter, PPC shooter, action shooter and current SASS shooter, I would never implicate that only maximum loads are accurate, and especially that Bullseye shooters only shoot maximum loads, neither of which would be common practice.

I'm hoping your post was in jest, since that's the way I interpreted it.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[918v]

Primers are not all the same. If you are going for ultimate accuracy, you should try all the primer brands because one will give you tighter groups than the rest, depending on the load, the gun, and the weather. If you are OK with average accuracy, then use whatever primer brand you have.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I was using only CCI primers years ago and then went to Winchester because at the time the prices were lower. I now use both CCI and Winchester primers and see no noticeable difference between the 2 when it comes to accuracy. since I don't have any "race tuned" handguns I don't worry about a primer cup being too hard.

I have used PMC, Magtech and Remington pistol primers (very few PMC and Magtech) and all went bang although for no real good reason I prefer Winchester and CCI. Note, the Remington primers seemed to be a little harder to seat at times.

 

[calaverasslim]

Over the last couple of years, have gotten into 2 group buys on primers. Wolf brand. To date have shot in excess of 4K of them and no problems. Worked fine for me.

Like JCWIT, I shoot middle of the road loads and for the same reasons. My concern is failure to fire and with Wolf, never a problem.

 

[PowderMonkey]

Hi All
For year now I have used Winchester primers in my pistol reloading. I am out of them now and looking to pickup some more. With the current shortages that we have been seeing, I can understand that it may be a while.
WB

Shortages? Am I missing somthing? All the Fun Shows in Ohio recently, have boxes of pick your brand and size for $30-35-40 at all the big reloading oriented tables...

Guess I will buy a couple thou more at tomorrow mornings Fun Show.

 

[EWP]

I think it's safe to say the shortage is over and most are now well stocked up(if they where smart) so stores don't sell out near as fast as they did even earlier this year.

 

[Rob_W]

The rifleman's journal did some testing, I believe his conclusion was that current Wolf primers are his top choice even over CCI benchrest.

http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/

 

[Red Cent]

Its the hammer spring. My cowboy revolvers will not fire CCIs. Only use Federals.
You used the term pistol. Semi-auto. Stock springs. Should pop any primer. Same for most stock hammer spring revolvers.

 

[A and O]

Rob W.

Interesting site, Thanks. However do you happen to know where on that site we could see the primer article you are referring to?

 

[Nanook]

Rob W.

Interesting site, Thanks. However do you happen to know where on that site we could see the primer article you are referring to?

I found it by going to the August articles. There's one about Wolf primers there, and you can find the other articles by following the links you'll find there.

 

[LiveLife]

After reading the Rifleman's articles, I was humbled a thousand notches as to my understanding of reloading components and consistency of range testing - WOW!

Rob_W, thank you very much for the link - you may have just about changed the course of my reloading and shooting life.

 

[A and O]

Thanks Nanook. I've got some good reading ahead and would encourage others to check out this site as well. Very well put together by a very knowledgeable reloader.

 

[A and O]

Oops, posted to the wrong thread.

 

[Hondo 60]

I'll buy CCI if they have 'em. But over the last year I've also used Federal, Remington & Winchester. (what ever I could get)

I haven't used Wolf & probably won't unless that's all they have, or I get a screamin' deal.

And I haven't noticed any difference with accuracy or via my chronograph.

 

[jhansman]

I think it's safe to say the shortage is over and most are now well stocked up(if they where smart) so stores don't sell out near as fast as they did even earlier this year.

Perhaps, but Powder Valley has not had Winchester SR or LP primers for quite some time now. None of my local stores seem to be able to get them either. Plenty of CCI around now.

 

[indiandave]

Try Third Generation Shooting Supply. They have lots of Federal and Winchester small pistol primers in stock.

 

[GW Staar]

There is an important factor that no one has mentioned so far. And that is what tool you are using to prime with.

Ordinarily that shouldn't make a difference, however it is possible if you use the very popular Lee Auto Prime Hand primer that primer brand can make a difference safety-wise.

The following quote is from Lee's web site on their primer tool page:

WARNING.
Users have reported that the primers in the tray of an Auto Prime can explode for various reasons, some of which include: a cocked primer, or an attempt to prime a case which has a primer already in place, or more than one primer on the punch, or priming a military case with the crimp not completely removed. Should an explosion occur, our tests have demonstrated that safety glasses will normally prevent serious injury to the user if CCI or Winchester primers are used, because the explosion is minimal. Other primers, however, can explode with sufficient force to seriously injure the user, or persons nearby. We do not take any position with respect to the quality or performance of primers available on the market. However, only those primers manufactured by CCI or Winchester are recommended for use in the Lee Auto Prime, and when loading those primers, safety glasses should always be used. No other primers should be used with the Lee Auto Prime.

The Good News! is that Lee has improved the design, and made that limitation go away, with their brand new Auto Prime replacement, the Lee Auto-Prime XR. Not only did they fix the original problem, they made the tool more ergonomic, and even created a new Square primer tray. The price is still right. Listed price is $24.98.

Check it out at Lee Precision here: Lee Auto-Prime XR
I'll be darned! Grafs beat Midway USA to the draw...they already have them in the online catalog at $19 in stock. At Grafs

 

[Ala Dan]

I have always preferred Federal primers, for my handguns; but have used
Winchester and CCI with NO issues~! I have not tried WOLF primers, and
probably never will~!