CCI vs Remington primers - range report

[7mmb]

I finally got around to loading and retesting my pet loads in 9mm, 357, 45 Auto and 45 Colt with Remington primers. I still had loads with CCI primers so I shot them over the chronograph today too to compare. Average velocities were practically identical. It looks like you can substitute one for the other with no other changes. I still like CCIs better though. They seem to be sized more consistently, the Remingtons would seat really easily in some cases and go in stiffer in others. It showed after they were fired with some primers looking normal and others looking like they had backed out a bit upon firing. No pierced primers though and consistency was about the same as CCIs, in some cases even better. Hopefully this scarcity is just a blip and not a trend. It took a couple hours at the chrono to shoot them all and a lot more to work up and load them all. I'm glad that chore is done. Back to shooting!

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Thanks for the report. I too have found there are little to no differences between handgun primers from different companies. I have found more of a difference in rifle primers though.

 

[Walkalong]

With small pistol primers, I get a little less velocity in standard loads with CCI vs Winchester. Not enough to notice if you do not have a chrono, but it is there. I would be happy with either one. Haven't tried any Remington small pistol primers.

 

[Capt. Ct.]

I used CCI and was happy. Then My friend gave me 14,000 Remington Primers. They work fine. Now I am very happy.

 

[bfunk]

I have a 9mm load that I've done up with Federal and CCI small pistol primers. The Federal primers flattened out like mad, CCI's looked just like normal. Didn't chrono them, but same POI for what that worth.

 

[murf]

7mmb,

did you notice any accuracy difference in the two?

murf

 

[7mmb]

I have not shot them for accuracy yet, just across the chrono. Where I shoot it would be an even bigger pain in the butt to try to set up targets behind the chrono and shoot for group as well, not to mention having to wait for them to shut down the range every 15 minutes to hang new targets. I would be there all week! After this testing I can't imagine that changing primer brands has that big of an impact on velocity or accuracy. All it really does is ignite the powder. There is a much greater change in velocity with just 0.2 grains more powder than there is in a different brand of primer. In the grand scheme of what is going on inside a cartridge case upon firing the primer doesn't add nearly as much to the velocity of the bullet as the powder does. I highly doubt there will be any practical difference in accuracy either. I did testing years ago with standard and magnum primers in 357 with CCIs, Winchesters and Federals. The velocity differences aren't very significant between even standard and magnum primers. I was curious to see if there would be any difference between the two and if my loads would still be safe with the Remington primers. I can sleep better knowing that there really is no difference and it was all just a waste of time...