Funny primer story

[gspn]

Like everyone else in the world I've been trying for months to get some primers. I got my rifle reloading gear over the summer and I've not been able to get ANY primers. None.

One of my inquiries was a weekly call to the local bass pro shops. Every week I call and ask for Large Rifle Magnum Primers and every week they tell me they don't have any.

So I'm up there yesterday to pick up some things and I ask about primers. He asks what I'm looking for and I tell him I'm looking for the impossible...Large Rifle Magnum Primers. He takes me down to where they keep the primers (behind the counter) and lays them all out in front of me...4 boxes total. He looks at them all good and hard and he says "nope...all we've got is mediums". Then he walks off.

I'm scratching my head now..."MEDIUM" rifle magnum primers...never heard of such. So I look at the box and he's got 400 Remington "9 1/2 M" Magnum Primers. He thought the "M" stood for medium. There is no telling how many times they had Remington "9 1/2 M" primers and they told me they didn't have large rifle magnum primers.

I guess it's funny now that I've got some primers. Reloaded two boxes of 7 mag...will get a chance to test them this weekend in between hunts.

 

[Randy1911]

It goes to show you how uneducated some clerks are. They should at least train the in the producuts they sell.

 

[helg]

A medium is a person who it is said can pass messages between the living and the dead.

 

[qajaq59]

Good thing you happened to go, or you'd be my age before you got any primers. ha ha

 

[stork]

They live among us.

I work a few hours a week at a local sporting goods store. The lack of reloading knowledge by these 'Gun Specialists' never ceases to amaze me. I have tried to put on reloading clinics but it seems to be a waste of time. Unless the person has a passion for exacting the best possible accuracy out of a firearm AND will actively pursue that end with careful and continual reloading experiences they do not retain the information. They just want to stand next to the firearms and sell anything to anyone that can qualify on a 4473. Maybe I would have a different attitude if I had to earn my living at what I sold there, but it really irks me.

FWIW

 

[Marlin 45 carbine]

some years back I was attending an LEO pistol class before qualifying (it was voluntary and the fellow instructing wasn't a real expert but knew his shooting) and one of the attendees asked a question during a discussion on shooting handlaods. he asked if filling the case with C4 (plastic explosive) when handloading would 'give higher velocitys' dead serious he was.

 

[GaryL]

one of the attendees asked a question during a discussion on shooting handlaods. he asked if filling the case with C4 (plastic explosive) when handloading would 'give higher velocitys' dead serious he was

Proper reply: In all directions

 

[Rollis R. Karvellis]

No, becuse an electrical charge is needed to detonate C4.

 

[jojo200517]

The lack of knowledge of clerks is the fault of the companies they work for in my opinion. They are just there trying to make a living and if they get it wrong its not there problem in a lot of cases.

No, becuse an electrical charge is needed to detonate C4.

C4 can be detonated by impact, try smashing some with a hammer on a hard surface. Basically the electric charge initiates a blasting cap by igniting a more sensitive explosive material by resistance heating of a thin wire or ignition of an electric match. This small explosion provides the energy required for the less sensitive explosive (ie C4) to detonate.

A lit fuse style blasting cap would set it off also using the same principles.

Now as for cramming it in a primed handgun round and firing it? If the primer provided enough energy to detonate it real bad stuff would more than likely happen. One thing for sure is that there would be MANY times as much energy given off by the C4 than gun powder. Too much pressure and its gonna get out some how. If it doesn't happen to blow the pistol, and your hand to smithereens then yeah you will have an epic amount more muzzle velocity. No pistols are built to withstand the kinds of pressure that would be created tho, and you would have a GLOCK automatic hand remover.