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Military primers!

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ms6852

ms6852

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What is a decent price for a box of 1000 military primers for a 5.56? My lgs has boxes available but are asking $39 for a box. I'm running low on cci primers and can't find it here or online. In the meantime I will continue to decap brass I have a couple of hundred pounds of brass to deprime while the panic subsides.
 
Way better price than I got my CCI 41s for. I payed 5.99/100 at the only lgs I've seen with them so far. $39 a case is the average price for all other primers in my area (at least SPP and SRP). I'd scoop those up in heartbeat if I were you. BTW if said shop has plenty would you mind PMing me the shop if it's in the Austin area?
 
Last time I bought CCI#41 primers from my local store the price was $35/K and that was just as the current shortage was hitting. $39/K doesn't sound bad at all.
 
bds said:
Midsouth has CCI #41 5.56 primers for $35.88/1000 - https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=000200001

Widener's has CCI #41 for $36/1000 - http://www.wideners.com/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=253&dir=278|284|316
and Wolf 223 SR primers for $23.50/1000 - http://www.wideners.com/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=7277&dir=278|284|737

Natchez has Tula SRM 5.56 NATO primers for $24.99/1000 - http://www.natchezss.com/product.cf...5.56 NATO Non-Corrosive Boxer Primer 1000/Box
Click to expand...
Yeah but when you add in the Hazmat and S&H they will cost you more than $39/K especially if you're not buying in bulk. Even if you bought 10K from Midsouth or Widener's they would still cost you just over $39/K with the fees added.

Now, a group buy is a totally different matter.
 
Yes. If you get a few reloaders to split the HazMat/Shipping charges, they become almost negligible.

Whenever I send out emails to reloaders I know for a group buy, they are almost always eager to join.

In fact, I am still using up the Wolf LP/223 primers I bought from a Powder Valley group buy during the last shortage. :D
 
Wolf Small Rifle Primer ( Part # QQQSR) - NEW

Wolf small rifle primers are now available in types.
SMALL RIFLE PRIMER (part # QQQSR) - Used as a standard small rifle primer. Perfect for the 30 carbine and 223 standard loads. Many people use this primer in bench and other loads for the 223. This primer is a copper colored primer.

SMALL RIFLE MAGNUM PRIMER (part# QQQSRM) - This is the primer we had before for use in the 5.56 loads and hot 223 loads. A thick cup for the higher pressure. We sold a lot of these primers earlier this year. The new lot is brass colored instead of nickel.

SMALL RIFLE 223 (part # QQQSR223) NEW NEW This is the newest primer available in the Wolf line. It is ever so slightly hotter than the small rifle magnum primer and it comes with a brass colored thick cup. This primer can be used in place of the SRM primer or used when a different powder is used that is hard to ignite.
Click to expand...
I bought 10K of the SRM Wolf primers for use in semi autos back when they were $14 per K (10 of 2012-[QQQSRM KVB-5.56M SMALL RIFLE MAGNUM PRIMERS (For use in 5.56 loads)]). I can't believe the price should have gone up that much since then, but perhaps it has. It beat the $30 per K they were charging for # 41s at the gun shows at the time. I am assuming the Tula linked to is the equivalent of these. The Wolf linked to is not clear which primer it is. Listed a bit different than the description below it.

The Wolf SRM (standard primer with thicker cup) has been working well for me in .223 and 300 BLK. In the future I would probably buy the newest version, which is a mag strength primer (Hotter) with the thicker cup, which for some strange reason they used "magnum" to describe, confusing things even more.

Anyway, I have had good luck with the Wolf primers and the Tula appear to be the same basic primers.

I do wish they would be more clear with their nomenclature, as they seem to mix and match the descriptors from time to time. :)

Determining what a good price on primers these days isn't easy, but I do believe they will catch up soon and some good deals will be had. Just gotta buy what we need and then stock up when the true sales finally come along.

I would love to see a reasonable price on the #41 come along.
 
Because they are less expensive, I've been thinking about trying some Wolf primers.

Their nomenclature is certainly confusing. "Thick cups" for "higher pressures." What? My peizos and strain gauges are in the shop for recal. How do I know when I have higher pressures?? For sure. I still look at/try to read primers but it's like a German Shepherd watching a color TV. "Powder that is hard to ignite"??? What's that? How do I know when I need a primer that is "ever so slightly hotter?" Is there a way to know? I've been using your basic American SRPs, whichever brand is on sale, and they always go bang no matter what kind of brass, bullet, or powder. No slam fires either. Have I been missing out? Inquiring minds want to know.
 
Sometimes mag primers are indicated in load books for ball powders, even in .223. I use both ball and stick powders for .223. For plinking loads with a 55 Gr FMJ it doesn't really seem to matter much which primer. I have used plenty of standard strength primers with ball powder and .223. If I am loading for accuracy, I am using stick powder anyway. If at the top of data, you may have to back off the charge a hair if using a mag primer.
 
I also have been using Wolf standard SR primers as I bought a "few" back when they were cheap. Also use Wolf SP and LP. Never had a problem, Out of thousands of rounds maybe one or two duds.

As to the Magnum primer for some powders in 223. Look at Speer for H335 they call for a mag primer but Hodgdon nor Hornady do?? I just loaded some light loads and used regular Win SR and they all went bang.

I wish they could just standardize all the primers like Win LP which can be magnum or regular.:banghead:
 
I have been using Wolf .223 SR with the thicker cup for the past 2 years or so. I bought 30k back when they were $14/k. I use them with my AR's and bolt rifles. I have gone through about 10k and have had NO FAILURES. Everyone has ignited so far anyway. I now buy nothing but Wolf. I have found no reason not to buy them. Saves $$$ and works great. An excellent combination in my book.
 
The Rifleman's Journal (a dedicated website for 1000 yard match shooting) did some primer comparison testing and the Russian Wolf/PMC primers performed quite well (many benchrest shooters like using Wolf primers) - http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2009/06/primers-small-rifle-primer-study.html

Wolf 223 primer testing - http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2010/08/primers-wolf-223-primer.html

Large primer testing - http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2009/06/primers-large-rifle-primer-study.html


While Winchester/CCI primers have been my primary primers for decades, I have bought/shot a lot of Wolf primers when they were $14/1K from Powder Valley and Tula primers since the previous "component shortage". I have found Wolf/Tula LP primer cups to be slightly larger in diameter and require a lot more effort to fully seat (.004" or below flush) in the primer pockets, especially in once fired cases (and would not be my first choice for Pro 1000 as Winchester/CCI/Magtech primers work MUCH better), but they have performed reliably and comparably to Winchester/CCI LP primers and good for extending life of LP cases with looser primer pockets.

I did run into a lot # of Tula SP primers that had particularly harder primer cups (nickel colored) that produced failures to ignite/light primer indentations shallower than Tula SR/223 primers and did some testing in this thread - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=7806985#post7806985

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I haven't bought any Wolf/Tula SP primers since the testing (I have plenty of Winchester/CCI/Magtech/PMC/Wolf/Tula/Fiocchi primers on hand) and may try some more in the future as I haven't seen many new threads that posted ignition issues with SP primers.
 
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If you haven't bought primers in 2-3 years, that may sound like a lot. If you've bought primers this year, that's just about the middle of the market. $32/1k is about the cheapest I've seen, with $45/1k being the top of the non-laughing-stock market (if you don't count marked-up individual trays). I remember seeing some guys asking $100/1k during the height of the panic, but that nonsense seems to be over re: primers.
 
I have used the Russian primers for about 10 years now, and have no complaints. Whether they are marketed as Wolf or Tula, they come from the same Russian factory and work well. My last purchase was of the Tula SMALL RIFLE PRIMER (part # QQQSR) which I use for cast bullet .30 Carbine loads. I have also used this primer in .357 Magnum loads using HS-6 powder, and my S&W 686 has no problem setting them off. I just placed an order which includes some of the SMALL RIFLE 223 (part # QQQSR223), and if they work in my 686, then they will become my primer for .357 Magnum loads using the harder to ignite HS-6 and IMR 4227 powders.

Don
 
I was at Cabela's last Thursday and they were well stocked with all sizes of primers. The price was around 39.00/K. I just received an email saying they are 15% off today and tomorrow. By my calculations that's $33.15/K. Mostly Winchester and CCI if I remember correctly.

Laphroaig
 
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