PMC primer and spherical powder

[jmalys]

Hello everyone, I have been having some failure to cycle (.40 S&W with AA #7) and some weak recoil (.357 mag with Ramshot enforcer) with PMC heavy metal free SP primers.

After some research,
my first though is I should switch to SP magnum primers for the .357 AND..

Switch to a faster burning powder for the .40 cal which I am thinking will ignite easier with the (weak) PMC primers.

Does this sound logical? Just wanted to get some opinions, as I am new to reloading.

Thanks!

 

[rcmodel]

I have never used any PMC primers, lead-free or other wise.
But in general, lead-free primers are more powerful then standard primers.

That's why all the ammo companies had to change to Small Pistol primers & huge flash holes in calibers normally using Large Pistol primers in the clean ammo.

Excessive force was causing gun damage from breach face peening from primer set-back with Lg Pistol lead-free primers.

No mention on what your loads are, but I would think the primers are not the cause of your cycling problems if the rounds go off and don't leave half the powder unburned in the gun.

I guess the only sure way to tell would be to use some normal primers with the same loads and see if the problems go away or not.

rc

 

[LiveLife]

I have done side by side comparison with PMC and Winchester/MagTech/Wolf primers and found I need 2/10 grain more charge to equal the same performance.

This applies to PMC primers marked with "E" on the primer cup.

Otherwise accurate and reliable.

 

[jmalys]

loads

Sorry.. the loads were 8.8grains AA #7 with a 165 grain jacketed bullet for the .40 cal (some unburned powder balls were discovered in barrel/action with this load)

14 grains ramshot enforcer with 158 gr. hornady hp xtp bullet. (some of the powder was left unburned with this load on a couple (out of 30)

All were PMC SP lead free primers (with the E on the bottom). Thanks!!

 

[jmalys]

Bump

Any other comments/thoughts would be great, I am just getting a little discouraged with the above mentioned faults being a new comer and all!! :banghead:

I suppose this is what reloading entails though; trial and error?

Thanks!

 

[ReloaderFred]

The PMC lead free primers were made in Russia, before the company folded up shop in Boulder City, NV, and sold the name to the current PMC company in Korea.

Some fellow shooters have been using them, and they all cuss them regularly. One guy tossed all he had left of a case of them in the trash, since he was getting squibs and hangfires with them with a known powder charge he had been using for years, and the powder was the same lot he had been using before trying the PMC primers.

I too didn't believe that primers could cause squib loads until these guys pretty much proved that it was happening and that the NT PMC primers weren't igniting the powder properly. Once they changed back to Federal and Winchester primers, the problems went away.

My advice is to change primers and see if that makes a difference.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[LiveLife]

I see that you may have an underlying problem. The problem you experience maybe primarily due to the slower burning powder your are using from your other thread: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=504089

If you have a supply of PMC SP primers already, try a faster burning powder like Winchester 231/Hodgdon HP38. For shorter barrel subcompact loads, I like to use Alliant Bullseye. Once you use up the supply of PMC, I recommend you switch to Winchester/CCI primers unless you can't find them - then Wolf (BTW, Wolf/PMC primers are a bit larger than Win/CCI).

If you are still having ignition problems using W231/HP38/Bullseye at moderate loads, THEN I would suspect the PMC primers.

For those that experienced problem with PMC primers, could it be that they are more susceptible to moisture? I usually put some desiccant or some uncooked rice in a cloth bag with the primers to keep them dry.

I have not experienced any problem with PMC primers other than they require 2/10 grain more powder charge of W231/HP38 to match the load performance of Winchester/MagTech/Wolf primers.

Let us know how things work out! I almost moved to Santa Rosa 20 years ago ... wish I did.

 

[jmalys]

Unique

Ok so I got my hands on some unique, so.... while not as fast burning as WIN 231 of H38, it should be quite a bit better than #7 with a 3" barrel.

I will use the rest of my 165 grain copper plated and then acquire some lighter 155 grain loads and see how that goes. I have like 900 PMC primers left so I sure hope the faster burning powder does the trick..

I will start with 6.5 grains of unique I think. Thanks again everyone!