moooose102,
I haven't done the same test on Large Pistol Primers, since all my guns that use them have strong hammer springs. I've got several handguns that have had action jobs that require Small Pistol primers and won't reliably ignite anything except Federal and MagTech primers. They will set those two brands off each and every time, but put CCI primers in those same guns and I'm lucky to get about 90% ignition. That won't do for matches at all, since there are no ammunition alibis.
I would suspect that the results would be similar, though, if a test were conducted. The main thing is to make sure your primers are seated correctly. I try for about .004" below flush, but some primer pockets and primers won't allow for that depth without crushing the primer somewhat. At the very least, that must be flush or preferably below flush when seated. You have to seat the anvil properly when priming, or no primer will go off, no matter what the brand. For that reason, I don't prime on my progressive presses. I prep and prime in separate steps, and then when I run the brass through the progressive, I'm dealing with sized and primed brass that I KNOW will go off when hit by the firing pin.
I just had this discussion with some fellow shooters and they commented that I was going to a lot more trouble than they were in loading my match ammunition, but they just had misfires during a match. I asked my shooting partner, who happens to be my wife, when the last time was that she had a misfire. She told them she had never had a misfire in all the thousands of rounds she's fired, and they commented that maybe it was worth it after all. They had both been having problems with misfires, and they load everything on their progressive presses and never clean primer pockets. I clean them all, period.
If you have a S&W revolver that uses large pistol primers, you can back off the strain screw and test them for yourself. It doesn't take long to do, and you can do it in your garage.
Hope this helps.
Fred
