Primers for my Garand

[Black-Four]

I am having a hard time finding anyone locally that stocks CCI #34 primers. In fact, most have never heard of them. One shop let me try to find them in their catalog and sure enough they were there listed in 'Specialty Primers' section. Only thing is, there was CCI #34 nato and M34 Mil Spec.

What is the difference? Which will be better in helping to prevent slam-fires?Why are the M34's about ten dollars more per thousand than the #34's?

Am I going to have to order these through the net and if so, what kind of charge am I going to incur for HAZMAT certificate?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Randall]

All I ever used in my Garand is regular CCI large rifle. I can just see a small dimple in the primer from the firing pin but have never had a slam fire.
Randall

 

[Steve in PA]

I've been using CCI #200 LR primers in my Garand for over two years. No need to use anything else.

The "M" might signify a Match Grade primer.

 

[jerryd]

The cci # 34 primers are for the M-1 and the M-14 the CCI #41 are for 5.56 or M-1 caebine, from what i read it has a harder shell to prevent slam fires! Never had it happen, got the primers on line cant remember where, same price as reg. primers or at least they were last year.

 

[30Cal]

I don't know many who shoot the M1/M14 that reload with the #34 (never seen them on a shelf anywhere). I use WLR primers. No troubles. I uniform my primer pockets so the primers are 0.008-0.012" below flush and always check for protruding primers.

Ty

 

[HSMITH]

Use normal primers and one day you will have a slam fire. I know guys with thousands and thousands of rounds through garands that have only used regular primers with no problem at all, but eventually their turn will come too.

I use the #34 primers, and the #41. I HATE CCI primers, but I have had slamfires with normal primers so the prudent thing to do is use the right primer for the job.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

Ok, lets look at the economics.

What does your Garand costs, say a grand? (sorry could not resist the pun).

The difference between the c-34 primers and normal magnums is only $2 per 1000 last time I bought them. That means you can buy 50 sleeves (1000/sleave) for the price of one high primer or slam fire. Remember slamfires are normally catastrophic failure for the gun and not to good on the shooter either.

In my case, I shoot M1A's. Normally you would expect that you are going to replace your barrel somewhere around 5,000 to 10,000 rnds for accuracy. This is only an additional 20$ for the safety and peace of mind that a harder primer buys. It sure seams worth it to me!


So, the next time you are cinched up in the sling and you are shooting offhand with your left hand supporting the magazine and for a split second you think about a slam fire, and you remember that slam fires normally push most of the gas and parts straight down and back.... Think to yourself that you saved $20 over the life of the barrel when they start calling you stubby.



Anyway, just kidding ya by the way. The c-34 is a good magnum primer and it works well in the M1A. It buys me peace of mind which in my opinion is the hardest part of target shooting to master. Good luck and hope you don't slam fire. The one slam fire I saw was really really impressive. Talk about complete destruction of an M1A. At least you could save the front sight and once they got the blood off the sling it was useable. Nothing else was.

 

[Steve in PA]

Gee, we have two groups.......

people who have had slam fires and have nothing good to say about CCI, and
others who use regular CCI primers, have no problems, no slam fires and have nothing but compliments about CCI.

I guess all those reloaders on the Garand type boards who use the regular primers don't kow what they are talking about.

I've been using nothing but CCI primers since I started reloading about 15 years ago. Small pistol, small pistol magnum, large pistol, large pistol magnum and large rifle. I can even begin to think of how many thousands upon thousands of primers I've gone through and never once have I encountered a problem.

I think CCI has proven itself to me, I'll stick with them.

One way to eliminate any possible danger of a slam fire is to make sure you have proper primer pocket depth (no high primers) which is the main cause of slam fires no matter what primer is being used. I'm willing to bet most M1 reloaders don't check this.