sauer1911 said:
I use CCI, Winchester, and Remington primers for large and small pistol primers.
what are the opinions on Wolf, S&B primers. Seem less expensive but Ive never used em.
I hand prime "must go bang" backup defensive rounds (I use factory JHP ammunition for SD/HD) and bench prime range practice rounds. CCI/Winchester have been my primary primers since I started reloading but during the last shortage, I have been using different brand primers also.
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CCI/Winchester SP/LP primers take minimal effort to hand/bench prime (even in primer sensitive Lee Pro 1000 press) and I trust them for defensive/match rounds that must go bang every time. Seating them in once-fired and S&B/RWS cases with tighter primer pockets takes slightly more effort.
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Wolf/Tula Russian primers, especially LP primers, have slightly larger diameter cups and they take more effort to seat them. When bench priming, especially on the Pro 1000, these primers give the most trouble as they will take more care to feed/seat reliably. For once-fired brass with tighter primer pockets, I really have to press hard on the ram lever to just get them flush. Trying to seat them in even tighter S&B/RWS primer pockets will only result in high primers and applying more force will flatten the cups above flush. Wolf/Tula with S&B/RWS cases is a "NO GO" for me.
However, the larger diameter cups are good for extending the life of older cases with loose primer pockets - always a silver lining to a dark cloud.
Not sure if the issue of harder cups have been resolved in newer lot # of Wolf/Tula SP primers failing to ignite but I ran into issues with Tula SP (silver/nickel colored) primers not reliably igniting and discussed in depth on this thread -
http://www.thehighroad.org/showpost.php?p=7794378&postcount=26
As to performance, Wolf/Tula LP brass colored primers have always been reliable for me but due to seating/high primer issues, I only use them for range practice rounds and not for defensive rounds.
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PMC Russian NT (Non-Toxic) SP primers have lighter brass colored cups that are softer and I can seat them below flush (Even when hand priming, I can readily flatten the cups). Bench priming on the Pro 1000 is OK with occasional feeding/seating issues and I can seat the softer primers to below flush even in once-fired cases (S&B/RWS cases take more effort with flattening of cups). Primer flash must be smaller as I need to use slightly more powder (about .2 gr more) of W231/HP-38 to equal the performance of CCI/Winchester 9mm/40S&W/45ACP loads. Reliability has been 100% with no failure to ignite issues. I use them for range practice rounds but if I needed to, I would be comfortable using them for defensive/match rounds that must go bang.
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Magtech Brazilian SP silver/nickel colored primers are comparable in size to CCI/Winchester and hand/press prime just as well. For Pro 1000, they are the best feeding primers I have used and can seat them in once-fired and S&B/RWS cases like CCI/Winchester primers. They have been 100% reliable with no need to adjust powder charge compared to CCI/Winchester. Since I can seat them fully below flush (.004") to properly set the anvil tip against the priming compound, I would trust these primers for defensive/match rounds that must go bang.
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Fiocchi Italian SP silver/nickel colored primers are slightly larger than CCI/Winchester and take more effort to seat them. Bench priming on the Pro 1000 is on par with Tula SP primers and I can usually hope for only flush seated primers (when I run my finger tip over the primers, I will find occasional high primers that I have seat again to flush). Applying more force to seat them below flush will flatten cups. Even though I can only seat them to flush, they have been 100% reliable so far with no need to adjust powder charge compared to CCI/Winchester and I currently only use them for range practice rounds.
If you are having issues with bench priming on the Pro 1000, I would suggest you not use Wolf/Tula/Fiocchi primers and try CCI/Winchester/Magtech primers instead - it will definitely improve your reloading experience and all of your rounds are more likely to go BANG.