Primers

[sauer1911]

I use CCI, Winchester, and Remington primers for large and small pistol primers.

Preferred in that order.

what are the opinions on Wolf, S&B primers. Seem less expensive but Ive never used em.

All opinions good or bad welcomed.

be safe

 

[Reefinmike]

I have em all besides remington on my shelf. I use em all interchangeably... Maybe I could tell a difference in a ransom rest... not in my hands. They all go bang.

 

[45lcshooter]

I haven't dealt with Wolf or S&B. I had a couple buddies that used them, and they said they had more FTF than any other brand. You would have to see work loads because those primers to me have a smaller charge than, CCI and Rem.

 

[Nordeste]

I use S&B for 9 mm. No problem at all. They're actually a bit softer than CCI and cheaper.

 

[NeuseRvrRat]

i use Tula small rifle primers in .30 carbine. i haven't had any issues. i think they're the same as Wolf.

 

[cowtownup]

I have been using some S&B fir 40 S&W and they are softer than CCI primers. When I seat the primer with my hand primer I can notice some indent on the primer face. Nothing huge, but noticeable. I have probably shot about 5000 of these S&B small pistol primers and had about 15-20 that did not go off on first strike of the firing pin.. They all did go off on second strike however. At the price I paid for them and the kind of plinking I do, they work great. Seems like I got 10k for about $200 so it was a good deal...

 

[USSR]

Never used S&B primers, but the Wolf/Tula primers are very good. They are just a bit larger and seat with just a bit more resistance, but that's okay.

Don

 

[Walkalong]

had about 15-20 that did not go off on first strike of the firing pin.. They all did go off on second strike however.

Then they were not seated all the way to the bottom of the primer pocket.

I haven't used any S&B primers, but know folks who have with zero problems. I have shot a couple thousand Wolf primers with no issues.

 

[sexybeast]

My favorites are CCI, Federal, or Remington. If I can find one of those three right now I am happy. Winchester is a distant fourth because of more ftf than the others.
I gladly use Wolf/Tula in my hammer fired guns, fewer FTF than winchesters in my striker fired. Also got real lucky in 2012 and picked up 25k for $15/box.
I've never used or seen S&B on the shelves or online for sale. Another option would be magtech primers, I've seen them once at a store. I also think Grafs sells them online too.

 

[pb803]

S&B.......I have been loading 9mm for about a yr. I have loaded, and fired, easily 10,000 rounds of 9mm with no problems or ftf. They seat very well on my 650.
imo.....a very good primer at a lower price.

 

[dbmjr1]

I use Tula Ammo, same as Wolf, and CCI primers. I have no failures to fire with either. Over my chronograph you can tell no difference in velocity variances for my loads. The CCI primers seem to be a bit hotter, a bit more velocity, so they may work better with powders like trail boss, or compressed loads.

Some people report that Tula Ammo/Wolf LPP's are a bit over sized and difficult to seat completely. I have not experienced this in my press.

Over all, I recommend the Russian primers. They are much more economical and work fine for me. However; If you have a pistol that requires soft primers for reliable ignition, you should probably stick with Federal primers.

 

[JRH6856]

I've never had a problem or complaint about S&B (halfway through my 2nd thousand) and I have a couple of friends who say the same about Wolf.

 

[medalguy]

I've used all those brands with the exception of S&B. In years gone by, I used to always work up a new load when changing primer brands, even lot numbers of primers way back when I first started reloading, but after about 40 years of doing this, I finally decided there wasn't any good reason to have to spend the time developing a new load since they always came out exactly the same. Now I just use whatever primers I have or can find.

 

[Ifishsum]

CCI is by far my first preference, probably because they seem to be the most available here in the NW (last year's madness aside). I have used a few hundred Wolf SR-M primers so far with no problems, haven't had to try any others.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I use nothing but large and small Tula in handguns. Never had an issue in thousands of them...I am glad I stocked up at $20 per 1k a couple of years ago.

 

[LiveLife]

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.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.