shotgun primer question

[wankerjake]

Hey fellas, I'm posting this for my dad, he just started reloading shotgun shells and he has a question. He wants to know if it is ok to load winchester 209 primers in place of federal 209A primers. Apparently the only difference between the two loads is the make of hull (Win or Fed) and the type of wad. Shot weight is the same and powder charge is the same between the loads, and he wants to know if the primers are interchangeable. Apparently shotgun reloading is way more picky than for handguns, and I know nothing about it...but I bet someone here does! Thanks for the advice in advance guys
-jake

 

[RyanM]

Absolutely not. Shotgun primer brands are completely different from each other, unlike metallic primers. In fact, every single component should be considered completely different, when loading shotshells. They can be very unforgiving.

 

[wankerjake]

yeah, that is what he thought. My experience is only with metallic primers so that is why i posted. Thanks you for the advice!

 

[Zeede]

Actually overall shotgun reloading is a breeze compared to metallic. Unless you spill a lot of shot

Some of the primers are similar in brisance, but you generally should not mix them unless you find recipes that use both. If you list your components I can check my various reloading manuals for you.

Cameron

 

[fecmech]

In general the Win 209 primer is a milder primer than the Fed 209A and should not get you into trouble with a few caveats. If the load recipe with either primer was at or near the max safe pressure I would be hesitant to switch primers. If on the other hand the recipe was say a 1 oz. 12 ga. load showing a 9000 psi. pressure with the Fed 209a and I had the Win 209 I would not hesitate to use it.

 

[Steve C]

Shotgun loads recipes need to be followed to the letter, there's no development, no testing for pressure signs, or any of the other stuff you need to do for metalic loads.

Generally there is data for varying types of primers for each brand of case and wad type so if you want to load with the Federal primer find the load data that shows it and use that data exactly. Often if you intend to keep the same wad and case combo a change in primer could require a different powder charge or may change your load class a bit (IE go from a 3 dram to 3-1/4 dram).

An example from Alliants on line data would be loading a 12ga 1-1/8 oz load in Winchester hulls using a Win 209 primer with Versalite wad and Red Dot powder the data says to use 16.5grs for 1,090 fps 18grs for 1,145 fps and 19grs for 1,200 fps.

Switching to the data using a Fed 209a primer in Winchester hulls with Vesalite wad, 1-1/8 oz load of shot, Red Dot powder the data lists 17.0grs for 1,145 fps and 18grs for 1,200 fps. Pressure with the 19grs load using the Winchesters 209 primer is 9,700 psi while Pressure with the Federal 209A primer and 18grs is 10,700 psi, a SIGNIFICANT INCREASE, THUS the reason to find the proper recipe and not just changing primers on a whim.

 

[ants]

I checked the handbooks

As fecmech suggests, it is commonly published that Federal shotshell primers result in more pressure (all other things equal) than Winchester. Many manuals warn against going from Win to Fed, but going from Fed to Win is OK. (To be absolutely clear, if you have a published load that calls for Federal 209A primers it is generally considered acceptable to use Win 209 as a substitute. But never use a Fed 209A as a substitute for the others.)

This is published in my Lee and Lyman handbooks. I haven't checked other published sources, but you might do so if you have other handbooks.

ON THE OTHER HAND why don't you just look up the dang load data for Win 209 primers? Every powder manufacturer has a listing for its powder with Win primers, I guarantee it. Tell your good friend not to be lazy, look up the data for Win 209 and use it!

It's not brain science, or rocket surgery, you know. And it doesn't take an Alfred Einstein to figure it out.