Using Federal 200 in place of Federal 100 Primers

[9mmepiphany]

With the current shortage of availability of Federal SPP, some pistol shooters are loading with Magnum SPP in 9mm and .38Spl for IDPA/USPSA competition.

One of the local guys, buyer for one of the local action pistol clubs, told me that the only difference in his testing has been a slight increase in velocity (~30fps) with the magnum primers. Most of the serious guys are loading Clays, TrailBoss, Bullseye, 231, N320, and HS-6.

Does anyone have any experience and/or horror stories about using Federal magnum SPP primers in place of regular SPP?

I'm only asking about Federal small pistol primers as they are just about unobtainable. CCI SPP are everywhere.
We're not talking about loading anything toward the upper end either, only pretty mild loads. As an example, my .38spl competition load is a 170gr Hi-Tek coated bullet over 3.0grs of Clays for a velocity under 700fps

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Why not just just use another brand of standard SPP?

From everything I've read magnum primers can raise pressures in small volume cases like the 9mm just like very small changes in bullet depth can. Since you are already using low pressure charges it should not effect your ammo as much.

 

[9mmepiphany]

Why not just just use another brand of standard SPP?

Do you have a suggestion as to a SPP that is as sensitive as the Federal?

While my tuned S&W M&P9 will pop CCI 500 primers all day long, my tuned Glock G34 won't (it was tuned when I bought it)...about 5-7% failure

I've never even heard of a suggestion to use another brand of primer in a competition tuned revolver. The common warning when having a revolver action tuned for competition is, "For Use with Federal Primers only"

 

[ArchAngelCD]

You didn't mention in your OP the tuned action. Sorry, no suggestions on an alternative primer, you are of course correct the Federal primers are most sensitive. No one wants to lose a competition because of the dreaded pop instead of bang. Sorry I can't help.

 

[9mmepiphany]

Sorry, I wasn't specific enough...my fault for presuming

It didn't occur to me that many folks shot competition with stock pistols

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Sorry, I wasn't specific enough...my fault for presuming

It didn't occur to me that many folks shot competition with stock pistols

Not totally your fault. I should have figured you were asking about Federal primers for your competition ammo for the obvious reason.

 

[GooseGestapo]

No problem with SPM. I shoot PPC and all my Revolvers are tuned for Federal. We likewise went through a primer shortage back during the Clinton administration and I bought 20,000 SPM. Didn't ever notice a difference.

 

[Walkalong]

I have never tried it, but many people used SPM of various makes during the shortages. Shouldn't hurt a thing with less that max loads. HS-6 likes them anyway.

You have to shoot large samples over the chrono back to back to really see the difference. 30 FPS is next to nothing. I can see that much difference shooting small batches (6 from a revolver) back to back sometimes.

 

[dgod]

I use CCI in place of Fed SPP all the time. In my book, SPP is SPP, there may be a slight velocity difference. Most of my Small Pistol is just plinking/Target shooting.

Good Luck,
Dan

 

[ray15]

Do you have a suggestion as to a SPP that is as sensitive as the Federal?

While my tuned S&W M&P9 will pop CCI 500 primers all day long, my tuned Glock G34 won't (it was tuned when I bought it)...about 5-7% failure

I've never even heard of a suggestion to use another brand of primer in a competition tuned revolver. The common warning when having a revolver action tuned for competition is, "For Use with Federal Primers only"

I've never quite understood why people often ride the ragged edge of dysfunction when it comes to spring selection. Would it really hurt the usability of your G34 to up the striker spring a half pound or a pound and get it reliable with CCI SPP? I know the G34 I recently dry fired was extremely unimpressive compared to my CZ P10-C - nothing a spring would fix. If you've got a G34 that is good I would think in similar fashion a little more striker spring wouldn't adversely affect your scores.

 

[9mmepiphany]

I've never quite understood why people often ride the ragged edge of dysfunction when it comes to spring selection.

It's just a game where we toy with gadgets because we can. It really isn't much different than folks who tune engines to optimize them for a limited rev range or cars who have their suspension set to maximize cornering at the expense of wear...like BMW's factory negative camber

Would it really hurt the usability of your G34 to up the striker spring a half pound or a pound and get it reliable with CCI SPP? I know the G34 I recently dry fired was extremely unimpressive compared to my CZ P10-C - nothing a spring would fix. If you've got a G34 that is good I would think in similar fashion a little more striker spring wouldn't adversely affect your scores.

It depends on the level to which it has been tuned. Changing springs in a semi-auto pistol is always a matter of balance. Folks who think they can just change one spring to make a pistol "work better" are sadly mistaken.

I've shot a number of highly tuned CZs and they have very nice triggers...I was amazed at how light the DA can be tuned. But I've also shot a number of G34s whose triggers rivaled that of good 1911s...I'm just unwilling to pay tuned CZ money for a tuned G34.

The question that I'm posing is really more about use in my revolver. I added the 9mm usage to the mix to solicit feedback in regards to it's smaller case capacity

 

[Walkalong]

.I'm just unwilling to pay tuned CZ money for a tuned G34

Amen to that.

 

[ray15]

It depends on the level to which it has been tuned. Changing springs in a semi-auto pistol is always a matter of balance. Folks who think they can just change one spring to make a pistol "work better" are sadly mistaken.

I would try a little more striker spring just to see, as it only takes a few dollars and minutes.

The question that I'm posing is really more about use in my revolver. I added the 9mm usage to the mix to solicit feedback in regards to it's smaller case capacity

Understood. But any supply of federal would seem to go further if it wasn't being fed to the 34.

To your analogy, I've bought and built hundreds of racing engines in my time, and even the best builder at times selects an imperfect compromise. One of the reasons I went to building my own, and in large numbers for others, was I found there wasn't necessarily any higher authority on race-day than I. In the end you don't know if it will tolerate more spring until you try, and in any sort of technology-based game the man that tries the most things wins.