Testing Primers

[Ganderite]

If you have 2 or 3 different primers and want to know how they compare, you can test them yourself.

All you need is a digital camera and a dark room.

Use the auto focus light (room lights off) on the camera to focus on the muzzle. Holding the camera button part way to lock in the focus, get ready to trip the shutter and then pull the trigger. The camera shutter will want to stay open several seconds (because it is so dark) so it is easy to shoot while the shutter is open.

For testing rifle primers, I load them in a pistol cases, so as to see a better muzzle flash.

Primers are not all the same:

 

[0faustus0]

Ganderite, I love it ..... !! Great pictures .... Thanks for sharing.

Now I am wondering how I could do that for 209 shotshell primers ..... hmmmmm ... ??

How could I easily "fire" 209 primers without a shotgun ..... and to take those pictures??

I mean if I "fire" them with a shotgun .... lets say a 28" or 30" barrel ... most of what you see on those pictures will happen inside the barrel ... right?

 

[Hitzy]

I've been using the Dominion LR primers for a few years now, not sure if the same as Wolf, but they are a cooler primer. I won't use them with ball powders at all, but they do well with extruded.

 

[The Outsider]

Nice...

I've seen a couple of similar studies online, here's one...

https://www.6mmbr.com/primerpix.html

 

[BigRobb]

Super cool test! I was planning on using Winchester magnum lr primers in my new 6.5 Creedmoor brass. It looks plenty hot! I wonder how they compare to the cci and federal offerings?

 

[JohnnyPython]

Wow! That’s an awesome experiment. Thanks for posting.

 

[300_savage]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing. Surprisinghow the wolf is that much different than the other lr primers tested.

 

[macaufoto]

Thanks, will try something similar

 

[BRDAVISAUTOREPAIR]

That is Myth Buster level stuff good job and thanks!!!

 

[Ganderite]

Super cool test! I was planning on using Winchester magnum lr primers in my new 6.5 Creedmoor brass. It looks plenty hot! I wonder how they compare to the cci and federal offerings?

The Creedmoor is not a big case. The Winchester standard primer is a hot primer, designed to ignite ball powders (Winchester ammo was loaded with Olin ball powders). A standard Winchester primer would do fine, as would a standard Federal.

 

[Ganderite]

Ganderite, I love it ..... !! Great pictures .... Thanks for sharing.

Now I am wondering how I could do that for 209 shotshell primers ..... hmmmmm ... ??

How could I easily "fire" 209 primers without a shotgun ..... and to take those pictures??

I mean if I "fire" them with a shotgun .... lets say a 28" or 30" barrel ... most of what you see on those pictures will happen inside the barrel ... right?

If you shoot 209s in a 14" barrel you might see flame.

I will try it and see.

 

[wasa]

Thank you for this. Much appreciated real world results.

 

[JEC]

Test results I would be interested in ... would be which primer actually produces best accuracy. It is quite possible that a bigger/longer flame cone may not be best for producing best results.

 

[BigRobb]

Test results I would be interested in ... would be which primer actually produces best accuracy. It is quite possible that a bigger/longer flame cone may not be best for producing best results.

That will be different for every rifle/load. This simply shows which is “hotter”

 

[Andy]

That will be different for every rifle/load. This simply shows which is “hotter”

It doesn't even show that - it just shows which primer throws the longer/larger flame out of the particular barrel being used. Where it matters is immediately in front of the primer where it meets the powder. For these tests to be meaningful, they need to be correlated to testing of loaded rounds.

 

[BigRobb]

It doesn't even show that - it just shows which primer throws the longer/larger flame out of the particular barrel being used. Where it matters is immediately in front of the primer where it meets the powder. For these tests to be meaningful, they need to be correlated to testing of loaded rounds.

I think you’re over complicating this test. It’s a primer test. The way the flash affects the load is obviously where you would go from this test. Good info here.

 

[1-trident-1]

is it possible for powder not to burn completely?

 

[bertn]

Ganderite, I love it ..... !! Great pictures .... Thanks for sharing.

Now I am wondering how I could do that for 209 shotshell primers ..... hmmmmm ... ??

How could I easily "fire" 209 primers without a shotgun ..... and to take those pictures??

I mean if I "fire" them with a shotgun .... lets say a 28" or 30" barrel ... most of what you see on those pictures will happen inside the barrel ... right?

Perhaps try to drill out the base of the handgun brass to fit a 209 in there.
Wouldn't be too hard so worth a try.

If it doesn't work then you are out one piece of brass and a few minutes of your time so no big deal.

 

[stubblejumper]

Nice pictures, I have used Winchester primers in the past, but not since the issues where they ruptured , leaving craters in the bolt face.

 

[Ganderite]

Nice pictures, I have used Winchester primers in the past, but not since the issues where they ruptured , leaving craters in the bolt face.

Yes, me too. I used mostly Federal 210 and the Winchester standard for extruded and ball powders for years. Until Winchester started having QC issues.

One time I could not locate 40,000 Federal primers for a batch of 308 match ammo loaded with RL15, so I used the Winchester standard. Only difference was the Winchester increased velocity by 25 fps. There was no noticeable difference in accuracy, SD or ES.