Primer problem

pacobillie

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In May, I bought some Sellier & Bellot large rifle primers and magnum large rifle primers from X-Reload. All that they had in stock was S&B, which I was not familiar with. I bought 300 of each. The regular LR primers are good and give satisfactory results. Not so the magnum LR primers! I loadec a bunch of 6.5x55 using a ball powder this week. As with all ball powders, I always use magnum primers. What was normally a goodnaccurate load opened up to several inches. More importantly, I had two pierced primers out of the first four cartridges. I stopped shooting and am going to pull the bullets, empty the cases and Re-prime withmy usual Federal 215M.

Strangely, the magnum primers were cheaper than the regular ones. The quality certainly reflected that.
 
I find their pistol primers and small rifle to be excellent. Never ventured into the Large rifle yet. But that doesn't sound good. Did you reduce the load a bit for the new component?
 
I find their pistol primers and small rifle to be excellent. Never ventured into the Large rifle yet. But that doesn't sound good. Did you reduce the load a bit for the new component?

I did not reduce the load, since I was already using a fairly hot magnum primer. I any event, the load was not maxed out and there were no pressure signs. This is not a pressure issue. The firing pin just punched a perfect round hole through the primer cup, as if the cup material was brittle.

I also fired other loads primed with CCI primers, to confirm that the firing pin was not at fault.
 
Check the primer packaging. Might be pistol primers.

I have had good results with all flavours of S&B.

At the top of the face of the carton, it says Large Rifle Magnum (5.3 Boxer)

Black carton, with a beige stripe at the top.

Lower down, it says " for rifle, pistol or revolver cartridges" but there is the same phrase on the LR (non magnum primers) and those were not problematic.

Those might be some kind of supposedly universal primers! That could explain it!

I just took some cup height measurements (in inches):

CCI: large pistol primer: .1205"
S&B LRM primer: .1235
S&B LR primers: .1255
Federal 210 LR primer: .1265

The S&B LRM are between the LP and LE primers in terms of cup height.
 
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I just looked at the brick of small pistol ones on the shelf here, and I don't see an equivalent model number either

Clint
 
I see neither of these numbers on the carton.

Here is a link to a picture of the same carton of primers
I have some LP's here in similar boxes. Only the large prints under the S&B name differ and say Large Pistol. So yours should be for Rifle.

It is not super wise to mix Rifle and Handguns on a Large primer package, as taller Rifle primers could slam fire in a pistol. Maybe their marketing department is not the only one who got confused.
 
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