MAGNUM primers question.

I just use magnum primers in everything. ranges from cast bullets in a 44-40 10k psi to my 460 weatherby at 64k psi

If it takes a rifle primer it get a magnum. Start at the start load work your way up.

I only did it as the store was out of LRP so i bought 10k LMP and that what i use now.
 
You left out an important part of Laury testing :
4B369BA4-1ACE-4402-8726-3B294D368FB8.jpg

As he stated - velocity is far from being the story.
Check Magnum primer.. were they stand.

For hunting load - range paper punching and plinking who care..but if you shoot PRS up to 1600 yards like my buddies are doing..it is very important. No lousy mill spec primer or magnum.

I shoot Benchrest - group and score in two class, before the ban, AR15, AR10 and MIA to 1000 yards. On those calibers - no primer designated as magnum made the grade.

And military ammo..well ..nobody in is right mind will use that for any precision shooting or competition. Even the US Army team get their ammo reloaded by their armorers.

If magnum primer were the solution and the performer, they will be in all loaded cartridge by all manufacturer who produce ball powder, and we will not have this post..
 

Attachments

  • 4B369BA4-1ACE-4402-8726-3B294D368FB8.jpg
    4B369BA4-1ACE-4402-8726-3B294D368FB8.jpg
    32.7 KB · Views: 156
Last edited:
What an impressive level of stubbornness. At least it's easy to see the low level of knowledge as well. Saying magnum primers aren't popular with precision shooting proves it. We already went over the popularity of mag primers with ammo producers, not sure why you went there again.
 
yomomma said:
Our local powder guru, Ganderite, should be by shortly. He usually says ball powder is harder to ignite.
Click to expand...

Bought some powder about 5-6 years ago.. He has probably forgotten more knowledge about reloading then most on here will ever learn. When he speaks I listen closely because he has the knowledge and years of experience very few will ever have!
 
mimile said:
Ganderite,
Quite often I watch GunBlue490 on youtube. He said that magnum primers are not needed, even for ball powders, unless you use more than 60 grains of powder. Do you agree with this statement?
Click to expand...

I tend to believe what I can see and touch.

I make 223 ammo with a light load for CQB shooting (25 yards). 55 gr bullet and H335 or BLC2 powder. If I don't use a magnum primer, I get misfires. I had 500 rounds loaded with standard primers and I did not wnat to tear it all down.

I ran it through my press and gave it all a severe crimp. That made it much better.

Later batches were made with magnum primers and a light crimp and I got 100% ignition.

I have had bad experiences with 8mm Mauser and 3006 with light bullets and ball powder. Only a magnum primer would work.

I have never had a similar problem when using extruded powders.

My experience leads to my beliefs..

The writer who said magnum primer not needed unless over 60 grains may have experience with heavy bullets in ammo with a good crimp. That would probably work just fine.

You trust your own experience, too. If you have never had a problem using stnd primers, you may be comfortable using them in the future. BUT, what you don't know is how close you are to a failure. Your ignition might be 150% of what is required. Or it might be 105%. We can't tell.

I know some of my ammo is about 101% of good ignition because I get the occasional misfire. So I solve the problem by using Winchester or a magnum primer.

When you play with various variables, you can induce a problem. Reducing the hammer spring power, for example, can lead to misfires. With a given gun that HAS to work ALL the time, the way to test the hammer spring power to to load some ammo with a thicker cup than usual, and see if it still fires. If it does, you are good to go with regular primers. If you get some misfires, you know that even though your regular primers work 100%, there is not a lot of extra power in reserve.

I test my 9mm pistols and 38 revolvers with ammo loaded with small rifle primers. If they work 100%, I know I am good to go.

If you load rifle ammo with ball powder and regular primers, you are avoiding an easy safety margin for better ignition. Your ignition might be 150% of what is required. Or it might be 105%. You can't tell.

I learn most of the hard lessons the hard way.

If your rifle misfires on a hunt:

--You miss the kill shot.

--The bullet might be pushed into the rifling by the primer power, plugging the barrel.

--When you open the bolt, the case can spray ball powder into the (oily) action.


This situation is hard to rectify in the field. Don't ask me how I know...
 
Last edited:
Ganderite said:
I tend to believe what I can see and touch.
Click to expand...

There's a whole lot of good stuff, right there.

I would add that, in my view, unless using a federal primer degrades the grouping of your best load for that bullet and rifle, why would you NOT use a magnum primer - particularly in a hunting rifle?

Given the total cost of a reloaded round, how much do you save using a standard versus magnum primer?
 
If you have never had a problem, then you tend to think there is no problem.

But you might be close to having a problem, and not see it. The problem might show up one day, at a very inconvenient time.

Working in a ballistic lab, one can see that a primer might be marginal, even though every round goes bang. This would show up as occasional low pressure rounds. (A weak striker spring can cause the same problem, too. This may be worsened in cold weather if there is any oil or grease.)


If this 20 round test was your ammo, you might want to repeat it with a hotter primer. The velocity variations are too big, 49,000 to 63,000 psi. (In this case, it is probably just poor quality ammo.)

By the way, you can see why I chime in here when someone posts that NATO ammo is lower pressure than 308 commercial. Look at the pressures.

dwBAh9I.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom