Primer Test

[Ganderite]

I just discovered a new pistol was getting a lot of misfires. My ammo is loaded with Tula brand primers (Russian). I have used about 10,000 of these this year in pistol and rifle, without a single misfire until this gun.

I thought this would be a good opportunity to compare the various primers I have on hand. I know the federal brand primers are more sensitive than others, so I hoped these would solve the misfire issue.

I also have just picked up 10,000 S&B primers and have yet to fire a single one of them, so this would be a good time to test them, too.

I loaded 10 rounds each of the various primers and shot them in the problem pistol (a FMK).

Test results. here are the rounds that did not go BANG.

Tula - 5/10 misfires

Federal 0 misfires

Selleir & Belot 3/10 misfires

CCI 1/10 Misfires

Winchester 1/10 Misfires

Federal uses a more sensitive compound. Not surprised it all fired. Keep them in mind if you ever have ammo that HAS to go bang when needed.

primers are not all the same. They vary in sensitivity and in power. To examine power, I loaded them in a revolver and shot them in the dark.

Vhitivouri small pistol

Federal small pistol

 

[Spawn-Inc]

with that many fails i would say it's your gun and not your primers, although it's still a good test to show just how easily fed's go off.

 

[Old Ranger]

Excellant reminder as well to keep the Fed's out of Garands, M14's and SKS's

 

[supernova]

I have to agree with Spawn-inc, I think there may be an issue with the pistol. Possibly a worn hammer spring or gunked up/worn firing pin? The test certainly shows exactly what you set out to test though and the info is useful.

 

[CanAm]

tula has different hardnesses. what is the part number?

 

[Ganderite]

tula has different hardnesses. What is the part number?

Tula KVB-9


I did not clean or lube the gun when I got it. It was used, so I assumed it was not full of grease.

I will rinse the slide assembly with some brake cleaner then lube with some G-96 and try the Tula ammo again. I make large quantities of ammo and mark the containers which guns they fit. It will not be much of an issue to make a few tubs of ammo with federal primers and mark them for the FMK. I still have to test the gun with several bullets and powders charges with each.

So far, the 125 gr LRN with 3.3gr of TiteGroup works OK.

 

[bigedp51]

Excellant reminder as well to keep the Fed's out of Garands, M14's and SKS's

The Federal primers are not the only small rifle primers with cups on the thin side, and what should be remembered is what cartridges the primers were designed for. And all the large rifle primers have the same cup thickness and were designed for higher pressures.

Or do you think Federal ammunition is loaded with Remington primers?