Ok, I thought this was just fascinating, and I don't really understand why this is the case. I was out at the range this morning testing some loads, and one of the test was mainly to check for differences in velocity and durability of primers. The primers I was testing was the CCI BR2 and the Remington 9.5M in 308 Win.
Regarding durability, I was mainly doing so for finding a load my rifle wouldn't pierce (also a part of providing evidence for warranty repairs). Regarding accuracy though, this is where things got interesting. My loads were with the Barnes 130 grain TSX bullet and Varget gun powder. As expected, my accuracy was awesome with all the match stuff. Hornady 308 match brass, never fired, CCI BR2 primer, balance beam measured loads and COAL's measured within +- 0.001". I was typically getting around 1 to 1.5 MOA accuracy. Not too bad for the Kel Tec RFB.
Now switch to Remington 9.5M. Same powder loads, brass and seating depth as the CCI primed cartridges, but a very different result. Typically, for the same load, I was getting slightly higher velocities, but only by an average of about 10 fps, though things were a little more erratic. My accuracy went down the pooper and in a big way. IT was consistently like this too.
Consistently, I can get within 1.5 MOA with CCI, but consistently, I am 4 MOA or more with Remington. Not sure why this would be the case, but it was repeatable. Would it have to do with Remington quality itself? Could there be an issue with running a magnum primer over a standard one?
Regarding durability, I was mainly doing so for finding a load my rifle wouldn't pierce (also a part of providing evidence for warranty repairs). Regarding accuracy though, this is where things got interesting. My loads were with the Barnes 130 grain TSX bullet and Varget gun powder. As expected, my accuracy was awesome with all the match stuff. Hornady 308 match brass, never fired, CCI BR2 primer, balance beam measured loads and COAL's measured within +- 0.001". I was typically getting around 1 to 1.5 MOA accuracy. Not too bad for the Kel Tec RFB.
Now switch to Remington 9.5M. Same powder loads, brass and seating depth as the CCI primed cartridges, but a very different result. Typically, for the same load, I was getting slightly higher velocities, but only by an average of about 10 fps, though things were a little more erratic. My accuracy went down the pooper and in a big way. IT was consistently like this too.
Consistently, I can get within 1.5 MOA with CCI, but consistently, I am 4 MOA or more with Remington. Not sure why this would be the case, but it was repeatable. Would it have to do with Remington quality itself? Could there be an issue with running a magnum primer over a standard one?
