Recently I acquired a quantity of large and small rifle MAGNUM primers. I have been loading for a long time and aside from my 7mm Rem Magnum I have little use for them. I load (and shoot) 10 or 12 different standard calibres from 204 to 30-06. I have a new Speer loading manual that recommends the use of magnum primers with Winchester powders in most calibres. My question is, can these primers be used safely with regular powders such as 3031, 4895, 4064 in std 243 - 308 size loadings. I have been told by two people who should know that it is quite all right provided they are used with low to moderate powder charges. What do you think ?
Magnum primers
- Thread starter bob74
- Start date
Well, not one to start an argument (no really), I've use oodles of 748 in 308 and have never used a magnum primer and was never disappointed with a standard primer. (fed and win).
But yes you can use mag primers, just back off your load and work back up to be safe as t-star suggests.
burnt_servo
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
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i use mag primers in everything ........ including many of the powders the op mentiioned .
depending on the round a person might one or 2 grains less than the published max loads .
depending on the round a person might one or 2 grains less than the published max loads .
I was sold some Large Rifle Magnum Winchesters a while back when I asked for regular. Didn't check till I got home, but have been shooting lots of them with not problems or noticeable difference. As always start over and work up loads when changing components.
Just a word on your "REQUIRE," in capital letters.
This appears to me to mean that magnum primers are vital for ball powders.
So, how did the handloaders get along with ball powders before the introduction of magnum primers, which was about 1964?
Actually, they got along just fine with regular primers.
i use mag primers for every thing i load from 270 to 375. i may use any rifle for hunting in cold weather and prefer good ignition. severeal rifles are capable of sub minute grouping with the hotter primers they may or may not shoot as well with standard primers as i never tried. i wouldn't switch to a hotter primer without backing off my charge a couple of grains. i also use fed, win and cci primers. they all seem good but if i work up a load with a particular primer i never change as long as i use that load. i buy my primers in batches of 5000 to 10000 at a time.
Due to my own laziness in last weekends loading session (too lazy to walk 20' to the primer cabinet) I used both my normal load with SR Mag primers and also with BR4 primers. (My usual load is with the 450 Magnum primers)
I loaded 50 6BR with the same powder load but 25 were Mag primed and 25 were BR4 primed.
I shot 2 12 shot strings at 500m with the Mag primed rounds, took my turn pulling targets, then returned to shoot the remining 2 12 shot strings of the BR4 primed brass.
My first round of the non-mag primed rounds was a dead center V-Bull at 500m, telling me that no elevation difference could be detected between the Mag and Non-Mag primed rounds. No significant elevation adjustment was made over the course of the 2 strings and my scores were not affected with the switch due to primer differences.
Not scientific but enough to tell me that in the CCI primers, the Mag primers don't seem to make any difference when compared to Non-Mag primers.
I loaded 50 6BR with the same powder load but 25 were Mag primed and 25 were BR4 primed.
I shot 2 12 shot strings at 500m with the Mag primed rounds, took my turn pulling targets, then returned to shoot the remining 2 12 shot strings of the BR4 primed brass.
My first round of the non-mag primed rounds was a dead center V-Bull at 500m, telling me that no elevation difference could be detected between the Mag and Non-Mag primed rounds. No significant elevation adjustment was made over the course of the 2 strings and my scores were not affected with the switch due to primer differences.
Not scientific but enough to tell me that in the CCI primers, the Mag primers don't seem to make any difference when compared to Non-Mag primers.
quoted from lymans 49th:
test using different primers 308 win with the same loads:
primer -----velocity (fps) ---pressure (psi)
rem 9 1/2 ---------2509 -----52800
fed 210 match ----2508 -----53100
CCI 200 -----------2526 -----54000
Win WLR ----------2539 -----54700
CCI 34 ------------2545 ------55400
total spread in fps = 37 -- in psi = 2600
They also state primers can have a variation on velocity spread between the same bullet/load ... some tested had a 38 fps difference between and others were as high 133 fps.
They go on to state that magnum primers can contain different ingredients to obtain desireable ignition characteristics for heavy difficult to ignite propellants.
For novice reloaders it is recommended to stick to the primers listed with load data books to get the best results.
test using different primers 308 win with the same loads:
primer -----velocity (fps) ---pressure (psi)
rem 9 1/2 ---------2509 -----52800
fed 210 match ----2508 -----53100
CCI 200 -----------2526 -----54000
Win WLR ----------2539 -----54700
CCI 34 ------------2545 ------55400
total spread in fps = 37 -- in psi = 2600
They also state primers can have a variation on velocity spread between the same bullet/load ... some tested had a 38 fps difference between and others were as high 133 fps.
They go on to state that magnum primers can contain different ingredients to obtain desireable ignition characteristics for heavy difficult to ignite propellants.
For novice reloaders it is recommended to stick to the primers listed with load data books to get the best results.
