Mil spec primers

No - Safety is not just a marketing gimmick. They are being used for a good reason - additional safety margin. RE Video


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Wrong again - Slam-fires are not only caused by improperly seated primers. Firearms components such as out of spec firing pins etc can cause a slamfire in a self-loading firearm also.

Simple explanation why harder than normal primers are used for self-loading firearms.RE: From the CCI Web site.
http://www.cci-ammunition.com/products/primers/primers.aspx?id=30 Military-style semi-auto rifles seldom have firing pin retraction springs. If care is not used in assembling ammunition, a “slam-fire” can occur before the bolt locks. The military arsenals accomplish this using different techniques and components—including different primer sensitivity specifications—from their commercial counterparts. CCI makes rifle primers for commercial sale that matches military sensitivity specs that reduce the chance of a slam-fire when other factors go out of control*. If you’re reloading for a military semi-auto, look to CCI Military primers.
*Effective slam-fire prevention requires more than special primers. Headspace, chamber condition, firing pin shape and protrusion, bolt velocity, cartridge case condition, and other factors can affect slam-fire potential.

Alternative choice may be Winchester (WLR & WSR) primers have a fairly hard primer cup and are currently being used in some mispec ammo such as the Winchester 5.56mm white box and AE ammo and thus a few decades with proven success.

:rolleyes:
Milspec primers are just that really a marketing gimmick and they even elude to it
 
All things being equal, why not use the CCI No 34 primers if they are available? Read what the maker says about them. They have the same ballistic properties as the CCI magnum primer, but more importantly, the cup is made from harder metal to lessen(not eliminate) the possibility of a slamfire due to the inertia of the floating firing pin when the bolt closes. Why tempt fate? Most of us have seen the firing pin dimples on a primer after extracting an unfired round.

There are a number of precautions to avoid slamfires incl keeping firing pin protrusion within spec and FL resizing your brass. The most important though is seating primers below flush with the casehead.

There are old reloaders and bold reloaders, but no old and bold reloaders.
 
If you read the primer specs, they are different. Whether you absolutely need them in your reloading is another matter, and up to each reloader to decide.
 
Haven't had any problems with any manufacturers primers for all my semi's would be more worried in my sks but no problems so far as long as you get a good deep seat on the primer and keep the firing pin channel nice and clean you'll be okay. No issues in my garand, my Nork M-14s or the sks
And, you know, the forums that tell you, you need Mil spec cci primers, well
if you read it enough times on the internet it must true:D
 
"...From the CCI Web site..." Marketing.
Never seen nor heard of a slam fire in 30 plus years with properly loaded ammo. Customers in the gun shop I worked in, long ago, that loaded for everything(M1's, semi'd M14's, FALs, etc), never once mentioned any such thing.
 
"...From the CCI Web site..." Marketing.
Never seen nor heard of a slam fire in 30 plus years with properly loaded ammo. Customers in the gun shop I worked in, long ago, that loaded for everything(M1's, semi'd M14's, FALs, etc), never once mentioned any such thing.

Well Slam-fires in the M1 Garand, M1A & M14 platform do happen and mostly because of soft or high primers, but also can be caused by a host of other issues.

Read the 1983 magazine article from American Rifleman by Wayne Faatz. RE:http://www.scribd.com/doc/2649554/The-Mysterious-Slamfire-

Also Fulton Armory has a good bit of info on the subject. RE:http://www.fulton-armory.com/SlamFire.htm

Another good read is Handloading for competition by Glen Zediker were he states RE:
Loading bench slam fire cures are primarily primers. First is choice. LC ammunition has a tough primer. The only commercially available primer I know of that’s similar in construction is the tough skinned WW(Winchester)®. CCI® is hard aplenty too. There is greater insurance against a slam fire using either of these primers. The one that, I say (as well as did every single gunsmith I’ve asked) not to use is Federal ®. It’s “touchier.” Remington® is okay, but not a positive step (in this direction). That’s too bad because the Federal® can work well with other .308 W. loads. Honestly, it’s a risk on an M14. Uniforming primer pockets about guarantees no primer sitting flush with or above the plane of the case head, which won’t guarantee no chance of a slam fire, but it won’t hurt. Auniformed pocket is assurance of consistent and adequate depth to get the primer the necessary 0.004 or more under the plane of the case head (0.008 isn’t too much). Use the tool in place of a primer pocket cleaner. Part two is making sure they’re under the head. Run a finger across them; don’t just look. Primers have a beveled edge so can look (around the edges) like they’re seated below flush when the center of the primer is not. There is “plenty” of firing pin on an M14 to get to a submerged primer. The little extra distance, though, can make all the difference in safety. Pay particular attention to this using a progressive loading machine. [So I don’t worry: in the material in the book proper on seating primers, I talked about contact plus to tension the anvil up against the pellet, a tactic that increases sensitivity of the primer. Don’t attempt that loading for anything with a free-floating firing pin, if it worries you. It doesn’t worry me since, again, it’s primer construction and seating depth that has the most influence on primer contribution to this malady. Seat to the bottom of the pocket, so the anvil is in full contact at all contact points, and leave it at that.]


One just has to “Google“ the words “M14 slam-fire“ and you will come up with a few incidents and photo’s regarding slam-fires from soft or high primers in M1A’s and Garands.
 
For primer seating, make sure the primers to not protrude above the case head ( what we call a "High Primer")..........you want them seated flush..........:D

Actually no. :) Primers should be seated just a fraction of a hair below flush. just enough to feel the difference with your finger once you get used to it.

About the video shown above, I'm somewhat reluctant to accept safety advice from someone misspelling the word safety as 'saftey' in their video. ;)
 
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