Primer brand, does it really make a difference?

well, for what it's worth, the competition benchrest guys are locked in debate as to whether CCI BR's or federal match are better
 
OK from my humble years of pistol reloading...
My observations of the 3 major brands..
Winchester - Brass - harder (thus takes more to ignite) .. Hottest of the 3
Federal - Silver - Softest ... 2nd hottest
CCI - very light gold in color - Mid grade harness... and mildess in ignition of the 3

I don't use CCI although they are the cheapest primer to buy wholesale.. I typically use Federals in revolvers and winchester in pistols except for 44 magnum loads where I use winchester exclusively...

for Rifle I don't have enough depth to claim to be an expert.. I use Winchester in almost everything there.. I've found the feds to be better in my old 30-30 (circa 1914) but there doesn't seem to be much difference in the newer model 94...
 
shugrnutz said:
I will not use CCI again. On a brick of 1000, they produced almost 15% misfires.
Click to expand...

####... now you tell me!;)

I've just bought 6 packs of 1000 of this stuff... I really hope to have better luck.

I tought they wouldn't be bad as I use their Magnum primers for 44Mag and never has a misfire.

Do you have a lot number so I could compare to what I got?
 
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shugrnutz said:
I will not use CCI again. On a brick of 1000, they produced almost 15% misfires.
Click to expand...

Have you got good firing pin hits? Perhaps your primers were not stored properly somewhere in their life. Out of many, many 10s of 1000s of primers I have used, I have only ever had 2 misfires.

I have shot all the major brands of primers, even remington. For general purpose accuracy, with a few exceptions, I think they behave pretty much the same. Once you are trying for the Nth degree in accuracy, they do make a difference, but that difference varies from gun to gun anyway.

I've always liked federal, but its hard to ignore the fact that you can store 2-3 times as many of the other brands in the same space!
 
CCI had some issues when the Primer Crunch was on about 10 years back, but if you stay away from those vintage primers all goes well.(old smaller packages)
I run mostly CCI 250's in most of my large capacity, rifle cartridges and can report no issues with there product.(1500 to 2000rnds./yr.)
Do not under any circumstances switch from one band of primer to another without working up your loads again.
 
oh, wow, that's a huge number of misfires. I've never had a primer misfire, except one time when I accidentally primed a bunch of shells that were still wet inside from when I washed them...

In my experience, no modern primer should misfire, provided your firing pin is in good shape & the primers have been stored correctly. Hell, I've fired 50 year old foreign milsurp ammo without misfire. Of course, if you use large pistol primers in rifle brass, or vice versa you might have problems. And if you are loading large magnum cases with large charges of slow ball-type powder, you may also need magnum primers to ensure reliable ignition.
 
my experience was exactly the reverse- i had a bunch of 9mm loaded with winchester and it turned the load into a pussycat- the cci was much hotter, and misfires have not been an issue with either brand
 
I've used Winchester primers exclusively for my pistols over the last ten or so years and approximately 12K rounds. Never had a misfire that I can remember that was primer related. I store primers in ammo cans with dessicant so they are nice and dry and always work well. I primarily stick with Winchester because they are the brand that I can always get, they are not over-packaged (aka Federal) and they are cheapest when bought in 5K lots. I find them very consistant lot to lot as well over the years over my chrony too, which keeps my favorite reloads they way I like them.

For my Rem 700P I use Fed Match primers, stored the same way (yes I agree, they do take up way more space). Always had good results with them as well. Storage is key in my books for ignition-free reloads.
 
Strange that there were so many misfires! I have Winchester [my personal favorite, except for match use]Remington, CCI, Vihtavuori, RWS, Federal and Norma Primers. I have not had a misfire with any brand or lot since 1966. I believe that then it was my fault for handling these primers with my fingers. Regards, Eagleye.
 
By far the most reliable primer I have found is the Winchester. I have used CCI and was not happy and the Federals were okay but the most consistent was Winchester by far. The absolute worst I have ever used were Remington. They were riddled with failures and I have never given them a second chance.
Thats my $.02CDN..
Cheers
dB:)
 
Thanks a bunch boys. Lots of good info here. I've been lucky with CCI, no misfires. I'm just too damn cheap to change brands befroe I use up my current supply, but, I think the cards are in favour of Winchester, I'll have to give them a try.
 
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