Primer Hardness?

[harbl_the_cat]

Anyone care to list off the different hardness of different brands of primers?

I've seen first hand S&B are pretty hard (I had lots of misfires on an old Ruger Blackhawk using S&B primers).

Heard Federal are very soft.

Are Federals too soft to use in an AR/any gun with a free floating firing pin without risking a slamfire?

 

[AlexF]

Anyone care to list off the different hardness of different brands of primers?

I've seen first hand S&B are pretty hard (I had lots of misfires on an old Ruger Blackhawk using S&B primers).

Heard Federal are very soft.

Are Federals too soft to use in an AR/any gun with a free floating firing pin without risking a slamfire?

Remington small rifle primers are hard and CCI NATO spec primers are hard.
Any NATO spec primer should work great.
I'm sure that Federal's AR15 Match primers work well in AR15s!

Just remember to stay away from Federal and Winchester primers.

Alex

 

[harbl_the_cat]

Remington small rifle primers are hard and CCI NATO spec primers are hard.
Any NATO spec primer should work great.
I'm sure that Federal's AR15 Match primers work well in AR15s!

Just remember to stay away from Federal and Winchester primers.

Alex

I've had no problem with Winchester's.

 

[hk33ka1]

I load almost exclusively with Winchester and have found no misfires or slamfires at all in several free floating firing pin semis.

Federal seems to be the only brand with consistant "stories" and that is they are softer than others and can be set off easier in some cases whether it be priming during reloading or cycling of some firearms. These can be had from various shooters, reloaders, some loading equipment makers and even Federals packaging is much more protective of the primers than other brands. Every internet tale of primers blowing up in a progressive press seems to revolve around this brand for what that's worth.

I don't believe a current chart exists of softness relative to brands or even the power of mixtures.