Primers CAN make a difference

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JasonYuke

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I got an eye opener today when i switched mid flight from Fed GMM Lg rifle primers to CCI BR primers who knew it would effect the load development to the level I seen.

I ran out of my feds last night and dug into the chest and found some CCIs

What a difference in accuracy, that a little spark could change teh development so much.

Anyone ever experienced this with a primer change.

Both my Tikka Tac 308 and Milspec did the same thing when i moved into teh new loads but with different primers.
 
Until now I have never had issues with primers, just use Win small and large as they are usually available but sometimes others. My serious 308 loads with Varget don't seem to care what primer sparks them but I finally had to try different primers on my 204. My 204 shot alright , nothing over 1" but couldn't seem to get real small groups, like holes touching no matter what I did, tried Tac, Benchmark and H4895, finally switched from Win small primers to Federal (only other ones I had :) ) and presto, very small groups. Been reloading for quite a while and this is a first for me.
 
While certain loads seem to be quite tolerant of primer changes, others are not, and will show a marked preference for one primer type. My 220 Swift with 4064 and the 50 Ballistic tip is an example of the latter. It will cut groups roughly in half when I use the CCI BR-2 primer. My 308 Norma Mag likes the WLRM primer with Norma MRP, but doesn't seem to care when I use H4831 SC. My long range target rifles in 6mm and 6.5mm all have a preference for certain primers with IMR 7828, H4831 SC and VV N560. My 264 Win Mag doesn't show any preference that I have seen. Strange stuff, indeed!! Regards, Eagleye.
 
I found that type of primer really mattered with the reduced loads I was using for cast boolits. I would get hangfires with a couple of powders when using CCI 200 primers.
 
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Eagleye said:
While certain loads seem to be quite tolerant of primer changes, others are not, and will show a marked preference for one primer type. My 220 Swift with 4064 and the 50 Ballistic tip is an example of the latter. It will cut groups roughly in half when I use the CCI BR-2 primer. My 308 Norma Mag likes the WLRM primer with Norma MRP, but doesn't seem to care when I use H4831 SC. My long range target rifles in 6mm and 6.5mm all have a preference for certain primers with IMR 7828, H4831 SC and VV N560. My 264 Win Mag doesn't show any preference that I have seen. Strange stuff, indeed!! Regards, Eagleye.
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Thats great info- I was using BLC-2 in my Tikka and Varget in my R_5
 
Had an issue with my 6.5 284 and Fed 210M, not setting off RL 22. Switched to CCI BR and the load was OK. Have used Fed 210M in other loads with no ill effects. Also had CCI large rifle not ignite powder but turn it into a ball in the case. Always pays to try different things.

Andy
 
762nato said:
Had an issue with my 6.5 284 and Fed 210M, not setting off RL 22. Switched to CCI BR and the load was OK. Have used Fed 210M in other loads with no ill effects. Also had CCI large rifle not ignite powder but turn it into a ball in the case. Always pays to try different things.

Andy
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Interesting about the CCI large rifle primers. I've felt they were a fairly low brisance primer since my experience using them with cast. A real surprise about the Fed 210M primers. Any chance they were contaminated with something?
 
Anyone ever experienced this with a primer change.
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Yep, changed from Federal standard rifle primers to Federal match primers with deburred flash holes (quick & easy to do) in my .308 target loads and group size decreased from 3/4 in. to 1/2 in. with no other changes. I now use bench rest grade primers with deburred flash holes exclusively in all my target rifle loads.
 
1 in 5 primers were piercing in my .357 mag Marlin 94, loads were near max and quite accurate except when a primer popped. Will try small rifle primers in my next batch as they are made of thicker copper than small pistol.
 
Little or no chance of contamination, same lot works well in my 22-250 AI. Just seems the federal did not set off a rather stout charge of RL-22. Flash holes cleaned, cut to uniform primer seating depth and and flash holes deburred. That 6.5 284 was the most accurate rifle I have ever fired.

Andy
 
Only differance I've found in primers was pressure. Fed 210 primers in my 308, I can go to max load with 165grn Nos BT and IMR4895. Tried some CCI200 primers with same bullet and powder and could only make about have way to max, started getting diffecult to open the bolt!

Perry
 
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