Primers for freezing temps?

[350 Mag]

I usually use Fed 215M but I recently tried CCi BR2 with SAUM and 65 gr of H-1000.

Will I be o.k on late season hunts or should I goto MAG primer?

I don't want to mess up a good load but I will try with mag primer and see.

 

[BCBRAD]

I have used Federal 210m's to light off ~80 gns of H-1000 at -15c with no issues what so ever.

These are considered a fairly mild primer.

 

[Ganderite]

The Federal mag primer will go bang every time (it is sensitive) and will ignite anything, including damp mattress stuffing, if that is what you load.

Do you like guarantees?

Make sure you rinse out your bolt with kerosene or something. You don't want cold oil to slow it down.

 

[350 Mag]

I usually clean the grease out of bolt with lighter fluid.

 

[bigedp51]

A picture is worth a thousand words, look at the primer photos below.

Primer Flash Test Photos
https://www.6mmbr.com/primerpix.html

 

[kayaker1]

MacPherson's book on reloading has some good info on primer heat and brisance.

WLRM and Fed215 are more energetic than most. In non-mag primers WLR and Rem 9.5 were good. CCI250 (mag)were less energetic than WLR (standard) for example and CCI350 (large PISTOL mag) was one of the hottest they tested when compared to large rifle primers (way hotter than the CCI250 rifle mag). The term magnum primer vs standard primer has not regular parameters. Some mag primers are hot, others are less hot than standard rifle primers from other manufacturers.

I use Rem 9.5 for RE22 in 6.5x55 for Alberta winters and no issues so far (only igniting 48gr). My 9.3 gets CCI250's, my .300H&H Fed215, .308 gets CCI200. Just seems to be where I landed!

 

[Ganderite]

If you have 2 or 3 different primers and want to know how they compare, you can test them yourself.

All you need is a digital camera and a dark room.

Use the auto focus light (room lights off) on the camera to focus on the muzzle. Holding the camera button part way to lock in the focus, get ready to trip the shutter and then pull the trigger. The camera shutter will want to stay open several seconds (because it is so dark) so it is easy to shoot while the shutter is open.

For testing rifle primers, I load them in a pistol cases, so as to see a better muzzle flash.

Primers are not all the same: