Small Rifle Primer Test

[Ganderite]

I have about 20 pounds of scrap powder that I use to make 223 loads for CQB. 25 yard ammo need not be full power or super accurate. This is a perfect way to use up this powder, a mix of 90% BLC2 and 10% 4895.

One batch had a lot of click-bangs. They all fired, but some had a definite short delay. Ball powder is more difficult to ignite, and maybe this powder has a high moisture content.

I decided to test the various primers I had on hand to see if there was a difference. I want the"hottest" primer I can find.

I loaded the primers in 38Spl cases and shot them (no powder or bullet) in a 4" revolver.

CCI SMALL RIFLE MAGNUM

FEDERAL SMALL RIFLE

S&B SMALL PISTOL

WINCHESTER SMALL RIFLE

CCI BENCHREST

WOLF SMALL RIFLE (Russian)

REMINGTON 7 1/2 SMALL RIFLE BENCHREST

 

[Sherlock Gnomes]

Neat test. From the looks the federal seems the longest burn ie slowest. The br primer seems hot and consistent. Am I reading this right?

 

[Ganderite]

I took the pictures because I knew how to do it.

I am not so sure I know how to interpret them.

I think I am impressed with the white hot vs red hot and big blast vs small blast. I took 5 pictures of each primer. What you see is indicative of that primer.

The Remington BR and the CCI magnum appear to be the hottest, and Winchester is hot, too. Winchester load ball powder in their ammo.

 

[bigedp51]

Remington ran our American Lake City Army Ammunition Plant from 1941 until 1982 and they used the 7 1/2 and 9 1/2 primers to light off the Winchester ball powders loaded in our military ammunition.
The Remington 7 1/2 primer is called the baby flame thrower and is called a bench rest primer and not a magnum primer which seems a little odd.
Bottom line, I use Remington primers to light off all the ball powders I use, if they worked for the military they are good enough for me.

Besides I didn't have to wait for Ganderite to get his camera fixed.

And my favorite below is mixing raw linseed oil and Remington 7 1/2 primers with the cattle feed.

Ganderite no $hit.........honest

 

[Ganderite]

"Ganderite no $hit.........honest"

I saw it on the Internet. Must be true.

 

[bearhunter]

I did something very similar but of course, my picture taking skills aren't up to the levels of quality or timing that you have.

What I did was to make up loads for the 223 Rem with BLC surplus powder. It seems to be a bit slower than BLC2 but that may just be the difference between 25 year old batches of powder.

The powder was at least 25 years old but that was close to 20 years ago.

I used different primers with exactly the same weight of BLC in each case.

I had at least 6 types of primers at the time. I wish I had saved the notes from that test as it was quite definitive. I remember repeating the tests with newly made BLC2 with the same primers. There was definitely a difference between the two powders and between every type of primers.

I did get a very good bit of insight from this test though and now use magnum primers for all my hand loads.

The Remington bench rest primers always gave the best results as far as consistency and velocity went.

CCI Magnum were next by a very small margin.

There was a definite drop off from there with CCI bench rest primers coming in third place after a relatively wide velocity gap.

I will state right now, The difference between velocities was around 100fps for the Remington primers and the CCI BR2 primers. There is also a definite difference between CCI BR and CCI BR2 primers. The BR2 are slightly hotter.

The others were very close to the BR primers but there were definitely larger spreads in velocities from shot to shot.

Remington primers are difficult to come by in my area. CCI Magnum primers in LR and SR as well as large and small pistol sizes.

So my best option were the CCI magnum offerings. I was lucky and picked up a couple of 5000 flats of each at a going out of business sale. I will soon have to look for more CCI 250s though.

One other thing, Winchester Magnum Rifle primers, and standard primers have proven to be the most inconsistent of any make. I am getting to the point where I avoid any components with the Winchester brand name on them. Luckily, about the only thing I am sometimes forced to utilize now is their brass, which can be hit and miss quality wise.


I should have read my post a bit closer. All of my results were from velocity tests shot over a Chrony using vehicle headlights over the screen diffusers so that I had consistent light. All were done during consistent daytime temps over a 3 day period. Back then I had access to a private range only a klik from the house. I wish I could find those notes. I don't remember tossing them but who knows.

Big ED, my results were much different than the photos you posted and much closer to Ganderite's photos.

I will also state that I am certainly no expert and am going completely on personal experience. The CCI 250 primers I use are definitely almost as hot as the Remington BR primers.

It's to bad the Remington BR primers aren't more readily available. They are extremely consistent.