Federal small pistol primers.

I'm guessing that the tightness of the primer pockets on European brass may have something to do with their using the metric system.

But that's just a wild guess.
 
I don't see where it would necessarily affect primer/primer pocket diameter.
The inch is defined as exactly 25.4mm, makes a .210" primer 5.334mm exactly. So how many decimal places does a foreign manufacturer use?


But then there was an Internet Expert who opined that no real gunsmithing could be done to a Brazilian make Springfield Armory 1911A1 because it was "made in metric."
 
Well, a typical American primer pocket is 0.209" when the brass is new. Old specs put them at 0.209"±0.004", and that comports with what I measure for new Starline 308 cases. My 0.209" pin gauge almost, but not quite slides in, but clearly would press in easily, and the 0.208" slides in with enough wiggle that I know the clearance is almost 0.001". 0.209" is 5.3086 mm. If the European maker rounds it down to 5.3 mm, then you get a pocket that is about 0.00034" smaller. That's still in spec, and that's in the ballpark of what I've measured as 0.0004" tighter for IMI brass. The 0.00006" difference is within the limits of the measuring tools I was using. So another way to look at it is the tight foreign pockets are on the low side of tolerance, where the U.S. makers just use an average value. I suppose, if you can seat the primers into the tight brass, you've got an edge for brass life with higher load pressures, but that's no use to me if I am cranking out practice ammo with mild loads.
 
"I don't see where it would necessarily affect primer/primer pocket diameter.
The inch is defined as exactly 25.4mm, makes a .210" primer 5.334mm exactly. So how many decimal places does a foreign manufacturer use? "

Chauchat in .30-06.

The conversion from English to metric was bodged.

Same situation? Probably not, but who knows.
 
Yeah, that would be bad. The Russian primer cups look like they were trimmed to height by dragging them over coarse sandpaper. The burrs are terrible, so they are very hard seating in normal primer pockets. Work great when you finally get them in, but it is a struggle to do that.
 
Unclenick said:
Yeah, that would be bad. The Russian primer cups look like they were trimmed to height by dragging them over coarse sandpaper. The burrs are terrible, so they are very hard seating in normal primer pockets. Work great when you finally get them in, but it is a struggle to do that.
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This is so true. They seem to be a fairly hot primer ime.
 
To give the devil his due, the Russians do know how to make a super-consistent primer. Lower velocity ES and SD than any domestic match primer I've tried.
 
reynolds357 said:
I loved Wolf. Very accurate primer. I could get 5 or six more loadings out of brass with loose primer pockets by using them.
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The nice thing is, I still have about 6000 in stock and about 3000 still loaded. About 12 years ago I picked up 15000 of them for $120.00 from a friend of mine. Boy are those days long gone.
 
jetinteriorguy said:
The nice thing is, I still have about 6000 in stock and about 3000 still loaded. About 12 years ago I picked up 15000 of them for $120.00 from a friend of mine. Boy are those days long gone.
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Yep. Miss those days. I used to buy them for less than $20 a thousand. I think I am down to 800 left.
 
S&B 10mm brass will not prime on my Dillon 650 and I have popped a few primers with S&B brass. They are now removed to file 13 for the recycler
 
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