Primer Effect - Small Pistol Divison.

I find that true for practical purposes with large rifle primers in medium power cases like .308 to .30-06, but the small ones seem to make some real difference.

Reloadron,

I'm going by the testing I've done and seen, the BR-4's have been warm and produced as much as 5% higher velocity than a Federal 205 with the same load (55 grain V-max over 24 grains Reloader 10X in a .223). In Jim's 9 mm it didn't produce high velocity, but magnum primers sometimes produce low velocities in tight spaces by helping unseat the bullet, so I can't say from that. In your test is looks like H335 didn't find it particularly warm, but that's a hard-to-ignite older spherical powder, so the energy may be going elsewhere in that instance. It could also be the in the tests I've seen and done we had hotter batches than are average. These were early days for the BR-4, IIRC.

If I remember to, I'll call CCI and ask tomorrow.
 
Hi Ya Unclenick, I did shoot them an email but a phone call is always quicker. Every time I have had a primer related question they have been right there with the answers. My emails on weekends generally take 3 to 5 days depending on how busy they are. I am curious as to how CCI looks at their BR line of primers. If you give them a call please share what they tell you.

Looking out there today I do not see me doing more test in .308 Winchester or anything till spring. :) I would like to follow up with more data and primer results. NE Ohio sucks today and I believe you are in Central Ohio which I doubt is any more pleasant. :0

I thought about what you mentioned where a hot primer gets the bullet out before the powder really gets going. I have wondered about that before.

Ron
 
Just for clarification I posed the following question to CCI:
"Would the CCI BR-4 Primer be classified as a Standard or Magnum small rifle primer? Likewise the CCI #41 primer, would it be Standard or Magnum classified?

Thank You"

Here is the reply:
Ronald, primer specifications are below.


Small rifle primers
#41......................................Mil. Spec. primer, thick cup, magnum primer charge, angle of anvil change.
BR4.....................................thick cup, standard anvil and standard priming mix held to a tighter tolerance.
Click to expand...

So for future reference the CCI #41 is classified as a small rifle magnum primer and the CCI BR-4 is classified as a standard primer.

Ron
 
Very interesting....

Negligible difference between most all but the Rems. Wouldn't matter much with a wide operating range powder like the HS-6 I use, unless operating at max range, which I don't. Some other powders would be an issue with that much of a difference I'd think....and of course potentially hazardous to your health if max. loads aren't first reduced.
 
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I too see many, many of the new reloader's posts "I only have Whammo primers, can I use them in my Doofus magnum?", or something like that. So, perhaps make this thread a stickie? :confused:
 
mikld:
I too see many, many of the new reloader's posts "I only have Whammo primers, can I use them in my Doofus magnum?", or something like that. So, perhaps make this thread a stickie?
Click to expand...

Yeah, that would be quite true. The first thing many of us tell the new reloader or hand loader is to work from good reliable published reloading data. So the new hand loader loading 223 working in strict accordance to the Hornady 9th Edition will be looking for WSR (Winchester Small Rifle). However, another new hand loader came across a Speer #12 manual and looking for CCI 400 or 450 depending on the powder they use. Up the street an impoverished new reloader only has his handed down copy of his grandfather's Lyman 45th Edition and he needs Remington 7 1/2 primers. :) All because we told them to go by the book.

Ron
 
Followup.

Well, the Remington 1 1/2 small pistol turned nasty.
They did ok with slightly higher velocity in my SA 9mm. I wasn't going to change the load for that.
But the next outing with my Colt, I had a couple of high primer type misfires in spite of an easier feel when seating them. Also a lot of extrusion and scraping of the indent.
So I went back to the range with the SA. No misfires and only some of the primer indents were extruded back and scraped off.

Next test will be a reduced load just over Minor and trials in other 9mms.
 
Headed to the range in 3-1/2 hours. I'm going to load up our softest 9mm combination with our usual CCI 500 (versus the S&B I've been trying out). While I don't have time to use the chronograph during a practice session I'll get a good feel for the difference. Also, it's going to be gold this am at 0900 (42 degrees!!) and despite the convention N320 wisdom I would swear that very soft loads experience temperature sensitivity.
 
Test Your Ammo

Well, the Remington 1 1/2 SPP was 100% in two Springfields, a Glock, and a Plastic M&P after two misfires in the Colt. I will just relegate them to the SA MixMaster A. I cut the load to 3.6 gr of HP38 and got about the same velocity as 3.8 gr with the other six primers - now seven, S&B is pretty much the same as WW etc at 1019 fps.

The scary 9mm cases with the internal ledge, perhaps meant to prevent setback against the feed ramp, gave 1036 fps versus 1023 for the same load in Winchester brass which weighs 4.5 grains less.

Also, I was trying a local brand of bullet, 147 gr plated RN. They LOOK a lot like Xtreme plated. They shot well in the Colt but gave a couple of oval holes from MixMaster A the other day. And during the primer test today, gave at least three full profile keyholes. I was not changing targets between guns, so I don't know which or how many, but that makes at least two guns that will not stabilize them.
So I will shoot them up in the Colt which does well with them.
 
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