Winchester or CCI Small Pistol Primers

Diamondback DB9FS and S&B ammo

I've been having some issues with my new Diamondback DB9FS 9mm striker-fired pistol when using S&B ammo. Small crescent-shaped shards of what I have come to believe is primer plating ends up in the striker channel and causes light strikes by interfering with striker travel.

Prior to last outing on Monday, I had sanded the tip of the striker to remove concentric machining marks thinking that they may have been acting like a rasp and bringing the shards back into the striker channel on recoil. I shot 50 rounds of Wolf RNL without issue, cleaned the striker channel of very tiny flecks, then shot 25 S&B FMJ getting light strikes on the 22nd and 23rd rounds. After getting home I cleaned the striker channel and stop chamber of shards (smaller than before I sanded the tip of the striker).

I've got some PMC to try next outing.
 
I burned through maybe 5,000 Winchester primers (large pistol) years ago and I swear they were the hardest to seat of any I've used. It sure seemed noticeable that I had to drive those puppies hard to seat them, and not so with Wolf, Federal, Remington or CCI.

I thought very highly of Federal and have never had any problems with them, but yes, the packaging--I'm very happy to say I've burned down my stockpile to maybe 8,000 of them now, and when they're gone, they're gone. I can get twice the number of primers in the same space, and space is hard to come by for me. But, the real pain is the tray they put them in--my goodness what a brain dead way to put primers in a tray.

I only buy CCI now, but would consider trying others again if the price is right. I flip the tray over on a board and start picking up primers in the primer tube--done.
 
My go to primer is Winchester but have bought Federal and found that my Frankfort Vibra Prime jams up on the Federal LPP. Contacted Midway & Lankford Armory and both were very helpful and sent replacement parts. But still they jammed up in the primer tray. So just as test I switched to Winchester LPP and the problem disappeared. Tested both the old primer tray & new both work withe WLPP. :confused:
 
"...you are pushing the anvil in the primer into the primer material on the bottom of the primer..." Whoever told you that is very confused. There's nothing in the primer pocket or press that comes anywhere near the anvil. If there is, you've failed to clean the pocket.
Anyway, as mentioned, Winchester and CCI primers make no difference. You really should work up the load again if you change any one component, but it doesn't seem to make any difference if you don't either.
CCI's so called 'milspec' primers are nothing more than brilliant marketing. They're magnum primers and nothing else. No need for 'em in any rifle. Same cup as any other primer.
 
I think maybe we need to explain, that when you are seating the primer, you are pushing the anvil in the primer into the primer material on the bottom of the primer. If you are do so lightly then the anvil is not getting to the primer mixture. Your first strike is finishing the job that should have been done when the primer was originally seated. The second strike sets the primer off.

That is what is most likely happening with your loads.
Click to expand...

Jim 243 has it right even if his directions are a little off. This article, by CCI “Mysteries And Misconceptions Of The All-Important Primer” http://www.shootingtimes.com/ammo/ammunition_st_mamotaip_200909/ helps explain things. CCI states that high primers are the most common cause of misfires. For a primer to ignite the anvil has to be firmly seated. If the anvil is dangling in the air, the primer is not going to ignite. Then the gap between anvil tip and primer cup has to be set. This is accomplished by pushing the primer cup down. Given that the primer cake is between the anvil and primer cup, and the anvil has been fixed at the bottom of the primer pocket, pushing the cup down will compress the primer cake between the anvil and cup.




You don’t want to compress the primer cake too much as the primer cake might crack and then the primer will misfire no matter what you do. You don’t want too much gap between the anvil and the inside of the cup as that makes the primer less sensitive, which results in misfires. The gap between anvil and primer cup is a very important factor in primer sensitivity. Primer sensitivity can be varied by design, and the Picatinny Arsenal document, PATR 2700, provides this insight.

The sensitivity of a primer for a given firing pin/weapon system is then designed into the primer by the proper choice of the thickness of the base of the primer cut, the point radius of the anvil, and the degree of compression of the mixture between the anvil point and the cup. This is controlled by the degree to which the anvil is compressed into the cup during manufacture of the primer. In addition, some influence of further compression can be achieved when the primer is inserted into the cartridge case and crimped.
Click to expand...

So what is most likely happening, as Jim243 has said, your primers are too high. The first strike is seating the primer, and the second is setting it off.

As for brand of primers, unless they are specified as mil spec primers, which have a specified sensitivity, you really don't know what their sensitivity is. CCI commercial primers have the reputation of being less sensitive than most, Federal are the most sensitive. If your ignition system is marginal, and I am talking about pistols, then use Federal. You might want to check with Lee about using Federal primers in Lee devices, so many Federal primers have ignited during seating that Lee did not recommend them.

The user of a Hornady LNL used too much force in seating his federal primers.



Winchester redesigned their primers in 1999 to make them more sensitive, and their more sensitive primers are the ones with the brass finish. I like WSP and WLP but the new WSR pierced at loads that never bothered the nickel plated WSR. For rifles with free floating firing pins, I would recommend the least sensitive primers, which are the mil spec types, to reduce the risk of slamfires.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top