Primers

[bamadawg2009]

Im building a 300wsm and was wondering if I need to use regular large rifle primers or magnum primer.
I seem to get my best accuracy with CCI 200 in most of my guns but with using that much powder in such a short case do I need a LARGE magnum primer, like a FED215? I use the 215s in all my belted magnums and CCI 200s in everything else.

 

[Reelamin]

Im building a 300wsm and was wondering if I need to use regular large rifle primers or magnum primer.
I seem to get my best accuracy with CCI 200 in most of my guns but with using that much powder in such a short case do I need a LARGE magnum primer, like a FED215? I use the 215s in all my belted magnums and CCI 200s in everything else.

Ignore the "rules" of primer use and go with the "what works" for what you want rule. A primer just kicks off the burning process. Pistol primers tend to have thinner cups then rifle so they generally handle less pressure. And yes you can use a pistol primer in a rifle or the other way around.

 

[Nimrodmar10]

Which primer you use is also sometimes dependent on the powder you use. A good rule of thumb is if you're using ball powder, use the magnum primer. Also some of the big magnums, such as the Ultra Mags and Lapua Magnum, require magnum primers to ignite the large volumn of powder. This may prevent hang fires.

 

[bamadawg2009]

Im thinking of using RL-22 or RL-17 and might try some H4831SC

 

[Reelamin]

Im thinking of using RL-22 or RL-17 and might try some H4831SC

What does this have to do with your primer question? I don't understand what you are trying to combine or have a question about.

The primer choice from standard to magnum is usually based on some magic "rule" because of the powder volume. I have never heard of someone actually having "hang fire" due to using a non-mag primer in a very large volume case. I have heard of high ES due to non-uniform burn rates but never a hang fire.

 

[bamadawg2009]

What does this have to do with your primer question? I don't understand what you are trying to combine or have a question about.

I was giving NIMROD some info on my powder choices because he said sometimes primer choice depends on the powder you use. THX

 

[Nimrodmar10]

What does this have to do with your primer question? I don't understand what you are trying to combine or have a question about. .

The primer choice from standard to magnum is usually based on some magic "rule" because of the powder volume. I have never heard of someone actually having "hang fire" due to using a non-mag primer in a very large volume case. I have heard of high ES due to non-uniform burn rates but never a hang fire.

The type of primer you use is very often effected by the type powder you use. Like I said in my post, the use of ball-type powders, such as H-380, H-870, Win. 748, 760 and many more may be more accurate using magnum primers . All ball powders are double based powders and in general, are harder to ignite than extruded powder, therefore magnum primers are recommended in certain loads.

There is no "Magic" rule when selecting regular or magnum primers. The smaller the primer charge in a primer the more uniform it will be, to a point. That is the reason most BR calibers have historically been fired by small rifle primers. Remington even went so far as to manufacture their BR case, which is a .308 Winchester with a small primer pocket. This universal case evolved into several very good BR calibers. However, under some reloading conditions, such as ball powders or large volumns of powder, a magnum primer will give more uniform ignition resulting in better accuracy.

The new generation of high velocity calibers such as the Ultra Mags very often will suffer from hang fires in small-for-case-capacity bullet diameters when using long grain extruded powders. I've heard suggestions that this may be caused by the grains of powder bridging the case neck, causing the hang fires. Some of our early reloading pioneers even tried to overcome this problem by building ignition tubes into the case to move the primer fire more toward the front of the case so that the powder would burn from front to back. I presonally had a Remington Sendero in 7mm RUM, that when loaded with max loads of long extruded powder, would do this. The hang fire was only fractions of a second, but was very disconcerting. A move to the Federal 215M primer solved the problem.

In general, you should use the primer with the least amount of power which give you consistent ignition resulting in lower extreme spread and best accuracy. You will need to try more than one primer to see which one works the best.

 

[Reelamin]

What does this have to do with your primer question? I don't understand what you are trying to combine or have a question about.

I was giving NIMROD some info on my powder choices because he said sometimes primer choice depends on the powder you use. THX

LOL....ok thanks and sorry I couldnt help more. Too many "RULES", "SHOULDS", and "WHAT IF'S" for me.

I will just continue to try several different brands, sizes, and go with what works best for that particular load and rifle.

 

[Forrest Ebert]

While everyone has a valid point no one brought up weather conditions such as in hunting! I travell to Texas panhandle during November to hunt Whitetails and I have found that in my 280 AI with 63.5 grains of Retumbo doesn't quite get the proper igniton with the standard CCI200 in the 14 degree morning cold weather so I load with the CCI250 and have no problems. I know of another rule so to say that anything with 60 grains of powder or more should be using a magnum primer to get the best results but hey isn't that what hand loading is for to experiment and get your best results with the platform you are using at hand?
Just my .02 worth!

 

[lloydsmale]

I have seen hang fires with ball in big cases using std primers. i fire lapped 4 guns last summer. A 2506 a 257 wby and two 7mags. I used starting loads with 414 in all of them because i had a bunch of 414 and used std primers because i had a pile of ww old silver primers. Just about every shot with all three guns were hangfires. Now granted if i would have stepped up the pressure it might have gone away but if there hang firing with starting loads im about sure there not ideal with even full power loads. As to what to use for your load your going to have to about try both. Just varying the powder charge a grain either way can change what primer works best with about any powder. Ive got loads for the 300 wby that work best with standard primers and loads with the 6mm rem that do better with mag primers so theres no real way of making that determination short of going to the range and finding out.

 

[kermodie]

300 WSM
I use CCI 200 with H4350, Win brass.
H4831 fills the case before max velocity is reached in my rifle.

165 Sierra SPBT 65-66 gr 2.805 OAL - 3060-3100 FPS - (66 gr max).
180 Sierra, Hornady 64 gr 2.800 OAL - 2960 FPS
180 Partition, 61.5 gr 2.810 OAL - 2890 FPS

The 165 Sierra and Hornady SST group the best for me.
I can't get the Partitions to group well so will try Barnes TTSX next.

 

[Nitroman]

I have used WLRM primers in just about everything I have (.300 RUM, 7.65x53, 7x57, 8x57, 9x57, .375 H&H, .375 Weatherby, 9.3x62mm and .500 A-Square), they work well, but they do NOT work well with the .223 WSSM. I bought a case of Fed Match for those.

If you shoot in really cold temps and need the extra heat, use the mag primer, otherwise you can save some bucks and use a regular match primer.

 

[kermodie]

While everyone has a valid point no one brought up weather conditions such as in hunting! I travell to Texas panhandle during November to hunt Whitetails and I have found that in my 280 AI with 63.5 grains of Retumbo doesn't quite get the proper igniton with the standard CCI200 in the 14 degree morning cold weather so I load with the CCI250 and have no problems. I know of another rule so to say that anything with 60 grains of powder or more should be using a magnum primer to get the best results but hey isn't that what hand loading is for to experiment and get your best results with the platform you are using at hand?
Just my .02 worth!

I think the difference here is the Retumbo vrs 4350. I have hunted with my 300 WSM and 200 CCI's at temps well below freezing (-10) with no problems. This past winter I was working up some new 300 WSM loads and tested velocity at temps from freezing to just below. Velocity was the same as previous tests from last fall.

Note: (I would'nt use anything but mag primers with Retumbo in my 7 mm RM - 4831 in the 338 WM).

 

[bamadawg2009]

Thanks guys lots of help, all of my hunting is done in North Florida where temps range from 20's some mornings to upper 80's in the afternoon towards the end of season. Im really liking the ballistics of the RL-17 from what I've seen, I will probably just try some Fed 215s first then if I cant get the accy I want ill try some CCI 200's. Ive noticed H4831 has a tendancy to fill a case in most non belted magnums before max capacity is reached.