Using small rifle primers or larger rifle magnum primers in 308 win

BHP9 said:

Federal brass? I have found that they can loosen up on the first firing.

Almost anything else, too high pressure will do it.

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thanks - LC brass - 2nd reload - loaded to nosler book recipe - 168gr over varget

The older Winchester primers produced around 2008 that were recalled were a little loose in the primer pockets.The newer ones fit tight now.Some brass is too soft throughout the entire case and will sometimes loosen up the primer pockets after the first firing.I recently ran into that issue with my 308 Norma Magnum in Norma brass.I used some Remington and Winchester 7mag brass necked up and never had not one issue with loose primer pockets.With the soft Norma brass I had to reduce my load about two grains to keep my primer pockets from expanding too much.

I have used small rifle primers in my 308 srp Peterson cases with good results down to 30 degrees or so, with no ignition issues. Also have used magnum primers in my 308. Seems like the 308 works with a wide range of components, powders included.

Wolffo if your pockets are loose it might be best to discard the lot of brass. Also might want to back off the charge a little. I've got some inexpensive 308 brass with 15 firings still going strong.

I was using the BR4s in my Lapua brass because that was what was most available. Never have had an issue. Back when I could get them, I really liked FGMM in large rifle. I switched over due to availability. .308 and .243 are very tolerant it seems.

Should you use double base powder in rifle cartridges using small primers ?

I default to doubt that there is meaningful difference between small & large primers (functionally).

SamuelBerryhill308 said:

I've been looking into trying some small rifle primers in my 308 mainly because seems like that's all I can find or maybe even using large rifle magnum primers in 308 win I would like to get some insight on using both and also how reliable small rifle primers are in cold weather.thanks

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I bought some Peterson SRP brass and Lapua LRP brass that I could find just to have. Just got a 308 finished up and after zeroing it in at 105 yards with Lapua LRP and Varget I thought hmmmm poi shift using Peterson Srp brass??? Loaded 5 up with same load of Varget behind SMK 155 bthp's and all landed in the same foot print as the Lapua lrp brass!!! Just made the hole bigger which was prolly barrel heat and that little Bas&?!d group demon that shows up now and then. And I ran the bolt and trigger as fast as I could for the last 5 rounds. The hole on left was Lapua first shot then adjusted Steiner 2 clicks right.

SamuelBerryhill308 said:

I've been looking into trying some small rifle primers in my 308 mainly because seems like that's all I can find or maybe even using large rifle magnum primers in 308 win I would like to get some insight on using both and also how reliable small rifle primers are in cold weather.thanks

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Let's not overthink everything sometimes we do and don't realize it. It would be like saying a 22 hornet, 222, 223 and so on isn't reliable to extreme temps because of the primers. I'll bet those calibers have been used from pole to pole on this good earth by people that were betting their life on the boom!!!!!!

cra

wolffo said:

hey - question - I only recently noticed my 308 primer pockets are loosening up, what causes this? can I still shoot them?

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crappy brass, over pressure alot of things can cause it. I would caution not to use brass with loose pockets.

Coldfinger said:

Let's not overthink everything sometimes we do and don't realize it. It would be like saying a 22 hornet, 222, 223 and so on isn't reliable to extreme temps because of the primers. I'll bet those calibers have been used from pole to pole on this good earth by people that were betting their life on the boom!!!!!!

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I think he's questioning it because there's probably close to 50 grains of powder to ignite compared to 25 in the 223. But as others mentioned they have had no problems even at very low temperature with SRP.

Alpha also uses a full size (2.03mm) flash hole in their SRP offerings.

baldhunter said:

I use magnum primers in my 308 Win's with great results.I use them not because I wanted more velocity,I use them because I have a lot of magnum rifles I load for.I got tired of switching back and forth between large rifle and magnum primers.Now I use magnum primers in my 308's,30-06's and 338-06 with great results.

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Nice! Been using cci 34 and magnum lr for years. It's all I use. No worries about cold weather performance.

No issues at all using SRP primers. Go for it!!

baldhunter said:

I use magnum primers in my 308 Win's with great results.I use them not because I wanted more velocity,I use them because I have a lot of magnum rifles I load for.I got tired of switching back and forth between large rifle and magnum primers.Now I use magnum primers in my 308's,30-06's and 338-06 with great results.

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What seeds are you loading the 308 with, and the IMR 4895 ? great groups