primer cup thickness and sensitivity

[milboltnut]

years ago I had a Federal 210 primer ignited, priming, using a Lee classic loader. This morning I took the anvil out of the cup, CAREFULLY, and primed a case and decapped three time for the anvil to come out easily, removing the compound. I did it with three brands. CCI 200, Remington 9 1/2, and Federal 210. I made a stand with a dial indicator for bullet seating, and used the plunger that fit just right in the cup of the primer inserted backwards in the case pockets. Federal has the thicker cup however it has alot more compound mixture. So I guess that's why it's more sensitive ? They also have that red sealant on the anvil, and am guessing keeps the anvil from shifting in the cup? Years ago, 17 years ago, I had a case pocket that wasn't flat and had rounded corners, so I suppose the anvil rocked off to one side and would cause a dud? Kinda a two fold question here. Sensitivity and primer construction for consistent ignition and sensitivity.

The Rem's and CCI 200's have a thinner cup than the Fed 210's.

 

[6mmfan]

Hey, Milboltnut
This is a fascinating subject and you're going to get a lot of responses. You might save yourself a lot of reply effort if you give the community a few more details... What do you mean by a "primer light"? Are you talking about disassembling the same primer from "years ago"? And 3 more just now? Some details on the 3X decapping procedure? How did you get the "composite" out? Do you mean the "compound"? "primer that fit just right in the cup" - what exactly do you mean? How did you measure the "amount" of primer compound?
There are probably people in this community who have a LOT of knowledge about the subject. And there is a LOT of misinformation and simplistic opinions out there. Hopefully you will be contributing to everybody's understanding.
Burt

 

[milboltnut]

I didn't measure the compound, but you see the amount was more in the Federal than the others

 

[milboltnut]

BTT