Bradley Walker said:
There were some flame tests and I thought the Fed 205 had a very small flame. 400 next bigger, 450 next bigger and Rem had the biggest flame.
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It is somewhat more complex than that. Primer compounds differ, producing varying flame temperatures. The amount of explosive force varies. Some are said to incorporate aluminum particles (used in solid rocket fuel) to increase powder ignition. The time exposure photos that I have seen support the chart but certainly could vary with lot. Also, there is nothing to say that manufacturers cannot change the formulation. [br]
As a general statement, the mildest, consistent primer that provides reliable ignition gives the best result. Some of the mildest primers, like Russian Tula, seem to have problems igniting ball powders. Winchester, which once offered exclusively ball powders from the St. Marks, Florida plant, produces some of the hottest primers. But, I have also found extruded powder loads that worked best with hot primers. [br]
The testing method also affects how primers are ranked. Some tests used a pendulum or ball, physically moved by the primer. This only measures the explosive force. Some tests used time exposure photography to capture the flame. Since I never saw one that used infrared imagery, this is also a little suspicious. The photos sometimes showed spark showers well beyond the flame extent, supporting aluminum powder inclusion. My approach is to use the chart as a rough reference and test at the range. [br]
While working with Picatinny Arsenal on the Ultra Lightweight Howitzer program, I learned that Army Ballistic Research Lab (BRL) did not run computer models of internal ballistics as it was too complex and chaotic a system for reliable results. They just characterized the impulse from empirical testing.