Fed. Vs win primer problem...?

[Rsadams]

After loading hundreds of .38 spl at 4.4gr of win231 and 125gr berry bullets with winchester SP primers I have never flattened a primer.. Swapped over to fed. Champion primers and stepped up to 4.5gr and had some flattened primers tonight , not horrible but definitely flattened some Are the Fed. primers softer than the winchester?

According to winchester data I should be good from 3.8 to 4.8 grs of win231 with this bullet and at 4.4 it's kinda weak that's why I stepped up to 4.5 and you could tell it had a bit more thump.. Just wondering if the Fed primers are softer? Iam go a step back down to 4.4 and if it flattens them I know they are just soft but was wondering if you guys had run into this?? Or maybe they are hotter than the winchester? I have not BTW changed anything as far as coal..maybe just a tad bit more crimp but still considered light.

Thanks in advance...

 

[FatBoy]

They are for small/large rifle. can't speak for pistol, but I would bet they are the same cups.

 

[Rsadams]

Ya I also noticed the Fed. Are a lot easier to seat than the winchester.. Maybe the winchester has stretched the primer pockets some.. The brass has quite a few reloads on them. There was also no black ring around the primers or any other pressure signs....

 

[Jammer Six]

I can speak to pistol. I've loaded several thousand in .45ACP, both Federal 150s and WSP.

I switched away from Winchester because they are too hard-- I've had several failure to fires with Winchester, I went to Federal 150s and then Federal Match 150M, and the problem disappeared.

I know several hand-loaders in my leagues who swear by and only use WSPs, and when we compared notes and swapped ammo, it seemed to be a gun-by-gun thing. (Note that we didn't do any kind of rigorous testing.) Some weapons will tolerate the harder WSPs, some won't, and those weapons only like Federal primers. The Federal primers would fire in all weapons, the WSPs would occasionally produce failures in some weapons. (A lot more failures than any of us were willing to tolerate.)

P.S. Sidenote: at that time, I was still carrying commercial loads, and I switched away from any commercial load with a gold primer that came from a company that didn't manufacture primers, because they could have been Winchester primers.

 

[Rsadams]

The Ruger lcr didn't have a problem setting off The WSP... Just having a shortage of SP and SR primers around here for the last 6 months.. I have just been buying the winchester SP primers at my local Academy but all they had left was 700 of the Fed. SP primers so I just bought them all for my wife.

All I have been seeing for like 6 months is small pistol magnums.. I could have ran over to the one local gun store and bought CCI but just grabbed these out of convenience. I have been useing S/B in my 9mm for the last couple of years but the long case .38 hates them becouse it gets position sensitive and leaves a bunch of unburnt powder. No other primers does this in the .38 I just down load some for her to practice with becouse its a lot cheaper than factory and at 13oz her little Ruger carry pistol kicks pretty good with factory..

Thanks again guys for the replies.. I saw the same thing when I shot some cci 400 SRP and it flattened them at a mild load..

 

[Shaggy357]

Feds are softer and you already caught that. For moderate loads they are a good primer. I use mostly Winchester as I have had good success with my magnums. I have had many more problems with soft primers vs hard primers. Don't buy many soft ones any more, unless they are a super sale.

Steve

 

[Rsadams]

Thanks everyone for your replies and your time....

 

[Ringostar]

I used to shoot action pistol competition. Shooters in revolver class that lightened their triggers preferred to use Federal primers. Light primer strikes would lead to misfires, with stiffer primers. Yes they have a softer cup.

 

[Shaggy357]

I used to shoot action pistol competition. Shooters in revolver class that lightened their triggers preferred to use Federal primers. Light primer strikes would lead to misfires, with stiffer primers. Yes they have a softer cup.

It's ok to lighten the trigger, but you have to do it without sacrificing hammer leverage. I have a couple of FA's that have triggers under 1lb, but smack that magnum primer the same every time. Another art to the process.....Its a fine balance that is often hard to achieve. If softer primers solve any issues, that is definitely the way to go.

Steve

 

[Ringostar]

I also have a lightened revolver trigger for competition. I never tried any others after what I learned from other shooters. It wasn't a problem, because of when the hoarding started about 7 years ago Federals were all that I could find. So I also stocked up. I haven't shot action pistol for a few years, but still have at least 10k Federal small pistol primers. Mostly match primers. It was the lack of bullets that stopped my pistol shooting.