Large rifle VS Larger Rifle Magnum
- Thread starter TrxR
- Start date
Large amounts of slow powders in extremely cold temps have been know to have ignition problems with regular LR primers. Magnum primers provide the extra heat/flame to over come the cold temps and larger amounts of slow powder in the big magnums.
Frank
Frank
Large Rifle Primer Performance by Laurie Holland
Most shooters and handloaders know that the primer plays a vital role. For a start, should it fail, the firearm doesn’t work – period - with potentially disastrous consequences for some users and inconvenience for many. As bad if not worse - as it’s a potentially very dangerous occurrence - is a...
www.targetshooter.co.uk
Good article with extensive testing
Just my opinion.... when a rifle charge is about 60 grains or more, use a Magnum Primer. You can use a magnum primer in a Non Magnum cartridge, but you will probably want to reduce your charge slightly and work your way back up...... especially if your are using a maximum or near maximum pressure load. In some cases, it may not make any difference in velocity or pressure, but it can. You just have to try it out for yourself.
I’m actually having great results with 95+ grains of N570 with a standard fed FGMM primer, a better ES than the magnum.
If I was running a ball powder in cold weather I’d 100% go with a magnum
Federal designed its magnum LR primer to solve issues with ball powder in 300/378 weatherby.
That’s interesting in that test that CCI 250 and Remington 9 1/2M were milder than Winchester regular LRP.Large Rifle Primer Performance by Laurie Holland
Most shooters and handloaders know that the primer plays a vital role. For a start, should it fail, the firearm doesn’t work – period - with potentially disastrous consequences for some users and inconvenience for many. As bad if not worse - as it’s a potentially very dangerous occurrence - is a...www.targetshooter.co.uk
Good article with extensive testing
joelpend
Silver $$ Contributor
Winchester just makes one large rifle primer. Since Winchester Olin used a lot of ball powders they designed a large rifle primer that ignited the ball powders reliably. I think it may matter what part of the country you are in. I noticed several years ago that the 1000yd shooters out west used a lot of magnum primers. Myself and many others here in the southeast used non magnum for the 300 Ackley. I tested many primers and the non magnum Fed GMM gave me the best results for primers readily available. RWS and the old Russian Primers were "cold" compared to most. They could deliver some amazingly low SD. Testing is the answer. Whatever works I do not question.
Actually Winchester (Olin) now makes 3 large rifle primers available to the handloading public. It goes back farther, but the oldest I remember were the 8 1/2-120s in yellow boxes. They were renamed WLR sometime around the early 80s (?) in light gray packages. These were listed as usable for magnum or standard loads.
Sometime around late 80s/early 90s they started producing the WLRM (also in light gray boxes) which were listed for magnum loads.
Somewhere in the last 30 years the boxes became blue. Apparently the newest packaging is in red, white, & black but I have yet to see any "in the flesh".
A few years back they came out with the red box match WMGLR primers which are comparable to WLRs, but slightly more uniform, in the limited comparison testing I've done.
Here they are...
WINCHESTER PRIMER LARGE RIFLE 1000/BOX - Graf & Sons
Limit 4 boxes (4,000) per order. Order 1 case (5,000) by dropping B off of the item number. To buy a case of 5,000 click here WINWLR
www.grafs.com
WINCHESTER PRIMER LARGE RIFLE MAGNUM 1000/BOX - Graf & Sons
Limit 4 boxes (4,000) per order. Order 1 case (5,000) by dropping B off of the item number. To buy a case of 5,000 click here WINWLRM
www.grafs.com
WINCHESTER PRIMER LARGE RIFLE MATCH 1000/BOX - Graf & Sons
Large Rifle Match Primer Box of 1000 Non-corrosive, all weather primers deliver fast, dependable ignition under any shooting condition. Winchester works to make sure all primers are reliable, instant and precise. In Winchester testing labs, primers are constantly and rigorously tested for...
www.grafs.com
German Salazar did some photography of different primers flashes. Thought I had it bookmarked but cant find it today. Maybe someone else can post a link?
Also this link may be useful...
Last edited:
ronemus
Gold $$ Contributor
A lot of German's information becme unavailable when his web site went dark. Some of it was re-posted from archives kept by people who downloaded them. You'll have to search to see if the information you want is available.
joelpend
Silver $$ Contributor
I was in error in that I should have stated that when that primer test was done there likely was one W-W primer which was marked on the box as being for regular and magnum loads. As you can see from the test they were plenty hot and I believe had thick cups because I ran some pressures with them that flattened them totally and I never had a pierced primer. They were the white box primers which IMO were superior to the blue box primers that were not silver in color. I had some bad piercing experiences with the blue box LR primers. Something was inferior with the cups where the piercing occured away from the center and closer to the OD. It would just burn a little hole in the cup and etch a bolt face in a heartbeat. I stopped using Win LR primers for that reason. I lost trust in them.Actually Winchester (Olin) now makes 3 large rifle primers available to the handloading public. It goes back farther, but the oldest I remember were the 8 1/2-120s in yellow boxes. They were renamed WLR sometime around the early 80s (?) in light gray packages. These were listed as usable for magnum or standard loads.
Sometime around late 80s/early 90s they started producing the WLRM (also in light gray boxes) which were listed for magnum loads.
Somewhere in the last 30 years the boxes became blue. Apparently the newest packaging is in red, white, & black but I have yet to see any "in the flesh".
A few years back they came out with the red box match WMGLR primers which are comparable to WLRs, but slightly more uniform, in the limited comparison testing I've done.
Here they are...
WINCHESTER PRIMER LARGE RIFLE 1000/BOX - Graf & Sons
Limit 4 boxes (4,000) per order. Order 1 case (5,000) by dropping B off of the item number. To buy a case of 5,000 click here WINWLR
WINCHESTER PRIMER LARGE RIFLE MAGNUM 1000/BOX - Graf & Sons
Limit 4 boxes (4,000) per order. Order 1 case (5,000) by dropping B off of the item number. To buy a case of 5,000 click here WINWLRM
WINCHESTER PRIMER LARGE RIFLE MATCH 1000/BOX - Graf & Sons
Large Rifle Match Primer Box of 1000 Non-corrosive, all weather primers deliver fast, dependable ignition under any shooting condition. Winchester works to make sure all primers are reliable, instant and precise. In Winchester testing labs, primers are constantly and rigorously tested for...
German Salazar did some photography of different primers flashes. Thought I had it bookmarked but cant find it today. Maybe someone else can post a link?
Also this link may be useful...
Primer Flash Test Photos
6mmBR.com is the best guide for 6mm BR Benchrest precision shooting, complete with 6BR FAQ, Reloading Data, Shooter Message Boards, Reader Polls, and Photo Gallery. Match event calendar and rifle competition accuracy training tips. Equipment reviews (.243 bullets, 30BR cartridge, 6mm Norma...
www.6mmbr.com
It is. I'm using CCI 200's and 250"s interchangeability depending on what I have and what I find for 6xc. Not seeing any pressure difference on the cases/primers and just a tad bit of difference in speed at 600 yds on shotmarker.
All LR primers have the same thickness cup from everything I've seen
Thanks for that!
I had picked up a brick of the 250’s during this shortage and was hoping I could use them for my WLR primer load in 6.5 Creedmoor.
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