Magnum primers

[dbaird]

Is it ok to use magnum primers to reload .308/.30-06/.243 ammo?

 

[Bill Norris]

Is it ok to use magnum primers to reload .308/.30-06/.243 ammo?

Yes. U will need to back off the load and work up since some of these loads tend to be a little hotter with a magnum primer.

 

[CNC-Dude]

It can change your load development if you started with a non-magnum primer. But I've heard of people doing it, especially in extreme cold with hard to ignite powders. I don't think it'll provide any accuracy advantages. I dont even use magnum primers in my 300 WinMag.

 

[Hengehold]

Is it ok to use magnum primers to reload .308/.30-06/.243 ammo?

That is a question that you should direct to a primer manufacturer like Federal.
My understanding is that the difference between a magnum primer and a standard primer is that the magnum primer has a thicker cup. Consequently, it is not uncommon for people to use small rifle magnum primers in a cartridge if they are loading to higher pressures.

-TH

 

[Laguna Freak]

Yes. U will need to back off the load and work up since some of these loads tend to be a little hotter with a magnum primer.

I use WLRM and RL16 in 30-06 x 150 grain boolits. WLR did not give me a clean burn.

 

[Catfur]

I believe that, in some combinations, magnum primers are recommended by mfrs. for use in .308/.30-06 ammo. Such as igniting ball powder, which is harder to ignite than single-base stick powder.

 

[r bose]

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 about primers. Seems some REGULAR primers are burning hotter than MAGS. At the end of the day, reduce your load, work back up. No primer should be considered interchangeable.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

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 about primers. Seems some REGULAR primers are burning hotter than MAGS. At the end of the day, reduce your load, work back up. No primer should be considered interchangeable.

Yes, thanks for posting this.
I use Winchester large rifle and do get good speeds, have picked up some CCI 205 during this shortage and it will be interesting to compare the speeds with the WLR.

 

[centerlineseal]

Back in the day, when I was a poor soul working from paycheck to paycheck in the late 1970s, I had two rifles, a 22-250 Ruger 77V and a 7mm RemMag in a M700 BDL.
I developed loads using one primer, ... CCI 250 (not developed like I know how to today, but adequate).

Both shot, and still do, under 1/2 MOA with the same powder, IMR 4350.

Go for it!

 

[centerlineseal]

Kraken, ... I like your byline!

 

[jackson1]

At little look at my possibly distorted view of history. Remember reading a Precision Shooting articles about primers. My take away was, use the mildest primer that that gets the job done. That primer was the Federal GM. For most of my life Winchester did not offer a magnum primer; possibly because of their use of ball powder. My old Powely Computer also calls them (Winchester) a hot primer and need to be accounted for in load calculations. Bought my first box (1000) of magnum primers back in the 70's and still have about half of them.

 

[Dgd6mm]

I use Tula LRMP's in my .308 with H4895 for FTR.

 

[Capt. Oblivious]

When we had our last major shortage over here we could only find Magnum primers for some time, used them in everything from 243 to the magnums with 308 and 30.06 also in there, with slower powders in 243 and 308 the magnum primers some times really woke the load up

 

[kiwijohn]

Did this very test just last week.
ONLY on CCI 200 and 250

No velocity change ( using a ball powder ) but a much lower ES ( halved it ) using the 250's

Leads me to believe they are the same brisance but a heavier cup, maybe better QC on the production line gives the magnum primer an edge.

.308 CCI 200 48 grains PP2000MR 2950 fps ES 25

.308 CCI250 48 grains PP2000MR 2954 fps ES 13

 

[Catfur]

Did this very test just last week.
ONLY on CCI 200 and 250

No velocity change ( using a ball powder ) but a much lower ES ( halved it ) using the 250's

Leads me to believe they are the same brisance but a heavier cup, maybe better QC on the production line gives the magnum primer an edge.

.308 CCI 200 48 grains PP2000MR 2950 fps ES 25

.308 CCI250 48 grains PP2000MR 2954 fps ES 13

Brisance is a property inherent to what the primer compound is, not how much of it there is. Cup thickness/hardness is the only difference in some standard/magnum primers (Tula, looking at you), but CCI Large Rifle Mag primers are "hotter" (to use a vague term), at least according to CCI. In any case, brisance is not a property you want in a primer, as it measures "shattering power", and what you need to ignite smokeless powder consistently is to propel incandescent sparks of burning metal into the charge. This is why Federal's new primers (only in manufactured ammo, so far) are basically thermite (bismuth oxide/aluminum) with a small amount of high explosive (nitrocellulose) to set it off and propel it into the charge.

Powder burn is something of a voodoo art, it's likely that your SDs are lower with a mag primer because ignition is more consistent.

 

[kiwijohn]

Sorry I should have written, same stuff instead of brissance. But yes that was the crux of what I was saying, consistent ignition from Mag primer gives lower SD's.

A lot of what I have seen written refers to brissance in regard to primer compound.

 

[3Sigma]

Did this very test just last week.
ONLY on CCI 200 and 250

No velocity change ( using a ball powder ) but a much lower ES ( halved it ) using the 250's

Leads me to believe they are the same brisance but a heavier cup, maybe better QC on the production line gives the magnum primer an edge.

.308 CCI 200 48 grains PP2000MR 2950 fps ES 25

.308 CCI250 48 grains PP2000MR 2954 fps ES 13

How many rounds were fired for each?

If it is less than 10, you can't claim any difference.

 

[kiwijohn]

Ammo is in short supply, just one of each.

Hah! Just kidding! Averages are for a 10 shot string. Launched over a magneto speed sporter.

Also did this for other charge weights, that were a bit lighter but results not as clear.
This lead me to think that this will be my node....testing will continue with just the magnum primers.