PALMA BRASS PRIMERS?

[22BRGUY]

Wondering which primers are best to use when using the .308 Lapua Palma brass? Small rifle, small rifle benchrest, small rifle magnum or?
Thanks for help and info.

 

[7stubby]

small rifle magnum. Most guys I know running the Palma brass are using the CCI 450s.

 

[ShootDots]

Wondering which primers are best to use when using the .308 Lapua Palma brass? Small rifle, small rifle benchrest, small rifle magnum or?
Thanks for help and info.

Many of the shooters who shoot Palma brass, do so because they can and DO run higher pressures. Therefore, a CCI 450 primer or a CCI BR-4 becomes almost a must. If you do not run the "higher" pressures, try several primers in whatever load you use to see if you can cut down on E.S.'s or possibly even groups size.

 

[willbas]

I use Wolf Small Rifle Magnums or CCI BR-4 and I am getting low SD and E.S. I will have to look at my log book to get the numbers.

 

[alphapygmy]

I use CCI 450 in my 260AI made from Palma brass.

 

[Chappy]

CCI 450s or #41s. Wolf Magnums would be a good choice too.

 

[spclark]

I use Wolf Small Rifle Magnums or CCI BR-4....

S'what I use... KVB223REM or KVB556M, NCSRM or BR-4's.

Just started messing with Rem 7-1/2's too late last year. Work great.

 

[22BRGUY]

Many of the shooters who shoot Palma brass, do so because they can and DO run higher pressures. Therefore, a CCI 450 primer or a CCI BR-4 becomes almost a must. If you do not run the "higher" pressures, try several primers in whatever load you use to see if you can cut down on E.S.'s or possibly even groups size.

I agree about being tempted to up the pressure but I'm not interested in that so much as low ES and SD. On my dashers those smallies (not Somalis) just do such a nice job. Thanks all for great info.

 

[ShootDots]

I agree about being tempted to up the pressure but I'm not interested in that so much as low ES and SD. On my dashers those smallies (not Somalis) just do such a nice job. Thanks all for great info.

I for one am glad you are NOT choosing to run pressures up in the Palma brass. Personally, I think (not sure) but I think that as you "push" the pressures up there, your accuracy node "window" becomes extremely tight. I like as W-I-D-E of an "accuracy window" as I can possibly get. It always seems to me that running ANY brass up the pressure ladder, S/R primer or not, usually ends up with a very narrow window!

 

[Joe R]

22BRGUY said:
Wondering which primers are best to use when using the .308 Lapua Palma brass? Small rifle, small rifle benchrest, small rifle magnum or?
Thanks for help and info.

Hi Dennis,
I use Palma brass and last week I tested the CCI 400, 450 and BR4s. I did several sets, but here's the picture of one. Notice the difference in SDs and ESs.

Joe

 

[dkhunt14]

Hi Dennis,
I use Palma brass and last week I tested the CCI 400, 450 and BR4s. I did several sets, but here's the picture of one. Notice the difference in SDs and ESs.

JoeView attachment 976717

Joe our testing at 1000 yards also showed the same thing with Dashers. The groups just got way better and more consistent. The numbers were just better. I didn't know if it would compare with a Palma case. But I know it made the Dasher shoot great. One thing we did notice is that with RE15 the 450 seemed to do a little better. With the Varget the BR4 was way better in the Dasher case. Matt

 

[22BRGUY]

Hi Dennis,
I use Palma brass and last week I tested the CCI 400, 450 and BR4s. I did several sets, but here's the picture of one. Notice the difference in SDs and ESs.

JoeView attachment 976717

AWESOME test and info Joe! How do these ES/SD numbers compare with any tests you might have done with large rifle primers for comparison. That's the question I'm wondering about...is it worth getting the Palma brass and going through the process vs just getting large primer brass strictly in the realm of ES/SD numbers?
Thanks much for taking your time to present this.

 

[Joe R]

dkhunt14 said:
One thing we did notice is that with RE15 the 450 seemed to do a little better. With the Varget the BR4 was way better in the Dasher case. Matt

Ben Steinsholt often says that some powder and primers seem to work better together, and he too has mentioned RL15. I was using Varget in my test.

22BRGUY said:
How do these ES/SD numbers compare with any tests you might have done with large rifle primers for comparison.

I have that info and I will dig it up for you later. Right now I'm headed to the range, it's 67 degrees and sunny here in Houston.

Joe

 

[CH Luke]

I for one am glad you are NOT choosing to run pressures up in the Palma brass. Personally, I think (not sure) but I think that as you "push" the pressures up there, your accuracy node "window" becomes extremely tight. I like as W-I-D-E of an "accuracy window" as I can possibly get. It always seems to me that running ANY brass up the pressure ladder, S/R primer or not, usually ends up with a very narrow window!

This point about narrower nodes (Windows) at higher pressures seems fairly important and matches what I have observed. Anyone else want to weigh in on this?

Furthermore, it seems to me based on the fairly narrow experience I have building loads for three different weight bullets this past year that the node gets even narrower at the upper nodes as the bullet gets heavier. For example, my 185 Juggs upper node (2835 fps) is about 0.5 gr wide but with my 200 hybrid 0.3gr difference has SD and ES going away pretty quickly.

What do the QuickLOAD experts here have to say about this? Make any sense?