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Primers?

bsekf

My comments about primer prices got deleted before I got a chance to add to it.

Is there really any need to use BR quality? I though using BR 4's tightened my groups a tiny bit, so I have been using them and BR 2's. However, they have priced themselves out of my reloading room.

Have any of you done any "in-depth" studying whether BR quality really make a difference? And, what brand seemed to be the most consistent? I hear comments about Wolf, but understand they are no longer available.

Do the manufactures actually make their own or are they all made in China and put in different boxes? The shortage indicates they are all imported. Just like powder.

Bill
 
You need to do your own testing, as nobody else is shooting your loads in your rifles.

I personally don't see any difference between BR and standard small rifle primers, but that's me.

I'm sure there are primers being made in China (they had some really good match airgun pellets coming to the US for a while), but I've never seen any. Most primers available here are US made (Win, Fed, CCI, Rem); if imported, from Europe (often Eastern Europe) or south of the US.
 
I believe there was a Daily Bulletin on this issue that described the difference in cup thickness. For example, for small rifle primers, the Federal 205M primers have a .225" thick cup whereas their 200 have a .019"thick cup.

Similiarly, for CCI small rifle primers, the BR4 has a .025 where as the 400 have 020" thick cups.

Supposedly, the thicker cup primers should be used for higher pressure cartridges, i.e. 223 Rem where as the thinner ones for lower pressure cartridges, i.e. 22 Hornet.
 
You are correct to a point, but, all primer cups are not made from the same strength material so it's tough to tell. I know before I had bushed firing pins in my ppcs only br4s did not fail.
 
bsekf said:
Do the manufactures actually make their own or are they all made in China and put in different boxes? The shortage indicates they are all imported.
Click to expand...
Yes, the ones marketed as CCI, Federal, Remington, etc., really do come from those corporations and from their facilities. Those are not repackaged imports.

We do also get imported brands, and there were even some Murom (Russian) primers that were very good and inexpensive, but I am not aware that there have ever been any Chinese ones here in the US.

If you live long enough, you will see cycles of primer shortages. The past shortages have been significant before this episode, and more than once since the end of the cold war too. There was no public internet to announce or discuss it, and the gun writers at those times barely mentioned it.
 
While on the subject, does anyone have a comparison of the CCI 34 primer and the 200 lrp in most bolt actions loads?
34’s can be found now #200 not so much.
 
bsekf said:
Have any of you done any "in-depth" studying whether BR quality really make a difference? And, what brand seemed to be the most consistent? I hear comments about Wolf, but understand they are no longer available.
Click to expand...
Bill - Laurie Holland tested and reported on both large and small primers, here's a link to the 3rd section of the srp report, you can find the others via this link too. It's a very good review.

www.targetshooter.co.uk

Small Rifle Primer Performance Pt 3 by Laurie Holland

In parts 1 and 2, I’ve got as far as listing the primers that are generally available in the UK and summarising their characteristics - in particular, cup thickness/strength. I’ve questioned the significance and role of the so-called ‘magnum’ type and worked up a 308 Win ‘Palma brass’ load to be...
www.targetshooter.co.uk
 
The CCI BR primers are the only primers that I can find in my gun stores around me. I bought 3000 of these in the last month at 99.00 a thousand. I was happy to even find these so I won’t complain about price. I buy a few hundred every time I go into the store. The CCI BR primers have always been a very good opinion for my loads.
Not sure what you mean by all primers and powder imported? My Hodgdon powders all say made in the USA. My CCI, Federal, Winchester primers all say made in the USA. Are you talking about the raw material to make powders and primers?
 
Last edited:
Okay guys . Pay attention , take notes , cause there'll be a quiz later . To my knowledge , and everything I've read on the subject for the last five years , it comes down to this . Between King Barrack and Obi-DUMB , there are currently no primers being imported into the U.S. , except Ginex , to some outlets . King Barack took care of the Mag-Tek ( Brazil ) , S&B , and most of the Russian primers . While Obi-Dumb finished it off with his Import Ban for "Natl. Security issues . What-ever that means . To the Anti-gun Dem-tards ; It means "THEY" restricted something to hurt gun owners and shooters , so it was good . In their eyes , and small brains . Guess these Brain-iacs don't understand that when the Govt. is powerful enough to give them everything ..... It's also powerful enough to take everything away , too . And sadly ; There is no reasoning with these Fanatics , either . Long and short of it all ? There are virtually NO IMPORT primers coming to the U.S. now . Any import primers you find available will have come from "Re-discovered " stock that was misplaced , or held back .
 
Martin52 said:
Bill - Laurie Holland tested and reported on both large and small primers, here's a link to the 3rd section of the srp report, you can find the others via this link too. It's a very good review.

www.targetshooter.co.uk

Small Rifle Primer Performance Pt 3 by Laurie Holland

In parts 1 and 2, I’ve got as far as listing the primers that are generally available in the UK and summarising their characteristics - in particular, cup thickness/strength. I’ve questioned the significance and role of the so-called ‘magnum’ type and worked up a 308 Win ‘Palma brass’ load to be...
www.targetshooter.co.uk
Click to expand...
Thanks for that very interesting read!
While I was there, here is Laurie Holland’s test on the large rifle primers.http://www.targetshooter.co.uk/?p=1471
 
D-4297 said:
Okay guys . Pay attention , take notes , cause there'll be a quiz later . To my knowledge , and everything I've read on the subject for the last five years , it comes down to this . Between King Barrack and Obi-DUMB , there are currently no primers being imported into the U.S. , except Ginex , to some outlets . King Barack took care of the Mag-Tek ( Brazil ) , S&B , and most of the Russian primers . While Obi-Dumb finished it off with his Import Ban for "Natl. Security issues . What-ever that means . To the Anti-gun Dem-tards ; It means "THEY" restricted something to hurt gun owners and shooters , so it was good . In their eyes , and small brains . Guess these Brain-iacs don't understand that when the Govt. is powerful enough to give them everything ..... It's also powerful enough to take everything away , too . And sadly ; There is no reasoning with these Fanatics , either . Long and short of it all ? There are virtually NO IMPORT primers coming to the U.S. now . Any import primers you find available will have come from "Re-discovered " stock that was misplaced , or held back .
Click to expand...
Who uses imports anyway? CCI, Federal, Remington are all made here. Imports were a tiny fraction of the market and likely even smaller for the types of shooters represented here.

(PS: try finding US powder in Europe)
 
GLO123 said:
My Hodgdon powders all say made in the USA.
Click to expand...

Kind of depends on which powders you run. Hodgdon imports a lot of powder from Australia, and I think at least some from Canada. Don't know about other places, but it wouldn't surprise me at all.
 
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