Due to the shortage of Federal primers, and the excellent reviews I have heard about Wolf primers and not to mention price, I purchased some. When I am not killing prairie rats my highest volume of shooting is CMP competition at my local club. Since my 16 year old has decided to join me on these outings the number of shots fired has doubled so I chose .223 and my AR15 as the first test bed for Wolf primers.
I know right off the bat that I will get many comments about how I did this test incorrectly, but please understand this was just a first crack to see if I was wasting my time. If you look at the details below I think you will find I was not.
My pet load for my AR15 is 26 grains of W748 behind a 69 grain Nosler CC bullet, and Fed 205M primers. I like this load for a lot of reasons. This load gives me .5MOA at 200 yards with open sights – from a rest. I can use my powder measure and get very consistent charges all day long. The only thing I don’t like about this load is the W748 is dirty and I cannot shoot more than 100 rounds without cleaning.
Now for the test. I purchased both the Wolf .223Rem and the Wolf Small Rifle Magnum primers with the expectation of working up loads. Since I need to reload for my AR15 soon, I decided to start there. My test was simple – just replace the primers and see what the difference is in muzzle velocity, spread and standard deviation. I was not worried about danger since the previous load was nowhere near giving me pressure signs.
I fired 10 shots of all three loads (Fed205M, Wolf .223Rem and Wolf SRM) over a Chrony Beta model chronograph. I had also planned on measuring groups as well but had one of those “oh poop” moments when my scope/base/rings combination would not work and I had no SR targets with me for use with peep and post sights.
Measured results:
Shot Fed 205M Wolf 223 Wolf Mag SR
1 2842 2904 2945
2 2807 2939 2928
3 2863 2950 2900
4 2824 2962 2958
5 2865 2958 2959
6 2882 2972 2945
7 2881 2972 2921
8 2867 2976 2914
9 2855 2975 2922
10 2858 2956 2888
Min 2807 2904 2888
Max 2882 2976 2959
Ave 2854 2956 2928
Median 2861 2960 2925
Spread 75 72 71
Std Dev 23.93 21.96 23.81
Ave Dev 18.04 15.32 19.00
The first shot with the W.223Rem primer brought up an error on the chronograph. There was a loading issue with the last shot of the WSRM primers, this bullet felt wrong when I seated it and the neck measured .255 when all the other necks measured .247 – so I held it separately. The only other note is that the Fed205M loads were dropped from a Redding bench rest powder measure and both sets of Wolf were individually weighed. I do not believe that will have much effect since the variation charge to charge from my Redding measure is less than .1 grains with this powder.
Results are pretty good. Both Wolf primers give an increase in velocity with little change in the spread or standard deviation. Removing the two irregular data points gives an even better result.
Shot Fed 205M Wolf 223 Wolf Mag SR
1 2842 2945
2 2807 2939 2928
3 2863 2950 2900
4 2824 2962 2958
5 2865 2958 2959
6 2882 2972 2945
7 2881 2972 2921
8 2867 2976 2914
9 2855 2975 2922
10 2858 2956
Min 2807 2939 2900
Max 2882 2976 2959
Ave 2854 2962 2932
Median 2861 2962 2928
Spread 75 37 59
Std Dev 23.93 12.70 20.39
Ave Dev 18.04 10.25 17.16
Now it looks as if with the Wolf .223Rem primers I get 100ft/second improvement in velocity and the spread and standard deviation both get cut in half.
I need to return to the range with the .223Rem primers and this load and see if the group is what I expect. I think it will be worthwhile to play with the load a little and see if a little powder more or less will improve the spread in velocity.
In conclusion, the Wolf primers may be worth a look backed up with real data.
I know right off the bat that I will get many comments about how I did this test incorrectly, but please understand this was just a first crack to see if I was wasting my time. If you look at the details below I think you will find I was not.
My pet load for my AR15 is 26 grains of W748 behind a 69 grain Nosler CC bullet, and Fed 205M primers. I like this load for a lot of reasons. This load gives me .5MOA at 200 yards with open sights – from a rest. I can use my powder measure and get very consistent charges all day long. The only thing I don’t like about this load is the W748 is dirty and I cannot shoot more than 100 rounds without cleaning.
Now for the test. I purchased both the Wolf .223Rem and the Wolf Small Rifle Magnum primers with the expectation of working up loads. Since I need to reload for my AR15 soon, I decided to start there. My test was simple – just replace the primers and see what the difference is in muzzle velocity, spread and standard deviation. I was not worried about danger since the previous load was nowhere near giving me pressure signs.
I fired 10 shots of all three loads (Fed205M, Wolf .223Rem and Wolf SRM) over a Chrony Beta model chronograph. I had also planned on measuring groups as well but had one of those “oh poop” moments when my scope/base/rings combination would not work and I had no SR targets with me for use with peep and post sights.
Measured results:
Shot Fed 205M Wolf 223 Wolf Mag SR
1 2842 2904 2945
2 2807 2939 2928
3 2863 2950 2900
4 2824 2962 2958
5 2865 2958 2959
6 2882 2972 2945
7 2881 2972 2921
8 2867 2976 2914
9 2855 2975 2922
10 2858 2956 2888
Min 2807 2904 2888
Max 2882 2976 2959
Ave 2854 2956 2928
Median 2861 2960 2925
Spread 75 72 71
Std Dev 23.93 21.96 23.81
Ave Dev 18.04 15.32 19.00
The first shot with the W.223Rem primer brought up an error on the chronograph. There was a loading issue with the last shot of the WSRM primers, this bullet felt wrong when I seated it and the neck measured .255 when all the other necks measured .247 – so I held it separately. The only other note is that the Fed205M loads were dropped from a Redding bench rest powder measure and both sets of Wolf were individually weighed. I do not believe that will have much effect since the variation charge to charge from my Redding measure is less than .1 grains with this powder.
Results are pretty good. Both Wolf primers give an increase in velocity with little change in the spread or standard deviation. Removing the two irregular data points gives an even better result.
Shot Fed 205M Wolf 223 Wolf Mag SR
1 2842 2945
2 2807 2939 2928
3 2863 2950 2900
4 2824 2962 2958
5 2865 2958 2959
6 2882 2972 2945
7 2881 2972 2921
8 2867 2976 2914
9 2855 2975 2922
10 2858 2956
Min 2807 2939 2900
Max 2882 2976 2959
Ave 2854 2962 2932
Median 2861 2962 2928
Spread 75 37 59
Std Dev 23.93 12.70 20.39
Ave Dev 18.04 10.25 17.16
Now it looks as if with the Wolf .223Rem primers I get 100ft/second improvement in velocity and the spread and standard deviation both get cut in half.
I need to return to the range with the .223Rem primers and this load and see if the group is what I expect. I think it will be worthwhile to play with the load a little and see if a little powder more or less will improve the spread in velocity.
In conclusion, the Wolf primers may be worth a look backed up with real data.
