|
|
05-07-2010, 11:35 AM
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: In the Cloud
Posts: 1,736
Likes: 2,252
Liked 1,872 Times in 582 Posts
|
|
Hard and Soft Primers
What brands of primers have the reputation of being hard and which are soft ? I want to buy primers and /or ammo that will be less likely to misfire ( in revolvers ) due to hard primers.
__________________
I like Ike.
|
05-07-2010, 12:31 PM
|
Absent Comrade
|
|
|
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 2,998
Likes: 845
Liked 898 Times in 488 Posts
|
|
federal is the softer of the primers, remington is next, then winchester, and the hardest are cci. that is at least my finding on this. if you have a gun tuned for federal primers, you won't be able to set off cci and probably winchester. remington will be a maybe. this is for tuned match guns only, not factory spec guns.
|
05-07-2010, 02:48 PM
|
US Veteran
|
|
|
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Tennessee., USA
Posts: 749
Likes: 2
Liked 384 Times in 170 Posts
|
|
I solved my sometimes problem, of misfires, by seating the primers with an RCBS hand primer tool.
It seats the primer fully to the bottom of the cup, and even CCI's go bang everytime.
Yes, I have reduced power Wolff springs in all my K's, and L's
__________________
NRA Instructor
|
05-07-2010, 03:21 PM
|
US Veteran
|
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: The Rust Belt Buckle/Mich
Posts: 2,382
Likes: 0
Liked 41 Times in 32 Posts
|
|
I've had a similar experience to John. My wife's 3" model 60 has a reduced power hammer spring so I have to use a primer pocket reamer before I prime my cases. I use Winchester primers and once the cases are reamed and the primers are seated, they go bang every time.
|
05-07-2010, 06:54 PM
|
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Out west in NY
Posts: 124
Likes: 2
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
|
|
I have a couple thousand old old old Winchester small pistol magnums that are really soft cupped.
Was wondering if anyone else had encountered this.
|
05-08-2010, 07:40 AM
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: In the Cloud
Posts: 1,736
Likes: 2,252
Liked 1,872 Times in 582 Posts
|
|
Thanks all.
__________________
I like Ike.
|
05-08-2010, 09:08 AM
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 316
Likes: 0
Liked 2 Times in 2 Posts
|
|
Is it really "cup softness" or actually primer compound sensitivity?
|
05-08-2010, 09:30 AM
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Michigan, USA
Posts: 2,260
Likes: 2
Liked 116 Times in 85 Posts
|
|
Perazzi provided good info on relative primer cup softness. However unless you have dramatically lightened the DA trigger you should not experience any difficulty igniting any of the primer brands. A factory sprung revolver will ignite any brand of primer or ammo.
My competition revolvers have very light DA triggers and function best with Federal primers.
|
05-08-2010, 10:49 AM
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: western north carolina
Posts: 1,068
Likes: 0
Liked 165 Times in 62 Posts
|
|
magtech primers are definitely "hard". i agree on the federals. i reckon every federal i have ever loaded went "bang" first time.
|
05-09-2010, 04:38 AM
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: lesage WV
Posts: 128
Likes: 0
Liked 3 Times in 3 Posts
|
|
one reason federal is soft they sell to Law enforcement and Many carry glocks or a firearm that uses a striker. It needs a soft primer. I reload the 40 for my sig and buddy has a glock. he will get a misfire with my loads SOMETIMES I use cci
I said sometimes so you glock guys dont jump on me. OH my sig never fails LOL
|
05-23-2010, 03:59 PM
|
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 17,817
Likes: 7,852
Liked 25,737 Times in 8,695 Posts
|
|
I know that for years many people have said CCI primers are the hardest, and Federal are the softest, while Remington & Winchester fall somewhere in the middle. I won't put money on this because I have no real way of determining if this is fact or fiction. I have a few revolvers that I have done some pretty extensive trigger work on and designate them as "target shooting only" guns because of possible reliability issues from lightened triggers.
With that said, I have also been doing my own reloading for 30 years now and have used just about every primer available. My personal experience has been no mater which brand primer I use, the gun is either reliable or it isn't. I now have a really good feel when doing trigger work of what is light enough and what is too light, but in the beginning of my "gunsmithing career" there were times that primers would not reliably go off regardless of brand. If I had a revolver that certain brands of primers would not consistently go bang, I would deem that gun to have been lightened too much. I would not simply change primer brands, I would slightly increase how hard the primer is hit.
To sum it up, I ONLY do this kind of trigger work on guns that I use exclusively for target shooting . With carry guns, I shoot a minimum of 500 rounds through them to break them in, then completely disassemble them and ever so carefully remove any burrs that are left, lightly lubricate the moving parts and pivot points with Remoil, and reassemble.
IMHO if a gun does not reliably detonate any brand primer, then that gun is just not reliable.
chief38
|
05-23-2010, 04:13 PM
|
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Out west in NY
Posts: 124
Likes: 2
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by danski
Is it really "cup softness" or actually primer compound sensitivity?
|
I would say cup softness. I can load a well under maxmum load and the primer will have a more flattened look than the same load same case with CCI standard small pistol. I am talking starting type loads here.
|
05-23-2010, 05:06 PM
|
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Sandy Utah
Posts: 8,746
Likes: 1,590
Liked 8,902 Times in 3,550 Posts
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by 7shooter
What brands of primers have the reputation of being hard and which are soft ? I want to buy primers and /or ammo that will be less likely to misfire ( in revolvers ) due to hard primers.
|
If you are talking about high quality and un-modified revolvers this is not an issue. Any revolver in factory condition will ignite any primer (which is not otherwise damaged) without fail.
The only time this becomes an issue is if the mainspring of a revolver has been modified or replaced with one of lesser power with the purpose being to reduce trigger pull, double or single-action.
If a gun is to be used strictly for target purposes this is acceptable, although to do so will increase lock time somewhat. If the gun is intended to ever be used for defensive carry you should never alter the mainspring, and there should be little lightening of the rebound spring in a S&W revolver. Dependability is absolutely paramount in a service or defensive firearm of any type.
|
|
Posting Rules
|
|
|
|
|