Of the current mfg primers, which is softer?
Primers
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Huskerguy
Member
I would agree with this. I use CCI on most everything and try to use Federals on 38/357 I shoot in my Dan Wessons due to their light striking. I have never had a problem with CCI or Winchester in them, it is mainly due to their nature.
The above answer is the most common, accepted "hardness rate". Although none of my guns have even needed a "soft" or a "hard" primers ( hard is sometimes recommended for semi-auto rifles). I stick with one manufacturer when working up a load, and mostly buy what is available locally (I refuse to pay the Haz-Mat rip off)...
muddocktor
Member
That's why I order when they run free hazmat with a certain powder or dollar amount. When I order, I generally get at least $200 or more of stuff so I qualify for the free hazmat.
That's not hard to do when buying 5k primers and some cans of powder.
fredj338
Member
Current unplared Win primers are almost as soft as Federal.
Depending on whos hazmat you pay & sales tax in your state, hm can be a bargain not a ripoff. Consider grafs hm, $13, 8% sales tax on $300 worth of primers is $24? So it jst depends on your lcal gun shop pricing, st & how far you have to drive. To me, hm is not a ripoff, but a convenience fee. Then again, I only buy primers 5-10k a pop, throw in 4# of powder, hm is cheap.
Depending on whos hazmat you pay & sales tax in your state, hm can be a bargain not a ripoff. Consider grafs hm, $13, 8% sales tax on $300 worth of primers is $24? So it jst depends on your lcal gun shop pricing, st & how far you have to drive. To me, hm is not a ripoff, but a convenience fee. Then again, I only buy primers 5-10k a pop, throw in 4# of powder, hm is cheap.
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...and Remington is also in the middle with the Winchesters.
At least in my experience.
Greenjoytj
Member
I assume you are wanting to know about the the hardness of the primer cup, which manufacturer has the easiest cup to dent.
I wasn’t sure if you were looking for information on the power of the various primers, as in which brand squirts the hottest and longest duration flame.
If it’s cup toughest the the above posts are good info.
As for primer sensitivity, I see in my user instructions for my LEE Auto Bench Prime tool that LEE cautions against putting a 100 count pack of Federal brand large primers into a primer loading tray.
LEE wants you to load that brand and size individually. To avoid a exploding primer tray.
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DWalt
Member
This topic comes up over, and over, and over....endlessly. Fact is, there is very little actual difference in primer of like type sensitivity (NOT!!! hardness or softness). Everyone has an opinion, and no one has any quantitative facts, except the manufacturers. And they do not talk about such things. There are far better things to worry about.
38SPL HV
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I find 1 1/2 Remington to be the softest, then Federal, WW and CCI.
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IMHO every firearm should operate with any primer brand. If your guns are reliable with CCI - then everything else will automatically work. If they do not work with CCI Primers - your hits (springs) are too weak.
Interesting. I've never seen any warnings from reloading equipment manufacturers about Remington like I have about Federal.
Care to share some more on your experience with them?
I have had no problems with any primers so far...but the question begs an opinion on the other primers such as S&B Fiocchi and even the Russian/Wolf or whatever some of the others were called. Heck I still have a few thousand Herter's as well as S&W and Alcan(essentially the same) and then there are the FA military primers both rifle and pistol. I know not everyone has any of the varieties but I do have all named. Have many Ms of Wolf and have never used any. They were bought really cheaply for just in case. Have at least 15,000 LP Wolfs I paid 5 bucks a M..guess I ought to just use 'em up??
I would be interested in seeing an actual lab type test of the amount of impact, PSI, needed to reliably ignite different primers. Standards would have to be set for methods and tools/equipment (similar to Rockwell or Brinnel testing with height of "drop", size of indent, etc.). This would be very informative to some who may "need" the info and for interesting knowledge for the rest of us (and fewer "which is harder?" threads)...
The older ones are softer unless accompanied by a blue pill!
DWalt
Member
Indeed there are standard tests used by industry for primer sensitivity testing, and they have been in use in one form or another almost since primers were invented. All U. S. manufacturers do their primer quality control testing using exactly the same equipment, methods, and standards. I know that for a fact as I formerly worked with Remington, Winchester-Olin, and Federal, plus the U.S. Navy, on small arms ammunition development projects for years and have personally used that equipment in all their labs. There are several variations used depending on the type of primer being tested. All test equipment operates on the principle of dropping steel balls from different heights onto a fixture which contains both a primer and a firing pin. You may have a difficult time finding a copy, but there is a book (now out of print) entitled "Ammunition Making" by George Frost which discusses primer sensitivity test equipment and primer testing procedures very thoroughly. It is worthwhile to find a copy of you are interested in finding out the facts about primer sensitivity rather that reading, or even worse, believing, all of the half (or less)-baked opinions about Hard and Soft primers from the "experts" that appear in the forum postings.
Were it not against the forum policy which prohibits posting of copyrighted material, I would post Frost's treatment of primer sensitivity testing here for future reference.
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Thanks for that info DWalt. I understand the copyright regs. so I googled "Ammunition Making by George Frost". Got a downloadable copy of the book, but before I download 176 pages I'll look it over. Found a paperback copy at Amazon, but it's $120 for a used copy and a few other hits about the book.
Thanks again...
Thanks again...
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ruggyh
Member
I would like to second Dwalts book recommendation, "Ammunition Making" by George Frost. It will help you get thru the abundant amount misinformation about munitions manufacturing circulated as fact.
be safe
Ruggy
be safe
Ruggy
