How are Sellier & Bellot Primers?

novalty

novalty

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Managed to get some small pistol primers on order with Grafs. I've always used CCI, and my father-in-law has used Federal, Winchester, and Wolf without any problems, but I've never heard/read anything on Sellier & Bellot primers. Anyone have any experience with them?

P.S: They still have S&B Large Pistol In-stock. ;)
 
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I've never used them for reloading, but I've never had a bad one in their ammo.
 
SMSgt said:
I've never used them for reloading, but I've never had a bad one in their ammo.
Click to expand...

Same here. Years ago I shot a lot of their ammo in 380 and 9mm, never a problem. They have been making ammo and components for very long time.

These days you get what you can find.:) I would buy them with no hesitation if I needed primers.
 
Just saw them on the shelves at a Ft. Myers gun show. They sold at a discount to the Winchester primers, but I bought Winchester. My top preferred is the Federals, but in today's world, you get what you can. I also have bought and shot S&B ammo prior to my reloading obsession, and liked their rounds.
 
Good factory loaded ammo IMO never had a hard primer even in double action with a revolver. So I figure if the ammo is good the components must be good.
 
Thanks for the responses. Should have a case of them in next month, I know a lot of family members that reload that are going to be happy to see me for once.
 
I have several thousand rounds loaded with S&B Small Pistol primers. All in .38 special or 45ACP. I haven't had a single misfire yet, they seem to seat just as easily as Winchester Small Pistol Primers.

The only difference I have noticed is that in .38 Special, the Winchester SPP seems to maintain a more consistent velocity on my loads than if I use the same bullet/powder charge with the S&B SPP.

I've also loaded S&B LPP in 45ACP and my chronograph data with those loads has been very consistent.

I would say, if you can find them, buy them! I bought a few cases before all the madness started and now I'm kicking myself for not buying more.
 
I regularly use both small & large S&B pistol primers.
No problem whatsoever.
Great stuff.
& over here at least 35% cheaper (as in "less expensive", not "of lower quality") than my up-till-now favorite Winchester brand.

S&B brass OTOH is hard to prime.
 
Anyone have more recent feedback. At powdervalleyinc.com these primers are cheaper than those of other manufacturers.
 
I've went through 5K of them. All went bang, fed fine through my Dillons priming system. My revolvers have stock springs, so I do not know how they would behave in competition revos with lightened springs.
 
Working on my second brick no issues. I compared some .38 I had loaded with HP38 25 rounds CCI sp vs 25 S&B sp at 50 yds on steel and I can't tell the difference.

As far as loading process, they are super tight seating in S&B and Herter's brass. They fit perfect in Federal and Remington and PMC brass. If you're using a progressive press you might try a couple different types of brass before you get in too far.

I think they are decent.
 
I've had FAR less problems with S&B primers (read "NONE") both large & small pistol versions, than the old standby Winchester.

The past few years, Winchester LPP & SPP both have far too many problems getting stuck in my Dillon primer tubes.

Neither Federal nor S&B have that happen.

I buy S&B every opportunity as I've had a couple bad batches of Win, with the anvils falling out.

Every time I see S&B primers, they are at least 15% and often more, savings vs Win. They have become my default primer, as something is wrong with Win quality control. IMHO.
 
ageingstudent said:
Ha just noticed op date 2/12/13. Got me:P.
Click to expand...

Not a problem, post 10 acknowledged that this was a resurrection for more current info. I don't have problems with S&B except that they are a bit more difficult to load into the Dillon tubes (I think it has to do with the squareness of the smooth side shoulder). I buy them if they are significantly cheaper but the last time I bought primers I got CCI for the same price and bought 40K.
 
Use them a lot but they are gonna be harder to get.Heard that the plant went up in smoke.
But I must say that I like them.I've loaded something between 20 and 30Ks with them in the last couple of years in both SP and LP form(no magnums though) and the misfire rate is about the same as with Fed or CCI or WW(about 1 per 3 or 4 K and the miss might/could be related to mishandling?).
The cup seems to be as soft as Federal primers.I shoot at 20 to 25 yds and don't see any difference between them and other brands.My Dillons(a RL 300 and a Square Deal B)don't either seem to make any difference.To make it short,same performance than others but at a 12%cheaper price.Looks like a win/win situation here!
Qc Pistolero
 
John Barsness who writes for Reloader and Rifle mags just posted on Facebook that he is currently doing an article on the S&B primers. His testing in a bench rest rifle showed them to allow for smaller groups than Federal Match!! That's somewhat amazing.

I've never heard a bad comment regarding the S&B primers.
 
S&B has been in the metallic cartridge manufacturing business since 1870, and in the percussion cap business for even longer. I think they know what they are doing as well as anyone when it comes to making primers.
 
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