CCI Primers...Great for Flinching

[Beemer-mark]

If every one loves CCI primers I have 3 or 4 thousand to dump. About every 5th one is too big to pick up with the Dillon loading tube for my progressive press.

BTW, anyone know HOW to get a primer out of the tube?

 

[Kframe66]

Take it apart, push the primer out with a rod. I'm assuming you have a primer turned sideways or similar.

 

[gunbob1911]

Got the same issue with CCI primers. They will not ignite about 30 % of the time on a tuned trigger - action. I use the federal primers with no problems............

 

[oldbrownhat]

I remember when I first got my 625 and decided to do a little smoothing up, I read (can't remember where; maybe Patrick Sweeney's "Gunsmithing Pistols & Revolvers") that light primer strikes may be a problem, as one of the adjustments in a "competition" trigger job is to back out the mainspring strain screw at the bottom of the grip, which will reduce the strike weight on the firing pin.

Somewhere I thought I had a list of primer hardnesses but I can't find it. As I recall, Federal are the most sensitive, with Remington next, with either CCI or Winchester being the hardest to ignite.

BCDWYO, take your grips off and see if the mainspring strain screw has been backed out a bit. Your gunsmith may also have added a setscrew to hold it in place. You may be able to make it more reliable by just tightening the strain screw in until it produces reliable ignition. BTW, to check this you will have to load "primer only" cases and IIRC, it is advisable to drill the primer flash hole out a bit or the brass will jam against the recoil plate! Make sure you MARK THESE so that you don't use 'em with regular loads, though.

I don't see this as necessarily the gunsmith's "fault"; he probably tried to give you the smoothest, lightest trigger pull. I'm sure Jerry Miculek's revolver is similarly set up, and I bet he uses Federal primers!

Stuart

 

[S&W HE]

I still have over 2000 CCI standard and magnum pistol and rifle primers I bought in the mid 1980s. I stopped using them because they were oversized and most "crushed" during the priming process regardless of the brass used.

The other day I ran low on Federal primers so decided to try the old CCI large and small pistol primers in once fired .38 S&W Special, .45ACP and 10MM Short cases. The good news... they all went bang as they always had, even in my tuned guns. The bad news... the majority were very difficult to seat and most looked "crushed" after seating them.

I've been hand loading since 1970 and do not have the same problem with Federal, Winchester, or Remington primers. It looks like I'll be keeping the rest of the CCI primers for a little while longer.

 

[DEG]

My tuned 686 SSR Pro will ignite CCI primers about 80% of the time shooting double-action and 100% of the time single action. The only primers that have been 100% accurate in double-action have been the federals. Jerry Miculek recommends Federal primers for tuned S&W revolvers for this very reason. I'm sure your gunsmith can strengthen the hammer strike, but expect a greater DA trigger pull weight.

 

[Ron T. B.]

cci no problem

I've used CCI large rifle, large pistol, and small pistol for 30 plus years, no problem. I've used them to load thousands of rounds on a Dillon Square Deal. If my memory is right I think there were instructions stating not to use CCI primers. I currently do most reloading on a Dillon RL550. No problems with CCI primers or any others. Have in the last year or so used about 1500 Wolf large rifle primers, no problem.

 

[J-FRAME]

Yes 35-40 years ago I started out with CCI primers but found out that Federal primers worked better for me as I like my Smith actions smooth and light. I have only used Federal primers since then.

 

[mkk41]

Keep in mind that Federal and CCI are now owned by ATK/Alliant , and CCI provides mil-spec primers for Lake City Army Ammunition Plant.

 

[BCDWYO]

I just loaded 100 .357 mag rounds today with CCI primers and 100 otherwise identical rounds with Federal. I tightened down my shell plate to try to make sure I'm seating below flush to take that variable out of the equation. I'll test these two batches with several of my revolvers, including the one in question and see how it goes.

 

[andyo5]

It is entirely possible to get a great trigger pull with a S&W or Ruger revolver without lightening the mainspring to the point of unreliability. It should be able to ignite ALL common brands of primers, and CCI is certainly one of the most common.
It sounds like your gunsmith may have gotten a bit carried away with whatever method he used to lighten trigger pull, either bending the hook end of the mainspring or shortening the tip of the strain screw. You can correct this by doing the following:
1. Get some stainless steel shim stock in thicknesses of two, five, and eight thousandths of an inch. My favorite source of shim stock is an old set of automotive feeler gauges that I used to use to set the point gap on my motorcycle.
2. If you like the feel of your trigger, start with the thinnest shim stock and cut a piece big enough to fit between the tip of the strain screw and the mainspring body.
3. Unscrew the strain screw enough so that you can place the shim between the tip of the screw and the mainspring. Retighten the screw all the way. Go and shoot the gun with CCI primers. Double action shooting is the most likely to suffer from insufficient spring pressure, so make sure you shoot double action.
4. If reliability is restored, smile. You are done. If not, go to the next thickest shim stock and repeat the process.

Considering that you get mostly successful ignitions now, I doubt that you will need more than a five thousandths shim.

 

[BCDWYO]

Ok here's an update for anyone interested. It sounds like it is a combination of the gunsmith going slightly too light on the trigger work, and maybe something in my primer seating technique...I took 100 reloaded CCI rounds and 100 reloaded Federals to the range today with the revolver in question and a couple others that I've not had any problems with. I also bought a box of Speer factory ammo (since it was pointed out that they use CCI primers.) The primers on all my reloads appeared to be seated below flush. However I still got 1-2 light strikes per cylinder with the revolver in question using the CCI reloads. On those that misfired, I could easily see that the hammer-dent on the primer was much more shallow (or light) than on the ones that ignited. Interestingly, I got 100% ignition with the Speer factory rounds with the same revolver. I also got 100% ignition with the Federal primer reloads. The other 3 revolvers I tested also got 100% ignition with the CCI reloads.

Sounds like I need to either not use CCI primer reloads with this gun, take it back to the gunsmith, or try andyo5's advice with the shims. Thanks all for the input.
BCD