Old stock PMC primers

[Funflyer]

Bought a lone brick of these sometime around late 2020, or early 2021 when primer prices were starting to top $50 so I didn't even question the $29 price tag. Didn't realize until a few weeks ago they're very old stock(2004 lot #), and hadn't been manufactured since about 05. I looked them up to see what the "E" stamped on them meant and that's when I found several old threads talking about how bad these were after being stored for as little as five years. Never did find out what the "E" means.

Decided to load/test 200 rounds of 9 mil using these with three different powders. I also loaded several identical CCI and Winchester primed groups for comparison testing.

Sure enough, the PMC primed rounds all had a much higher ES, SD and poor accuracy compared to CCI and Winchester primed. For example (PMC 154ES 39.6SD) (CCI 24ES 8.5SD) (Win 28ES 9.8SD). The only good news is they all went bang.

Guess I'll save the PMC primers for when my family comes up for a range day since most of them can't hit the side of a barn even while shooting from inside it.

 

[StakeOut]

I've never seen PMC primers at any of my primer sources.
I wonder if they were an OEM for other brands.
I've used many many S&B from Cabelas with very good results.

 

[AJ]

All that matters nowadays is that they go bang.........

 

[Eddie Southgate]

Must be what Remington was using in their loaded ammo before they went out of business . Maybe not though, you did say they were crappy but they all went bang.

 

[jag312]

I would not care about accuracy. I load SPP in 9mm to feed my two submachineguns. Who cares about accuracy with full auto?

 

[alwslate]

It must be the PMC primers themselves. I have American primers that are forty years old and still work fine.

 

[Funflyer]

It must be the PMC primers themselves. I have American primers that are forty years old and still work fine.

You're correct. From some of the old posts on other forums it seems these were inconsistent even when they were new. Might be these just don't have the poop to effectively ignite the powder, like using standard primers in magnum loads. This time I was using Unique, HP38 and AA#7 so next time I'll try some fast powders like Titewad and Red-Dot to see if they work better.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Seeing the Green box triggered a memory. The E stands for Eco or Eco Friendly. The box says "Heavy Metal Free, meaning no Lead of Mercury. That was a failed project for Indoor Range use. (Failed due to shelf life issues from the beginning) If you can shoot them up, the sooner the better!

Ivan

 

[Funflyer]

Seeing the Green box triggered a memory. The E stands for Eco or Eco Friendly. The box says "Heavy Metal Free, meaning no Lead of Mercury. That was a failed project for Indoor Range use. (Failed due to shelf life issues from the beginning) If you can shoot them up, the sooner the better!

Ivan

Thanks Ivan, that makes sense. Nothing seems to work as well after they make it eco friendly. I've got 800 left and the weather is getting nicer by the day so it shouldn't take long to burn them up.