Primer Question

[Huskerguy]

I have a model 627 that seems to be a bit picky on primers. Had a few light strikes with CCI and pretty good success, so far, with Federals. I have some of the older Blue Box Winchesters and some of the newer Red Box Winchesters. Does anyone have enough experience to tell where each of these fall in cup hardness? I use this firearm in competition so I need reliability. Everyone who shoots this class has quit using Veritas or whatever they are called due to failure to fires.

 

[chief38]

CCI primers are the hardest while Federal is usually the softest. Remington and Winchester are in between. That said, I set my "hit pressure" with the hardest primers and demand 100% reliability every time with good solid hits.

Here is my suggestion. Use CCI primers as a testing standard and make sure you have 100% reliable ignition with the CCI's.You will probably need to increase main spring pressure to accomplish this but you do not want soft primer hits - on any brand. I would not personally own a gun that fails to set off any USA made primers in any brand - but that is just me. I do not use foreign primers so I have no idea how hard or soft those are. I only use Federal, CCI, Remington or Winchester - what ever is the least expensive and available at the time. My revolvers don't care and work equally well with all.

 

[Chuck Edwards]

I've had good results with Federal 100s and 200s and "blue box" Winchesters, haven't tried the red box ones yet. It's been a while since I used CCIs, but my revolvers are fine with Speer ammo which uses them.

 

[slickracer]

I had to put a longer firing pin in my 627-5 to get reliable ignition. The stock firing pin only measured .488"

 

[243winxb]

Moon clips- misfire

Turn in the strain screw, so its tight. They do wear. Get new with spring.

8-Shot Cylinder Cut for Full Moonclips. Are clips S& W brand?

Why would a 357 mag use clips? Speed loading? This is more likely to be the reason for misfires.

Hammer spring should be around 25 pounds.

 

[gym cat]

I have a S@W 625 with action job, to insure detonation I used Federal primers and recess them just below "level", never had a no fire with this system.
Jim

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

My thought is you need a LITTLE tightening on the strain screw.

I had a 3" Taraus 5 shot 44 Special. I cut-off 1/2 a coil too much on the hammer spring. I had it too light, so I ran 200 primed cases through it without fail. I had the sweetest Taraus in town! With S&W's K, L, & N frames, we get to just turn a screw. (BTW< it's the one at the bottom, inside of the grip)

Ivan

 

[gwpercle]

I have a model 627 that seems to be a bit picky on primers. Had a few light strikes with CCI and pretty good success, so far, with Federals. I have some of the older Blue Box Winchesters and some of the newer Red Box Winchesters. Does anyone have enough experience to tell where each of these fall in cup hardness? I use this firearm in competition so I need reliability. Everyone who shoots this class has quit using Veritas or whatever they are called due to failure to fires.

This will Help ... Seat the primers all the way into the bottom of the pocket ... and then give a little extra squeeze to make sure the primer is bottomed out and the oldtimer's say you get the primer ready to fire by putting pressure on the primer .
After seating and setting the primers all the way and adding a little extra squeeze ... you have the primer ready for easiest ignition .
I been doing this for 50 years and believe there is merit to the proceedure ... If the primer doesn't fire ... bad primer or weak hammer spring !

Federal primers are supposed to be the most sensitive and easiest to ignite ...
My go-to primers are CCI ... but I seat fully and prime the primers ... they all have fired in the last 50 years .
Gary

 

[IAM Rand]

I have a 627 and had this problem also. Solved it by getting a new firing pin, one that was a little bit longer. It came with a new springs as well. Haven't had a problem since. I don't believe it has anything to do with the primer.

 

[growr]

I wont own a firearm that is primer sensitive. They must be reliable with ALL primers foreign and domestic.

Randy

 

[rockquarry]

I wont own a firearm that is primer sensitive. They must be reliable with ALL primers foreign and domestic.

Randy

I've found all revolvers are reliable with all primers if the gun hasn't been tampered with to make the trigger pull lighter.

 

[rwsmith]

I'm with 243win on this one....

Turn in the strain screw, so its tight. They do wear. Get new with spring.

8-Shot Cylinder Cut for Full Moonclips. Are clips S& W brand?

Why would a 357 mag use clips? Speed loading? This is more likely to be the reason for misfires.

Hammer spring should be around 25 pounds.

It should not be getting consistent light strikes with any primers. Something needs adjustment, probably not too serious and would be much more satisfying than only buying primers that work in the gun.

And the firing pin has already been mentioned as a possibility, but I'd suspect the strain screw and spring first.

 

[SMSgt]

If you have a "light strike" issue with any brand of primer made--fix your gun. It's not the primer.

 

[6string]

I would address the issue from the firearm standpoint.

If you are getting misfires because of how your gun is functioning, there’s always a chance you could get a hangfire or squib detonation.
In either case, there’s a potential safety risk involved.

Depending on the type of competition you’re involved with, there’s a lot of things that could go badly for you.

 

[gwpercle]

And ... if you reload ... Light strikes can be a sign of primers not fully seated in the primer pocket .
Sorry to sound like a brokrn record but not fully seated primers happens easily and many don't know to check them ... No sense spending money replacing gun parts if it's just the primer seating thing .
Gary

 

[Kinman]

When I read the earlier thread about hand held primers I just liked a guys response that said "RCBS bench mount primer". I get a consistent primer install every time, have not had a primer fail to fire in so long I can't remember. Used to have them when I dicked around with a hand primer ever now and then. I use CCI primers and do not find them difficult to work with, I also use Winchester, same thing. I do not modify my hammer spring to adjust the trigger pull, all of my revolvers have a factory strength primer spring, I tend to shoot nearly every revolver single action.
Couldn't agree more than a fully seated primer is one ready to go with the least amount of pressure from the hammer or firing pin.

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

I have a model 627 that seems to be a bit picky on primers. Had a few light strikes with CCI and pretty good success, so far, with Federals.

I shot PPC and Federal primers is the way to go especially with a trigger job.

 

[Huskerguy]

Thanks for the responses gentlemen.

I know two other people who have 627's and both use Federals based on past issues with others. One purchased some Ginex from the other who is a shop owner ironically and he quit using them because of light strikes. He is a machinist by trade and everything is tight to the max.

I did check my strain screw and it was within half a turn of being tight so I went that way. I just need to load up some Winchesters and CCI's and see how things progress now.

My conclusions are that I am not the only person to have some issues with light strikes with the 627. I am anal about seating my primers as deep as possible so that angle is covered. What I was really wanting to know is if there were others out there in reloading land who have used Federals, Winchester, Remingtons and CCI at one time and if there was a noticeable difference in possibly picky revolvers. Also, if the Winchesters changed between the older blue and newer red box or if that was just window dressing to freshen up the look so they didn't look like CCI.

I shoot a Prodigy and it is very picky about length and crimp but seems to fire off any primers I use in that ammo. A Ruger Carbine in 9mm gets small rifle primers and zero issues with CCI or even some old Tula and other Russian made ones. Thanks again.

 

[TIMETRIPPER]

The only times I've had an issue with light strike misfires were with a model 14 that had been tampered with to lighten the trigger pull and a Miroku 1886 lever action that had a rebounding hammer. It didn't like the harder Winchester magnum primers. The model 14 would misfire in DA but worked OK in SA.

John