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Small Pistol Primers

4K views 23 replies 15 participants last post by  stev32k 
#1 ·
What is your opinion on Winchester Small Pistol Primers? Reviews range from these are very good to they are not very reliable. What do you think??
 
#3 ·
I'm a CCI guy for pistol, but I don't hesitate on buying Winchester or Remington primers. I haven't had one fail on me by any maker, but I like knowing that CCI is a slightly harder primer. I think people that have them fail; either their gun is to blame with a light strike or they seated the primer too deep. WSP primers are a safe buy.
 
#5 ·
I use Winchester primers for everything because my source gets me the best price on them. A test done a few years ago in a national magazine on all the major makers's primers showed Winchester primers to be one of the most energetic of the bunch.

Failure to go bang for primers is 99.99% of the time not from the primers fault but failure of the reloader to fully seat the primers in their pockets. There is a tiny set of legs inside the primer cup that must seat on the bottom of the cases's primer pocket. Those legs are the anvil that compresses the explosive charge of the primer. If the legs are not firmly against the bottom of the primer cup then the hammer blow has to first seat the primer, using up some of its energy, leaving little for compression the explosive charge. All primers are not seated unless they are several thousandths of an inch below flush. You can feel that with you finger. People who seat primers with hand tools claim they can feel the legs bottom on the case's primer pocket. Those of use that use auto priming in the press have to rely on the adjustment in the press to assure the primers are fully seated. My Dillon RL550B does an excellent job as set up from the factory and adjustments are probably not necessary, in my experience. But Dillon allows for adjustment as do other press manufacturers.

So remember that anyone's primers must be seated below flush a few thousandths of an inch to be totally reliable. Also in 25+ years of reloading for over 30 different calibers I have never had a Winchester primer fail to go bang.

LDBennett
 
#13 ·
I'm with gdmoody I will not use Federal primers for the same reason. A Federal primer "went off" on me while reloading. I did a google search and found quite a few reports of premature primer detonations, but Federal primers were reported to have gone off while reloading more than twice as many times as all others combined. Competition shooters that use revolvers with reduced hammer spring weights love them because they never have a light strike.
 
#10 ·
I've been a CCI guy since I started reloading.

Then I bought a used PPK. Would not shoot my 380 reloads. Went to WW primers, because I'd heard they were "softer" than CCI. Problem went away. I continued with CCI for everything else, and had a brick of WW for he 380. Then I bought a 642. Concealed hammer J-frame. Shorter hammer swing meant less force, and my 38 reloads were not reliable in it. Started loading 38 with the WW, and the 642 became reliable. So I said, "Heck wid it" and quit buying CCI SP. WW has worked fine for my for some 15 years. No failure-to-fire.

I recommend 'em.
 
#12 ·
Well, in 30 years of reloading (not bragging) I can count on one hand the number of "bad" primers I've had. With one pistol, a striker fired 9mm, I did have a "problem" with Winchester primers, but that was fixed by "pre-loading" the primers a bit (put a bit more "uumph" on them after they bottom out). I have since fired mebbe 800-1,000 with the "pre-loaded" Winchester primers with zero problems (I don't have many other small pistol primers so I use Winchester for my 9mms).
 
#14 ·
I have several gun with lightened hammer springs. Some are so light I wonder how they work at all but I have never had a failure to fire with any of them using Winchester Primers.

I did have a problem with CCI primers for 50 BMG but it was not the primers but the guy behind the press handle. It seems the old rule of thumb that seating the primer just below flush (a couple thousandths) is totally inadequate for 50 BMG. They have to be about 0.020 inches below flush. Talk about a panic when you are shooting a 50 BMG bolt gun and you pull the trigger and it doesn't go bang. Correctly seating the primers fixed the problem for subsequent reloads.

LDBennett
 
#18 ·
Thanks to all of you for all the great input. I mentioned awhile ago that I am a newbie to reloading and that I have a cousin that will be showing me the ropes. In the mean time I read and then ask a lot of questions.

thanks again.......
And THAT is how you learn. Keep on reading and asking.
 
#20 ·
I also prefer Win primers, but have loaded many others without problems. Between all brands, I see the best consistency from Win and CCI's.
 
#23 ·
When I saw that Graf & Sons ha some small rifle primers, I ordered 10,000 of them so I would not have to ever buy any more. Then I realized they were the Magnum primers. I guess when I run out of the regulars I will work up a load using the magnum ones. I will be using magnums for the rest of my life unless I can find some one who wants to do some primer swapping.
 
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