So, starting off, I was a big fan of CCI primers. CCI consistently makes good stuff, and Lee approves them for the Auto-prime tool, whereas certain other primers (Federals, I think?) he rails against using.
Then, one day, my local Cabela's, like they tend to do, ran out CCI's. But they have Magtechs. Well, I like Magtech bullets, so what the hey--and! they're 60% the price the CCIs are. I think I found a new primer! 3 cents apiece vs. 5...big difference.
Anyway, my question is this:
Do I now have to start over with minimums on ALL my bullet types and work my way back up? I know that you are supposed to any time you change a component, but crikey!
I did this with my .357 loads already and couldn't tell any difference... So now, do I have to do all bullet types on 9mm AND .38 special, or can I just pick up like I never changed primers on the rest of my loads? I've learned that with a lot of things reloading, there's the technical answer and the "what everybody else does" answer. I'm looking for the latter.
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I'll keep my freedom, guns and money. You can keep the "Change."
Last edited by Airweight38; 09-13-2008 at 04:54 PM.
I think a lot depends on what type of loads you do. If they are full house, shoulder breaking, wrist churning, maximum velocity, I'd be very wary. I only use target type loads & try & stick to the same type of primers, and I have in the past just changed primer type for type with no issues. Of course it would be a totally different case to use Magnum instead of Standard primers. I would also be wary of the 9mm as these can be picky sometimes.
Just get used to routinely checking your fired cases for signs of overpressure!
most primers are not that different, just as long as they are the same class (ie both are large pistiol or both are large magnum pistol) they should be fine. to be safe though you could back your load by 10% and work back up, better safe than sorry
hope this helps...
In reality, for the typical shooter shooting in the low to standard velocity ranges the choice of which major manufactuer's primer is not such a big deal. Most of us, even if we do not want to admit it, have other factors influencing our accuracy such as the amount of practice we have, the quality of the optics, cross winds at distance, and so on.
However, it you are truly into target shooting and take it all to the max then you should check performance differences.
I do think they do in some cases. I like fed 210m but they are scarce around here some times and I dont buy them in bulk. I have used them in cartridges from 22-250 to 300 win mag. In the smaller bores they boos the muzzle velocity up a bit and in my
guns and only in my experianceseeme to controll my grouping a bit better. Just my opinion.
Handloader magazine did a test on this subject a few issues back and the results were surprising. The test were on rifle and shotgun primers only as I recall and focused more on pressure than other factors. the test showed a significant variatuion in pressures from different primers. Enough to be a problem with some loads. Will try to find the article and get more detailes information.
primers are the last thing i change when developing a load.
but they have influenced some of them.
i have used some lpistol primers in rifle loads,[ for slow velocity rounds with low pressure] and had extreme spreads that were very good[10]. then the same loads
with a rifle primer and had better extreme spreads [like 5].
so does it matter................sometimes.
i have had them shrink and grow groups, and not do anything.
they are the last thng i change in load development.
but i always try them.
Do primers make THAT much of a difference? 
