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Shotgun Primers - Different Sizes


John Boy

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Remington STS - 209's

Length - 0.2930

Diameter - 0.2395 ... just below rim

 

Winchester - Western - 209's

Length - 0.3030

Diameter - 0.2435 ... just below rim

So, if your once fired hulls have loose primer pockets, use the Winchesters with the larger diameter

 

And if you have any Remington 57's ... They were used only for old Remington SP cases that were plastic with a fiber "base" wad. About 30+ years old

Length - 0.2940

Diameter - 0.2275 ... just below rim

 

 

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The length of a primer has no significant affect on the fit of a shot shell Primer. The diameter just below the rim, where the primer seats in the case head is the critical dimension. These dimensions are as follows:

 

.240 = Rem.

 

.241 = CCI, Fed,

 

.242 = Nobel Sport, Win, Wolf,

 

.243 = Cheddite, Fiocchi,

 

.244 = Rio.

 

These dimensions are from an article by Tom Ceretto in Trapshooting USA, issue 4, page 50, Nov/Dec 2009

 

RBK

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I was in a pinch and bought some Rems a couple years ago, fortunately only 200, had to tear the shells apart because the primer was set too low!

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Charlie, for some reason, international shot shells have are larger diameter than the hulls made in the US. Exception is RIO:

Currently, RIO shotshells are sold in more than 70 countries and are regularly used by millions of hunters and shooters all over the world.

Kid, thanks for the post ... really covers the water front of sizes by manufacturer

 

Grits, SAAMI Shotshell pdf is 106 pages but in the diagrams or text, I didn't see anything about primers - dig in also if you want to

http://www.saami.org/specifications_and_information/publications/download/209.pdf

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I was in a pinch and bought some Rems a couple years ago, fortunately only 200, had to tear the shells apart because the primer was set too low!

 

 

Have had some problems lately with some Win 209's. Primer cup set low inside the primer sleeve, light primer strikes, FTF

 

 

OK, I'll make it a tri-fecta! I've got a couple of (1000 count) cases of Fed209A primers that have the primer set too low in the battery cup. These were made about 3 years ago. (BTW, Federal did not take my letter describing the problem to heart and offer to make it right.)

 

It's worth taking a look at ANY batch of shotshell primers that you purchase to check that the primer is seated right in the battery cup (the outer shell). If it is "too" low, expect that your firing pin will at the worst possible time in a match fail to set off the shell. A brand that seems to make it very easy to visually check primer cups is Cheddite, which I have switched to for most of my loading. The cups are made with a very large flat, rather than the rounded surface that lots of our American brand primers have. Quite easy to check that the cup surface is flush with the finished loaded round. And, Cheddites are slightly oversize diameter, so they fit loose primer pockets fine.

 

Good luck, GJ

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....

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Hmmm...I know shotgun recipe's are very specific...shot, wad and hull...do they specify primer too? I see it in pistol and rifle but use what I can find without much concern (I chrono all loads anyway). But if primers are different sizes then maybe one needs to use that specific primer?

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Hmmm...I know shotgun recipe's are very specific...shot, wad and hull...do they specify primer too? I see it in pistol and rifle but use what I can find without much concern (I chrono all loads anyway). But if primers are different sizes then maybe one needs to use that specific primer?

Yes, a specific primer is usually specified for any given load in loading manuals. Different shotshell primers can dramatically affect pressures and most manuals will caution not to substitute different primers for the one specified for any given load. Having said that, most of us loading shotshells for CAS are downloading and any increase in pressure from switching primers will not be a problem.

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I've been loading BP shotgun shells in the past year. I've used any hull that came to me free. I used Winchester 209 to load all of them. I found the Winchester primers would not fit tight in RIO hulls. I could push them in with finger pressure and pull them out if I could get my finger nail under it.

 

I also found if a hull was reloaded a couple of times, it was likely to have the primer too deep. For any rounds I loaded for a match, I used once fired hulls and still checked primer seating depth after the priming stage to see if was set too deep. Any over .010 deep, I'd recover the primer and toss the hull.

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I was in a pinch and bought some Rems a couple years ago, fortunately only 200, had to tear the shells apart because the primer was set too low!

Yep, when I first started reloading shotshells I picked up some Rems locally...........way to many failures to go bang :angry: Since then I've stuck with Win without a problem. Don't know what all those numbers mean, but..........I also shoot CFDA with 209 primers in a special 45 Colt case, RIO is the best for not getting hung up on the recoil shield ;) Not that this has anything to do with this thread :huh: Good Luck :)

 

Jefro :ph34r: Relax-Enjoy

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When loading Shot Shells to low velocities, (usually lower than the books show), it's prudent to use a hot primer in order to get a good clean powder burn. Low velocities means lite powder drops and low chamber pressures. Therefore using the hot primers will not cause excessive pressures, but will indeed promote better and cleaner powder burns. Therefore I use nothing but Federal 209A primers in all my CAS loads.

 

RBK

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Interesting reference showing "spec" differences between American and European shotgun primer diameters, and various manufacturers of the straight-wall hulls commonly found.

 

http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=388303

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Thanks Joe for the link - tucked it away for reference. KId, got your reference squirreled away too

Never Know When a Primer Discussion Might Come Up at a Social Gathering! :D

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