What primers go first?

[Irish Pat]

I just found 500 CCI small pistol primers and 2,000 Winchester same. Is one brand preferred over the other? Irish ☘️ Pat

[Abilene, SASS # 27489]

You will get a variety of answers, but basically I would buy all of them. 

[Buckshot Bear]

I prefer federal but in times like this it pays to not be picky it you're runnin' low. 

[Irish Pat]

I did not make myself clear. I found them in my reloading room. I was wondering if one would better than the other when I start loading 38s

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

Buy'em ALL!

OLG 

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

22 minutes ago, Irish-Pat said:

I did not make myself clear. I found them in my reloading room. I was wondering if one would better than the other when I start loading 38s

Winchester

[Slapshot]

12 minutes ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

Buy'em ALL!

OLG 

This

 

ALL!

[Randy Saint Eagle, SASS # 64903]

35 minutes ago, Irish-Pat said:

I did not make myself clear. I found them in my reloading room. I was wondering if one would better than the other when I start loading 38s

If your guns are running stock springs it shouldn't matter. Most folks seem to prefer Winchester over CCI. Like many others if I can get them I'll use Federals.

 

Randy

[Frontier Lone Rider]

The only CCIs I use are BR-2 and BR-4 for Benchrest Shooting.

 

For Cowboy, Remington, Winchester, Federal, etc.

[Abilene, SASS # 27489]

1 hour ago, Irish-Pat said:

I did not make myself clear. I found them in my reloading room. I was wondering if one would better than the other when I start loading 38s

If these are older CCI's they may be harder to set off than others.  If your guns have lighter springs, I would load a few empty cases and see how good of a primer hit you get.

[Widder, SASS #59054]

For shooting Cowboy stuff..... WINCHESTER.

 

For your semi-auto pistols, CCI.

 

..........Widder

 

[Geronimo Jim SASS # 21775]

Winchester softer

CCI  harder

 

At least that was the way it used to be when I shot ppc.

[Irish Pat]

I think I will use the winchesters first

[Bull Skinner]

I have both and as Widder said I use CCI in my Street guns,ie; 45 acp with small primer pockets, 9 mm and S&W model 15, etc. 

 

I use the Winchesters in my tuned cowboy guns because older CCIs are harder cups and my tuned guns with lighter springs don’t set ‘em off consistently.

["Big Boston"]

IMHO it is always wise to have a good supply of primers and to have a good variety as well. When I began shooting western action the criteria of most interst was leading and accuracy. As I gained experience I realized that other factors being equal, velocity and leading are close cousins, IOW, the higher velocity the more the leading. It's not really that simple,  but it leads me into the importance of chronographing your loads. 

 

Once you start chronographing your loads you will quickly discover another nuance, reliable ignition. Not all primers have the same brisance or the same brisance characteristics. Berdan primers, with two flash holes, bypass the brisance issue, somewhat,  with their two separate flame fronts, and primers are probably less critical. But boxer primed cartridges are very particular on primers when it comes to igniting small quantities of fast burning powder that don't begin to fill the powder chamber. The igniting flame is in the center of the powder chamber, and can blow by the powder charge initially and the then the flame deflects off the bullet and ignites the unburnt powder. Or in some instances, a bunch of unburnt powder stays in the case or leaks out the barrel. 

 

Case in point, when Lyman began to actually pressure test with equipment, their data changed considerably. If you test enough, you will also discover that a lot of book loads aren't very good either. Safe, yes, but consistent and accurate, not so much.

 

I personally don't subscribe to the slow hammer weak primer strike bible. i'm more of the reliable ignition, fast(ish) lock time with a hammer that doesn't slip from under my thumb because the hammer spring can be used in a bear trap. It's a balance for me, smooth and reliable operation and a load that exhibits reliable ignition. 

 

I would like to know the reasons behind your primer choice. 

 

IOW, I use a XXXX primer because I get consistent and reliable ignition with ABCD powder in my 38 Long Colt conversion revolver. 

 

There is, again IMHO, no one primer that is bad or that is good. Let me illustrate. For the 44-40, 44 Mag and 45 Colt, if you load to 70% powder chamber density with Trail Boss, a CCI LP primer or a Federal LP primer are the best you can use for consistent ignition, IOW, low(ish) Extreme Spread and Standard Deviation. 

 

Some primers work better with the powder against the primer, but some actually work better with the powder against the bullet. 

 

But bottom line, test your load after changing primers. You may have to tweak the grains a bit to get a good load. You may even have to change powders. And conversely, if you change powders, you may have to change the primer. 

 

BB

[BLACKFOOT SASS #11947]

If you could get them to me I would be happy to test them and let you know!

Blackfoot

[Kid Rich]

If the CCI's are the older ones they are harder, if they are the newer ones they are not much different than Federals. I have both (not the older CCI) brands of primers and they both go off reliably. I also have good luck with Remington, Wolf and S&B small and large pistol primers.

kR

[Snakebite]

I've had similar experience with the new CCI SPP. 

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

There are only two major companies in the U.S. that make ammo and primers.  Vista and Olin.  As they consolidate brands and operations it makes sense for the products to become more alike since many are now made in the same factories.

[watab kid]

everyone has their preferred/proven but these days you grab what you can get i think , 

[Hashknife Cowboy]

Buy any you can find in this absurd market.  I use Federal, Winchester, Remington and CCI.  That is also my order of preference.  CAS rounds get Federal or Winchester. I tried Wolf and cannot recommend them, they were quite inconsistent.  Recently I picked up some white boxed Winchester large pistol that had a price on them of $7.99 from K-Mart for the 1000.  I actually remember paying that at one time.  Did any of you ever buy a $100.00 pick up truck?

[Mustang Gregg]

Our whole outfit uses nothing but Winchester large pistol primers and had no problem with them.

[watab kid]

i forgot to say - BUY THEM ALL , it would justr about replenish what ive loaded/shot/have in reserve , if i found them i would buy them , 

[Rye Miles #13621]

I use Federals for my slicked up rifles, anything else in my Colts. I have CCI, Winchester and Federal. I've been stocking up!

[El Catorce]

On 1/17/2022 at 3:59 PM, Irish-Pat said:

I did not make myself clear. I found them in my reloading room. I was wondering if one would better than the other when I start loading 38s

I wouldn’t use CCI’s for match ammo because my ruger’s have light hammer springs… I would still load cci’s for drills or to find point of aim that sort of stuff … I really haven’t used anything other than federal small pistol since I got my lightened hammer springs due to predicable light strikes with CCI’s 

[Max Payne]

Winchesters are softer than CCI's.

[DeaconKC]

Okay, quick question here. I have used both for years in my autos and never had a problem with either. If you are running regular springs in your CAS guns, do you have problems with the CCIs?

[El Catorce]

21 minutes ago, DeaconKC said:

Okay, quick question here. I have used both for years in my autos and never had a problem with either. If you are running regular springs in your CAS guns, do you have problems with the CCIs?

 Before I had my rugers lightened I was buying cci at academy sports and outdoors…. After I had the springs lightened I had 1 out of 5 light strikes with cci. I’d Then run those same rounds in my rifle and no issues. 
 

my nephew has stock rugers and has no issues with cci’s but when he runs him in his rifle he has 1/5 light strikes too. 
 

This was also confirmed when I sent back one of my Rugers  for warranty work and they reset the hammer spring back to factory and again 100% reliable with cci… but I lightened the spring again so it would match up with my other revolver and again 1/5 light strikes …. 

 

Also, I’ve had no issue with CCI large pistol primers for 45ACP and 45 Colt but all those guns that I run CCI LPP in are also stock out of the box… 

(auto-ordinance 1911A1, Ruger SR1911,  Cimarron Pistoleros and ‘58 conversion cylinders). 

That’s been my personal experience but your mileage may vary. 

 

[Kid Rich]

18 hours ago, Max Payne said:

Winchesters are softer than CCI's.

Not any more. I get the same indent in the new CCI primers that I get with Federals.

kR

[Max Payne]

7 hours ago, Kid Rich said:

Not any more. I get the same indent in the new CCI primers that I get with Federals.

kR

Hmm. Hope you're right about that! CCI's are definitely easier to find. I'm gonna try some in my rifle.