Primers,

[Kurt]

Curiocity got the best out of me again.

It's been very quiet on this site since Jim left us so I will post some of my why does or does not work.
There are a lot of primer mentioned and mostly Br2 and pistol primers for black powder and the LR Mag primers have lost favor over the last 20-25 years.
Since last fall I been locked in here at home because of the sawbones have their claws in me so to settle my curiosity I did a bunch of 5 shot ladder loads of all the primer brands I have on hand from zero compression to max and the best group for each brand of primers I loaded 10 rounds and shot again to find the best group.

Yes I sent a lot of lead down range but it served several things for me
The primers tested:
Fed LP 150,
Fed GM150M LP,
Fed GM210M,
Rem 2-1/2 LP,
CCI 200 LR,
Wolf Performance LP,
Winchester LR, Fed 215 LR Mag,
Lellier&Bellot LR.
I used the .38-50 Hep and I only shot 135 yard range here at home on and off to get the best sight picture and condition free errors and I used the same powder and bullets the only difference was the powder loads that shot the best ladder loads with the primer used. The interesting thing they all shot very close except the Winchester LR primer loads and the L&B. Even the Fed 215 Mag primer did not go over 2-3/4"
Out of all those different primers the best was the Wolf LR and the Fed GM 210GM.

Kurt

[Don McDowell]

Now what would be interesting is to run the same test in a different rifle. I believe that bpcr's are quite similar to their offspring in that a rifle will show a preference for primers, along with brass brand.

[Kurt]

Yes it would. I tried this with my .45-2.4 Shiloh and the 2.4 CPA but only using Br-2 and Fed GM 210 Match but the CPA always has shot better than the Shiloh, not much but enough that I been using the CPA at the Gong shoots. I always had to work up a load for both for the best results that ended up with different powder volume to get the best out of both.
This .38 I have three different types of formed brass, Winchester, Remington and Graff that is head stamped BCC. I think that it's Jamison. The Win and Rem both hold pretty much the same weight volume in the case. The Bcc case wall is thicker and holds about 2 gr less than the Win or Rem brass.

[Don McDowell]

2 of my 45-90’s get along well with either br2 or rp 91/2
But my Shiloh 77 shows a preference for ro 2 1/2 and quite a bit less powder

[Don McDowell]

But the 900 lb gorilla in the room these days is the primer supply??

[Steveu]

Just for grins one day, I loaded some cci br primers to see how they would compare to the cci lp primers I am currently using in the 40-65 with greasers. There was no difference in group or ES, but the BR’s were 10 fps slower than the LP’s.

[Kurt]

I still using these on and off and they work just as well as the $120.
Some might call it holding but I call it you make hay when the sun is out and not when the rain is falling.

Steve I have the same results with the Br-2 and the CCI 200 and the Regular Fed 150 LR work just as well as the Fed GM150M.
Makes me thing they all come off the same line at the plant with just a different colored box

[bpcrshooter]

for a few years my dad has used 210M's in his 44-70. After I had some success with fed150M's in my 45-70, I had him try them. He loaded up his load plus a few .5, 1gr under and .5 ,1gr over. It was happy .5gr over his original load, the groups also shrunk to half the size. Ive tried the same in my wifes 45-70 with the same results. Next will be my 45-90 when it comes back from the Dr.

[Kurt]

Hey Matt!!


Good going at the Q. Any time that I see Dave Gullo under me at the finish I feel like I won the match. LOL
Good finish

Yes I settled on the Fed 150 match and regular and the 210. Surprising to me is that the 215 Mag LR shot better than the LR Win primers.
Kurt

[JKR]

Do you use a primer wad when using LP primers?
I’ve been loading the 45-90 with a coffee filter wad under the powder. Not sure it’s worth the trouble. I haven’t tried LP primers in it yet.
Jim