Making your brass last longer through proper selection of primers.

**Hummer** · 03-29-2012, 02:18 AM

Absolutely agreed, stay off the hot loads and you will get better accuracy, longer barrel life and longer case life.

I have noticed as of late with the last case of Winchester primers I got that even on once fire brass they go in with a "loose" feel.

I then reloaded the same cases with an older lot (pre BAMA) and they fit in snugger.

So now I will be using the new primers first and when/if they appear to get "looser" in the seat feel I will then switch to older primer lots.

Now for you guys that want lots of loads on brass get a case of Wolf primers. They are the largest and they will turn tired primer pocket seat "feel" into new case "feel".

Thus I save my Wolf primers for down the road but also use them for long range as they give me the best SD I have.

I ran a test a few months back and loaded the same brass with same load using four different primers on the chronograph. With both Winchesters I got 12 and 13 SD. With the Federal I got 12. With the CCI I got 12 and with the Wolf I got 7SD.

If you are not shooting long range you will most likely not be able to distinguish the difference so any of them are fine but for old cases and precision long range I will be using the Wolf.

**lalakai** · 04-22-2012, 05:32 PM

I agree about avoiding the hot rounds. Consideration should also be given when choosing between magnum and ordinary primers. My 10mm gets magnum primers and sometimes when I load some 44 mag rounds, but for everything else I stay with ordinary. I don't think there is specific "line in the sand" for choosing one versus the other, but look at your own setup, type of powder, speed of burn, barrel length, and go from there. But like the hot rounds will put more pressure on your cases, so will the magnum primers.

**wbroz** · 04-22-2012, 06:46 PM

Originally Posted by Hummer

Absolutely agreed, stay off the hot loads and you will get better accuracy, longer barrel life and longer case life.

I have noticed as of late with the last case of Winchester primers I got that even on once fire brass they go in with a "loose" feel.

I then reloaded the same cases with an older lot (pre BAMA) and they fit in snugger.

So now I will be using the new primers first and when/if they appear to get "looser" in the seat feel I will then switch to older primer lots.

Now for you guys that want lots of loads on brass get a case of Wolf primers. They are the largest and they will turn tired primer pocket seat "feel" into new case "feel".

Thus I save my Wolf primers for down the road but also use them for long range as they give me the best SD I have.

I ran a test a few months back and loaded the same brass with same load using four different primers on the chronograph. With both Winchesters I got 12 and 13 SD. With the Federal I got 12. With the CCI I got 12 and with the Wolf I got 7SD.

If you are not shooting long range you will most likely not be able to distinguish the difference so any of them are fine but for old cases and precision long range I will be using the Wolf.

If you have cases that have primer pockets that are a little "loose" try using CCI primers they are a bit "thicker" than most and may fit tighter.

**Mortblanc** · 05-02-2012, 04:19 PM

Back when I started reloading, in the late 1960s, I wanted to see how long I could expect my cases to last. I had a range out the back window of my shop and I began reloading and shooting a single cylinder full of .38 spl cases until I reached failure.

My load was a mild one, 4.5 gns of Unique behind a 150 gn cast SWC. That load shoots to the fixed sights of most service pistols and I have not changed it for 45 years. ( If there are rules against reload data being posted I welcome a moderator editing this section even though the load us straight out of the Lyman book)

All my cases reached failure as if on call at between 30 and 35 reload cycles. I considered failure as floppy primer pockets, visible case neck splits or burning holes through the side of the case. Most of the cases burned through the side. One or two split for about 1/8" but could have been reloaded a couple more times before turning completely lose. If I had trimmed them down I could have fired then until they burned through.

I did this test using the old style tool steel dies and not the carbide sets of today. How much that would change the results I have no idea.

While super hot loads will bring on failure, the constant working of the brass will also result in the case mouth splits we commonly see as well as case head seperation due to brass flow to the case neck during full length resizing.

I have a couple of boxes of 30-06 brass that have been with one of my rifles for over 35 years. They are neck sized only for the first 1/8" of the neck and custom blended for that rifle. They are headstamped as war production, 1943. I do not remember how many loads these cases have behind them but I am not getting failures and see no reason to trash them.

**Hummer** · 05-04-2012, 04:00 AM

Same here, if you don't overwork you brass on sizing you will get lots of long life out of them assuming the heads are not on the soft side.

**gremlin** · 05-04-2012, 07:20 AM

Originally Posted by lalakai

I agree about avoiding the hot rounds. Consideration should also be given when choosing between magnum and ordinary primers. My 10mm gets magnum primers and sometimes when I load some 44 mag rounds, but for everything else I stay with ordinary. I don't think there is specific "line in the sand" for choosing one versus the other, but look at your own setup, type of powder, speed of burn, barrel length, and go from there. But like the hot rounds will put more pressure on your cases, so will the magnum primers.

Very well said and I agree with staying away from the hot loads to extend the brass and keep from damaging the barrel. As far as long range shooting, I don't do much of that, I'm still practicing and I need the practice.