Pistol Primers

[truck driver]

My accurized 1911 .45 has a flat wire recoil spring and long guide rod, the spring is rated at 13# and is made from flat wire. The whole Idea of the flat wire spring system is to allow disassembly without turning the barrel bushing which keeps the barrel bushing fit tight.
What does this have to do with pistol primers, tuning your loads for reliable function, flat wire springs are stiffer but compress more evenly without buckling and uses a .25" solid rod with a hole so you can capture the spring and spring cap for disassembly. The picture shows the rod and spring captured .
Primes do make a difference in pistol velocity as well as it does in rifles.
I have multiple brands of standard large pistol primers on hand because I had to buy what was available since primers were hard to find and as the price increase is getting carried away.
The primers I have on hand are Winchester Federal Remington and Magtech. I don't use CCI in my match loads so they weren't included in my test.
I was using one of the new Athlon chronographs to record my velocities, the load was 3.5grs of 700X in Remington cases measuring .890" in length to make sure the crimp was the same on all rounds loaded and 10 shot strings were fired to get an average velocity.
700X is close to the burn rate of Bullseye powder but burns a little cleaner and is a flake type powder. The bullet used is a hand cast 185gr SWC H&G 130 style bullet which is a button nose bullet with a flat base, they were cast using linotype printers lead which is very hard as lead allows go.
The first primer used was Winchester which is made to be used for both magnum and standard velocity loads, the 10-shot average was 773.7fps., Remington #2-1/2 747.6fps., Federal 767.2fps., Mag tech 739.4fps.
I guess you are wondering what the big deal is when you look at the velocities, between the highest and lowest there is 34.5fps.?
Reliability to function without a jam or failure to feed or extract. Tightly fitted/accurized 1911s are a joy to shoot when they work correctly as is those that aren't accurized, 10fps in velocity can cause one to malfunction, when you are shooting a match that requires you to get 5 shots off in 20 seconds or less while hitting a 4" target one handed for score is difficult enough without worrying about your ammo working, even more so when you are depending on it to protect you or harvest game.
Some will say they would use a lighter recoil spring but in my case that is not an option since it would change the way the pistol functions and affect the accuracy.

Each pistol barrel is different just like a rifle when it comes to velocity and it will range from lower to faster with the same powder charge and primer used.

 

[wvbuckbuster]

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.

 

[truck driver]

Flat wire spring and guide rod.

 

[JD338]

Fascinating Roger.

JD338

 

[NYDAN]

Nice write-up, Rodger.

 

[truck driver]

Nice write-up, Rodger.

Thanks Dan, always something new to learn when reloading ammo. There was a time of day as long as my loads worked I was happy with the results , but now with the new build I have been learning how to get the most out of my loads for consistency and accuracy just like I did with my rifles.

 

[Hunter26]

Accurized anything is cool, especially 1911's. Why don't you use CCI primers?

 

[truck driver]

Accurized anything is cool, especially 1911's. Why don't you use CCI primers?

Due to their harder primer cup is the only reason, some lightly sprung revolvers and semi autos have problems setting them off. Sometimes it would take 2 hits by the firing pin to set them off.
When I first started shooting handguns they were my go-to primers but after several miss fires, I stopped using them in my precision tuned pistols.

 

[truck driver]

Fascinating Roger.

JD338

Flat wire springs have been around forever in machinery use but were harder to make then round wire hence the use of round wire in gun springs.
They can be used just like round wire springs with the right full length guide rod and you don't have to capture them or machine the spring channel in the slide of a 1911 to remove them, just turn the barrel bushing like you would for a round wire spring removal if you're using a long guide rod. For round spring removal remove the slide and remove the factory short guide rod before turning the bushing with the barrel out of battery before turning the bushing.
The 2-piece guide rod for round wire was made so you wouldn't have to turn the barrel bushing before disassembly to keep the bushing fit tight.
For long life accuracy barrel of a tight fitted barrel and bushing in a 1911 it is a known fact that you should minimize how often you turn the bushing in the slide to remove the barrel for cleaning and lubricating. With today's gun cleaners you can flush the dirt out of a slide without having to remove the barrel or bushing.
The flat wire spring has a longer usage life than a round wire spring and doesn't need to be changed as often.
I was told by my pistol Smith that he changes the springs in his guns once a year but then he shoots a lot more than I do since he gets free ammo and is sponsored by various companies.
I shoot around 2000 rounds a year out of my 1911 pistol in matches and practice and he probably shoots 3-4 times that much in his and change the springs more often.