primers, winchester vs. cci

[sniper1379]

found some cci large rifle primers. thinking about getting them since i can't find any winchester large rifle primers. has anyone seen much difference between the 2? i've used a few cci in some loads for my encore and never really noticed any difference in performance.

 

[JDMAG]

I have never used anything but CCI and have never had any problems.

 

[YoteSmoker]

Probably not enough to worry about for most hunting situations. On the bench is another story.

 

[DrMike]

Work up your load as per usual. Sometimes you will see a marked difference in pressure and/or velocity, but that is the exception rather than the rule. Just to be on the safe side, work up your load with the new primers.

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

Big differenece.
Of course it depends on which CCI primers and which Winchester primers you are refering to.

CCI 200's are a realitively cold primer, but give great groups with stick powder such as h4831/H4350. CCI Benchrest primers are excellent with ball powders.

Winchester mag primer is a hot powder, and will sometime generate a significantly higher velocity then the CCI 200. They will also shoot as much as a foot different the the cci's at 100 yards.

Winchester's are a realitively soft primer, where cci's are a hard primer. If you have a gun with a light firing pin, try winchester primers. If you have a semi-auto and are concerned about slam fires ect, thr the cci.

Both are among my goto primers.

 

[FOTIS]

I found cci 200 to be a very cold primer. In my 25-06 rem I realized a difference of 150 fps by switching to WLP. This was when I was stationed in Germany during the 1990's. They might have changed since then.

 

[DrMike]

I believe it fair to say that CCI primers are "cooler," but that is a relative statement. Not so many years ago, before WLRM primers were available, hand loaders were advised to treat WLR primers as equivalent to magnum primers. Having said that, I use CCI200 primers in several of my short mags (and I do a fair amount of shooting in cold weather), and they perform quite well. It is true that I have on occasion observed as much as a 150 fps difference in velocities when switching between large rifle primers and large rifle magnum primers.

 

[hardpan]

Shooting in mag loads from
.257 Weath Mag
7mm Weath Mag
300 Weath Mag

25-06

thanks, I have both primers, but never used the CCI as I just got them. Will they do better with imr 7282 in the larger cartridges?
Michael
Hardpan;

 

[DrMike]

You're always well advised to use the primers used in the reloading data. For the cartridges you list (especially the magnum cartridges) you would be better off using magnum primers, regardless of whether they are Winchester LRM or CCI250. Either will ignite your powders quite well. The 25-06 should do just fine with either WLR or CCI200 primers.

The reason people can "get away" with LR primers in the short magnums is because of the shorter powder column. Even in those instances, ballisticians recommend that magnum primers be used with ball powders and when shooting in cold weather.

 

[Greg Nolan]

I've used nothing but CCI 250 LRM primers for magnum loads and WLR primers for standard loads. I bought some Federal primers because they are the thing to use in a lot of loads. I went back to the CCIs. They just work and are consistant, even in the 375 RUM loads which are pretty big. I view them in the same light as scopes. Leupolds are not the only game in town, just the most expensive for what you get.
Good Hunting
Elkhunt :grin:

 

[DrMike]

If one loads long enough, they will eventually find a lot of primers that are faulty. It has happened to me that I found it necessary to return primers, but it is the exception and not the rule. I am not uncomfortable using any of the primers commonly available here in North America. Assuredly, I have found CCI primers to be consistent and reliable.

 

[Britz]

I use CCI BR2's in my 300wsm and 325 wsm w/o any problems. Anything bigger I would use a CCI 250.

 

[Richracer1]

I strictly use Federal GM---M primers. When word got out that they were becoming hard to get, I stocked up. I have had nothing but great results using these primers.

 

[Alaska]

The .223 Remington uses a Small Rifle primer. In a bolt gun you'll get good results from all the major brands: CCI, Federal, Remington, Winchester. The Rem 7 1/2s work very well with both stick and ball powders. Benchresters have shown a bias towards the Federal 205M (match), but in our informal testing, the CCI BR4s shot just as well as the Federals, while the CCIs delivered lower ES/SD with some powders. In fact, we've found that the "plain Jane" CCI 400s were closely matched with the much more expensive BR4s. Both can deliver good accuracy with low ES and SD. (Currently, at Powder Valley, CCI 400s cost $19.00 per thousand, while CCI BR4s cost $29.50 per thousand.) Some primers do seem to work better with particular powder/bullet combinations, so it's wise to do your own testing, and you may want to test CCI 400s vs. CCI BR4s head to head. You may find that the cheaper CCI 400s work just as well as the pricey BR4s in your gun.

For use in semi-automatics and AR15s, we advise that you stick to CCI and Remington primers. These brands have harder cups and are much less likely to pierce primers. Also, the AR15 has a free-floating firing pin that dents the primer on loading. This creates a risk of slam fires. So you want hard primer cups. The latest generation of Winchester primers, with brass-colored cups, should be avoided for AR15 use. The old silver Winchester primers worked fine, but the current WSRs are soft and can be pierced more easily than CCI or Rem primers. A poll of Highpower competitors (mostly shooting ARs) showed that Rem 7 1/2 primers are the most popular (33.23%), followed by CCIs (25.78%). The majority of CCI users favored the CCI BR4s, but both CCI 400s (small rifle standard) and CCI 450s (small rifle magnum) were also popular. Only 10.25% of Highpower shooters polled used Federal primers (either 205M or 205). At the time of the poll, many shooters reported using WSRs, but this was the older version with silver cups. See NationalMatch.us website for complete poll results

 

[remington700]

i know that cci's are easiest to get anymore for me.

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

Thanks for the nice write-up Alaska.
I might have to try some Rem 7 1/2's in my AR.

 

[gunny1]

I would say it depends on what I am loading for. Personally, I normally use Federal gold metal match 210m or 215m primers. I am actually about to go buy a case of each today or tomorrow. Man, have you seen the mark up on primers lately......................... That is, if you can find them. They are out of stock in many of the stores around me.

They are trying to suck the working man dry