Small rifle vs Large rifle primers 260 Rem

gerry

Ammo Smith
Mar 1, 2007
6,636
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I see Petersen makes brass that takes either small or large rifle primers. What's are the benefits and drawbacks of using brass with a small primer pocket compared to the standard large rifle brass?
 
In general from a couple of rifle shooter articles and some anecdotal evidence...small primers are going to produce smaller groups. Large primers are likely to produce lower SDs. Small primers might produce higher velocities.

But, the difference is likely to be infinitesimal...if even detectable. A buddy of mine went through a lot of hoopla changing over to small primers and never realized any gains at all from the exercise. His verdict was it was a waste of time over much more available large rifle primer brass.
 
helps the primer pocket stay tight . a small primer should be able to handle more pressure than a large primer . or to look at it from a different view , a small primer should be able to handle max pressure loads for more reloading cycles than a large primer . I don't think I'd want small primer brass with large powder charges and cold weather when hunting .

read up on 308 palma brass , this is small primer .
 
I might give the the 260 SRP brass the next time I buy some just to see how it actually does. Might need to buy a box of 50 of both size primers and see how they compare. I have Lapua brass with large rifle primers for cold weather hunting which seems to be the big concern with the SRP brass and ignition.

https://www.petersoncartridge.com/match ... dge-cases/

This is what they had to say themselves, the ability to handle full power loads a bit better. Better case life would be a good thing to have.
 
I have no experience with the small primer brass so this would be my only concern , hunting in cold temps , heavy charge , slow powder , hard to ignite , is the small primer up to the task ? I'll be interested to hear what you find using the small primer . the small primer could work just fine in cold temps too , won't know until you try .
 
I'll get some more brass in the summer, used up my allowance on dies :lol: (new Forster 260 seater and Sinclair Expander and mandrel that are on the way) but that would be a fun fall and winter project. Could try identical loads and see if there is any measurable difference. The only difference would be purchasing a few small rifle primers which isn't a big deal. People I would trust that live in Alberta say that they had ignition problems in the cold with similar sized rounds to the 260 like the Creedmoor and 243. Where I hunt deer over at the the coast it wouldn't be an issue but here and especially further east it could be a problem late in the season. Worst case scenario would be they would end up as practice loads.
 
What if you used a magnum small rifle primer? If so than would it be like using a large primer? Dan.
 
I use the Peterson SRP brass in my 6.5 CM. So far I have one lot that has 16 reloads on it, and another lot with 13 reloads on it. I use the cci 450 magnum srp. I have had no problem getting single digit sd's. Also have not lost a single piece due to loose primer pockets.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
I'll guess that it will have to be a winter project , to find any ignition problems . I found out a few things 2 or 3 winters ago when I did some cold weather testing . there was a very prominent click .............bang


Dan , he could sure try a Small magnum primer . I'll say this will allow him a little colder temp before any problems show up .


cleveland , this is what I would expect , long case life .
 
SLIGHTLY off topic but hopefully illuminating...

We shoot pigs at extremely long ranges and push the speed / accuracy thing to the ragged edge with the 6.5 Creedmoor (similar enough cartridge for this discussion).

I won't talk specific brands, you can PM me for that info if you'd like, but we started by using highly popular cost effective large primer brass and found a load that shot a ragged hole and was super fast. Problem was it killed 80% of the primer pockets on the first firing and 80% of the remaining brass on the second firing. So from a cost standpoint (time to prep the brass the way we do it), and getting less that two firings from almost all of it we decided to try small primer brass.

We just finished our third firing with the SRP, and 80% of the brass gave up the Ghost. Things went perfectly the first two firings, and we had no problems through the third series other than primer seating tension is gone at re-load. There was no absolutely no visual evidence of gas leak at the primer but we sure loosened up the butt hole of the brass.

Feel free to ask any questions...

S/F
 
JarHeadTim":39alhgl3 said:
SLIGHTLY off topic but hopefully illuminating...

We shoot pigs at extremely long ranges and push the speed / accuracy thing to the ragged edge with the 6.5 Creedmoor (similar enough cartridge for this discussion).

I won't talk specific brands, you can PM me for that info if you'd like, but we started by using highly popular cost effective large primer brass and found a load that shot a ragged hole and was super fast. Problem was it killed 80% of the primer pockets on the first firing and 80% of the remaining brass on the second firing. So from a cost standpoint (time to prep the brass the way we do it), and getting less that two firings from almost all of it we decided to try small primer brass.

We just finished our third firing with the SRP, and 80% of the brass gave up the Ghost. Things went perfectly the first two firings, and we had no problems through the third series other than primer seating tension is gone at re-load. There was no absolutely no visual evidence of gas leak at the primer but we sure loosened up the butt hole of the brass.

Feel free to ask any questions...

S/F

Good info. Thanks Tim.

So, boiled down, not too much difference from one to the next, maybe one firing at top end?

I’m using Alpha brass in my 6.5 CM with 147’s at 2775 with 26. Not a blistering combo but I cannot kill a piece of brass.. shoot, anneal, reload and repeat. I’d imagine they will last about forever.
 
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