Primer Help Please

[crystal river charli]

Good morning All,
I am about to purchase a bunch of small magnum pistol primers.
Was wondering what brand you all are using?
I will be reloading 357 and trying different powders.

Thanks,
Charlie

[adirondakjack]

I like Federals. Hve used CCI with fairly good results. Would steer clear of Wolf or Magtech.....

[Terry Murbach]

I THINK THIS DEPENDS ENTIRELY ON WHAT YOU HAVE IN MIND. THERE ARE SOME STARTLING DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MAGNUM [ STANDARD PRIMERS TOO..] PRIMERS AND YOU CANNOT BLITHLY PICK ONE AS A DO-IT-ALL PRIMER AND EXPECT IT TO DO-IT-ALL CORRECTLY. QUITE FRANKLY I HAVE LOADED TENS OF THOUSANDS OF 357MAG CARTRIDGES AND NEVER NEEDED--NEEDED, MIND YOU-- SO MUCH AS ONE MAGNUM PRIMER. THINK ABOUT THAT !!! I HAVE TESTED ALL THE SMALL PISTOL MAGNUM PRIMERS AND THE ONLY ONE THAT IMPRESSED ME AS AN HONEST-TO-GOD MAGNUM POWER PRIMER IS THE W-W WSPM. THIS PRIMER CAN TAKE STANDARD LOADS OF BALL PROPELLENT AND ADD 125FPS WHILE TAKING THE PRESSURES A HELLOFALOT HIGHER THAT YOU ANTICIPATED.
AFTER 50 YEARS OF HANDLOADING I STILL BELIEVE HERCULES/ALLIANT 2400 PROPELLENT TO BE THE BEST 357MAG POWDER THERE IS AND IT DOES NOT NEED ANY "MAGNUM" PRIMER OF ANY MAKE OR DESCRIPTION.
I STILL AM NOT IMPRESSED WITH H110, HP295, 295, 296, OR LILGUN IN THE 357MAG CARTRIDGE. YEP, THEY CAN DELIVER THE GOODS JUST FINE IF YOU ARE WILLING TO DO THE TESTING NESSESSARY TO FIND THE OPTIMUM PROPELLENT,THE OPTIMUM PRIMER, THE OPTIMUM BRASS, AND THE BULLET [ NOT TO EVEN MENTION THE OPTIMUM LOADING DIES; BIG DIFFERENCES !!! ] TO SUIT THEIR NEEDS. AND A LOT OF THIS DEPENDS ON THE GUN YOUR ARE USING FOR TESTING AND HOW GOOD IT'S IGNITION SYSTEM IS...IE; DOES IT BANG THE LIVIN' CRAPOLA OUT OF PRIMERS OR JUST FLICK AT 'EM AND HOPE FOR THE BEST....hmmmmmm....AND NOW, WHY DO YOU THINK THE SO-CALLED SMALL PISTOL "MAGNUM" PRIMERS WERE INVENTED IN THE FIRST PLACE ??
AND SO IT GOES...

[rjohns94]

Terry is right as usual. I use standard CCI primers for my .357 loads behind unique powder. Goes bang all the time, and does not elevate pressures, gives pretty consistant performance. I have only half the time Terry has in behind a press, go with his direction.

[RIHMFIRE]

Dittos on what the other guys said....

Are you in Crystal River Florida?

[crystal river charli]

Dittos on what the other guys said....

Are you in Crystal River Florida?

That is were my home is.

Right now I am doing the Grandpa thing at Fort Bragg.

Charlie

[COSteve]

While I agree with Terry that you can light your 357mag's load with a std SP primer, I have to disagree that there isn't a difference when using SPM primers with the load. My chrono data reveals that I've consistently achieved a lower std deviation (SD) using SPM primers vs the same loads using SP primers. I've tried WSP vs WSPM, CCI 500 vs 550, and Remington 1½ vs 5½.

In every chrono test I've run with H110 and W296, the magnum primers achieved significantly better SDs across the board. SDs of over 20 were the best I could do with SP primers while SDs of under 10 are the norm for my SPM primer loads.

Maybe that doesn't matter with Terry's shooting style but in my leverguns shooting 18" steel at 300yds or 8" steel at 175yds using my tang sight and my older eyes, it matters a lot to me. It means the difference between hitting and missing.

[Ysabel Kid]

I usually use only CCI primers, and have been fortunate enough to have a decent stock of them through the last couple years when primers got as rare as hen's teeth. I only use standard primers myself, but Steve is spot on in the standard deviations decreasing when using Magnum primers in such a load. The difference for me though, with the type of shooting I do, doesn't matter, so it is simplier to stock one type of primer for each size.

[w30wcf]

SP primers work very well with 2400 and the faster burning powders, but I have also found, as Costeve has, that the WSPM works best with 296, H110 and Lil' Gun, giving the best accuracy.

Hodgdon's .357 reloading data was taken using Winchester Small Pistol Magnum primers.

w30wcf

[Mike D.]

I also have little use for "Magnum" primers and actually like Magtech. I have yet to have a failure to ignite with them, so don't understand the "do not use" warning.