Two Ways to Correctly Prime Rifle and Pistol Cases (EXTREME RELOADING ep. 09)
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- Опубліковано 12 лип 2024
- Learn about primers, the priming process, and why primer recess is important. Two methods are used, a positive ram priming unit and high-precision hand priming tool.
Timeline:
00:00 - Intro
00:46 - Case storage tips
04:09 - Primer pocket uniformity
04:57 - Primer types
09:00 - Primer brands
12:51 - How primers work
14:25 - Correctly seating a primer
17:43 - Priming cases
21:10 - Precision priming
23:26 - Ram priming unit
24:08 - Wrap up
Links:
Extreme Reloading Season 9 playlist: • Extreme Reloading Seas...
Link to case prep/reloading checklist: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/cz7ch7...
(NOTE: You do NOT need a dropbox account to access this file) - Спорт
See the notes from TexasRat below.
Great job explaining all of this and the graphics really helped. 👍
Thank you Aaron, for watching and taking the time to post.
Excellent video. My compliments to you.
Thank you very much James.
A little bit about different brands and types of primers.
Which ones to use, when and why.
All CCI and Remingtons primers, plus Winchester's small pistol are the safest to use in automatic priming tools.
Federal burns hotter and cleaner, yet are according to the Richard Lee manual "one tough dragon to control in the automatic priming systems".
Modern Reloading Second Edition Richard Lee Revised 2021, page 60:
To find out why some brand primers explode violently, I talked to an expert, Dave Anderson, now retired from CCI. He told me primers are charged with one of two types of charging compound. One is called "basic" and the other is "normal." The primers that use "basic compound" must not be used in Lee Priming tools because an accidental discharge is very violent. The "normal compound" is less violent and causes little damage to the tool. The user is easily protected by safety glasses.
Metallic Cartridge reloading, Robert S. L. Anderson, page 20:
In the firearms industry there are two types of lead styphnate primer compounds - "normal" and "basic." There are presently four manufacturers of primers in the U.S., and all of them except one uses the normal lead styphnate primer compound. Federal is the only manufacturer that presently uses basic . The common ingredient to all small arms primers is lead styphnate of which there are several different varieties. Basically it is in crystalline form and is very explosive. Normal lead styphnate is composed of large irregular crystals, which are slightly acidic when wet, somewhat more brisant at lower temperatures (good for military use), and they burn with a cool flame at ambient temperatures. However, it is somewhat harder to get an even mix of components in normal lead styphnate primers because of the larger irregular crystals and the fact that the "mix" often requires some metallic fuels (such as powdered aluminum) to help make a magnum primer. Basic lead styphnate is composed of small regular crystals and unlike the normal mix is not as acidic and will not attack primer cups when wet. Basic lead styphnate is easier to mix than normal variety and there is no need to add metallic fuels. The basic primer flame is very hot and will easily ignite most powders and therefore Federal does not offer a magnum pistol primer. However this style primer is slightly less brisant at very low temperatures (- 20degrees F. to - 40 degrees F.) which would make normal primer more suitable for military purposes.
Metallic Cartridge Reloading, All New Third Edition, M.L. McPherson, page 29:
Certain brands of primers might be unsafe to use in some priming tools like Lee's AutoPrime because of the potential for mass detonation. With these tools, should an operator detonate one primer, as can happen when a handloader tries to seat one primer on top of another, the detonation subjects other primers in the tray to shock and an incandescent flash. If this shock and flash can detonate a second primer, there is the potential that most or all (perhaps 100 or more) primers in the tray might detonate en masse. Such a simultaneous detonation would be a disaster. Lee has tested all available primers and, excepting CCI and Winchester, all brands produce an unacceptable number of mass explosions when the primer being seated is forced to detonate (by heating in a remote explosion-proof box). By comparing Federal and CCI primers, we can gain some understanding why brands very in this regard. Federal primers do not have a foil covering over the primer pellet; an application of a type of paint replaces the foil. That sealant is easily ignited and highly flammable, possessing a very low kindling temperature. These are beneficial characteristics; among other things, they help reduce combustion residues. However, use of this pellet sealant makes these primers very easy to ignite. Exposure of the open front of the cup to the flash from an adjacent primer easily does the job! Conversely, CCI primers have a paper foil almost completely covering the front of the pellet. This foil deters pellet ignition because it is only moderately combustible and has a relatively high kindling temperature. A short duration flash from a primer is unlikely to ignite the foil or penetrate through it to ignite the pellet underneath.
"LARGE vs. small. Rifle vs. pistol. Standard vs. benchrest/match..." What was missing in your intro was... MAGNUM! IMHO, except in the case of reloading for hunting or precision long-range rifle competition, the practical performance difference between the various primers is barely noticable and has to be determined using equipment MOST reloaders don't necessarily have on hand. Match/benchrest vs. standard is primarily (pun intended!) a case of quality control and testing at the factory. P.S. A properly installed primer in a non-defective firearm with a floating firing pin is not typically subject to a slam-fire situation. It should be an extremely rare occurance and further investigation as to the actual cause is always warranted!
Yes, there is one more category also. I was considering mentioning it during the intro but chose not to as I thought it might be just too many levels of differentiation. Thanks for watching and posting.
You are also correct about the slam fire, and the caveat is important. A correctly seated primer will not slam fire even with a floating firing pin. The problem arises with incorrectly seated primers which I am seeing some some frequency in today's "blasting" ammo.
Now I’ll round out with a few horror stories - {these are not meant to scare you away from reloading but rather to encourage you to always follow all the safety precautions and heed the warnings in the manuals for a safe and long Handloading journey}.
Any Shoot Will Do, The A-Square Handloading and Rifle Manual, page 16:
Let’s start with guys who didn’t read the safety chapter. All of these are real incidents involving experienced reloaders.
#1, A commercial handloader producing handgun cartridges in quantity used to begin his day by filling a coffee can with primers to pour into the machine. He would pull out each tray and, with a flick of the wrist, empty it into the can. One day he used too much flick: one primer went off, initiating a chain reaction that filled the air with shrapnel and cost him both his eyes." [a commercial reloader that thought about how many rounds he had loaded and never had a problem whereby he did not bother with safety or safety glasses, until one day he wished he had taken heed to the warnings, but it was too late by then.]
The Complete Handloader, John Wootters, page 37:
The Power of Primers
Never under estimate the potency of priming compounds. ... a workman at a priming manufacturing facility was carrying a bucket of loose primers ... and the whole bucket detonated. ... they never found any part of the workman except his shoes.
An acquaintance of mine had ... about a hundred rifle primers detonate in a plastic medicine vial in his left hand. He lost his hand and the sight in his left eye, and he underwent a series of operations for cosmetic repairs to his face, arm, and upper body, suffering a great deal of pain, a staggering financial setback, and the loss of part of his livelihood. He was a gunsmith.
Primer Precautions
Such tragedies illustrate the inherent explosive power of small-arms primers, but they can be avoided totally by understanding and adhering to a few simple precautions. The first is never store primers in any kind of container other than the original factory packaging. The second is go back and reread that last sentence several times. Do not keep live primers, however few, loose in any sort of miscellaneous container, and most especially not one made of glass.
A fellow UA-camr told a story of hand priming in his Lazyboy chair when one went off. They found the lid to the primer tray stuck in the ceiling above the chair. According to the story it had just missed his face. So be extra sure not to have it aimed at your face when hand priming with these tools. And safety glasses would be a very good idea as mentioned throughout all the reloading manual over and over again.
Thanks for posting all this extra information TexasRat. Nice job!
question: do you do your OCW test or your seating test first ?
I do the seating first and then the OCW powder charge testing. Sometimes however, I will need to experiment with other seating depths and will then run OCW again to confirm it is correct. Thanks for watching.