Large Rifle Primer Question

GREAT! I got a Hornady Die Set and #1 Plate from MidwayUSA. $50 and $30 so actually about normal pricing, yeah!

Now to just wait it out and casually look for large primers, (I’m not paying $35 per 100 ct, that’s crazy), bullets, brass, powder.

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Made any progress loading the ’06?

I ordered 2 bricks the other day from Brownells! :slight_smile:

$139/box + shipping and such.

They’re coming Fedex unfortunately as they don’t really deliver to us rural.

Just need the bullet heads yet.

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I saw those. CCI benchrest primers. Good stuff! Just a little pricey for me though. Mid south shooters supply in TN has some 30 caliber bullets in stock and priced reasonably at the moment. They are redoing their warehouse currently and it took them 12 days to process my order this last time.

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When I was seriously looking at rifle reloading, my choice of large rifle primers was CCI Benchrest and Winchester - An article in Shooting Times appeared at the time, showing photos of primer flashes for comparison, and the Winchester flash was almost as large as a magnum. The article went on to state that the reason that they were so hot was because they had been designed primarily for their double-based ball powders - for use with others, you should back off 1 or 2 grains on starting loads, and build up as you would normally. FYI

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  • I have Winchester large rifle primers listed as standard or magnum. I had two sets of documentation that I can’t find. One was using DW40 for Attracting fish. The other one was a chart listing the following for large
    rifle primers. ( heat * duration of flame * pressure ) If your a accuracy person finding the right primer for a accuracy load will make a difference. Also one brand of primer might look like higher pressure than another brand with the same load because one is softer than the other. I also found that a softer primer may take higher pressure because it will flow rather than rupture. Reading primers can be misleading.
    IE: causes for flattened primers, cratering and, backed out primers ( not falling out primers ) may not be caused be by over pressure.

https://www.xtremebullets.com/

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@KURT17 Reloading manuals will specify exactly what primers were used for there load data. Keep in mind that most or all ball powders are temperature sensitive and Require hotter primers especially in colder conditions. Two pistol powders ( Winchester 296 & H110 ) are notoriously difficult to ignite in extreme cold conditions. Primers can also cause gun powder briance in extreme cold conditions that can change the surface area of the powder and result in inconsistent results to say the least. It’s funny because years ago before Hodgdon bought IMR they documented extreme temperature ballistics tests between IMR & Hodgdon powders listed as temperature insensitive making IMR LOOK BAD then they bought IMR. ( Hodgdon also owns Winchester gun powder & I think Western powder, formerly known as Accurate gun powder ) >> CCI IS THE BIG Cookie Monster <<<
PS: a chronograph will be helpful for working up loads.

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Years ago I started reloading with a Lee kit on limited funds. It included the modern loading manual by Richard Lee of course. I read most of the manual and began using CCI primers for everything because he claimed they were the safest ones in his priming tool.
I’ve got a buddy that uses magnum primers exclusively but honestly doesn’t hunt anywhere cold enough to need them. The Lee manual is a conglomeration if data from other sources from what I can tell. It doesn’t specify what primer or brand of brass was used. I think the main thing is to start at the starting data and then work up.

It took me a minute to find this again but I like the middle paragraph. Richard Lee says something similar, but I found this first. My interpretation is I can save 5% on powder and gain 10% less pressure in stress and longevity for my firearms and only give up 3% velocity. Then I thought it might work the other direction and started looking at the powder requirements for magnums and ultra magnums for honesty not that much of a benefit over 30-06 and now appreciate the old workhorse even more.

Important bottom line, Especially with Slow or Magnum powders never to go below listed minimum starting loads, that’s a very bad thing if you do.

I’ve found that using the recommended component by loading manuals is more than sufficient. The real improvement one can make is making sure the primer pocket is cleaned and deburring the flash hole. The emphasis for quality reloading should be on consistency across all aspects of reloading, not least of which is case preparation.

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I use the Hornady case prep tool.
Nothing as boring as sitting there with the spinning brush in the casing and the little scrapper finishing off the primer pocket, for a 1000 rounds or so.

Boring, yes, but no less important to do correctly. I got the Frankford arsenal case prep center and I really like it. My hands can’t handle the manual tools too well anymore so it’s a worthwhile investment (or something similar) for doing the job well.

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