Blackeagle

Do I need to be concerned about any changes to a load if I use a different brand of primer?

I've had all my reloading gear for a couple of weeks, but I've been unable to find any primers until today. I loaded on a friend's press back in Utah, but this will be the first time loading on my own. I'm planning on duplicating the load my friend gave me, so I was looking for Winchester large pistol primers, which is what my friend used. Primers are hard to come by, so when I saw a couple of boxes of Federal Match large pistol primers on the shelf at the local gun shop, I grabbed them.

I've had it drilled into my head that you don't want to switch certain things in a load without starting over from scratch (type/weight of bullet, powder), but I don't know if this applies to primers. This is a fairly mild load (0.1 grains above the starting load in my loading manual). I want to be cautious, but on the other hand, with primers as hard to come by as they are I'll take what I can get. Will changing the brand of primers pose any problems?

GunnyBunny

I personally can't see that being a problem.

Having said that I use only Federal primers. All the Winchester, CCI, etc. primers I've acquired in various trades over the years are just gathering dust in my reloading cabinet, so you'll probably want more input from others.

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farronwolf

If your loading at the maximum recommended charge for a load you might want to be concerned about it. Back off the load a bit and make sure your not going to have any pressure issues.

If your loading at a lesser "practice round" load, usually what my range ammo is at, I don't think you'll have a problem with switching primers.

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sui-juris

I agree w/above, shouldn't be too much of a hassle. Federal primers are pretty soft. I've used CCI and those are some hard little buggers, would get a few fails to ignite.

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cvhoss

Farronwolf hit the nail on the head. As long as you're not at max charge, a primer brand change won't make enough difference to matter. At max charge, ANY component change should result in backing off and working your way back up to max. If this is in a precision rifle round, a primer brand change can effect accuracy though.

Hoss

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