Primers...will they affect accuracy????

Will84

Active Member
Hi all,
In my 6.5 I have been using cci primers but today when I went to buy some more they where out of stock so I have bought some remingtons instead.
This maybe a daft question but will they effect accuracy at all?
Cheers
 
Hi all,
In my 6.5 I have been using cci primers but today when I went to buy some more they where out of stock so I have bought some remingtons instead.
This maybe a daft question but will they effect accuracy at all?
Cheers

Entirely plausible they will affect accuracy and also entirely plausible they may push a load from safe to unsafe.
Primers are not equal, they have different levels of brisance and hardness making some drive higher pressure loads or more prone to piercing of leaking on high loads.
http://www.6mmbr.com/PrimerPix.html click link for a nice graphic on the possible difference a brand makes.

Remington small rifle are harder than the CCI. I've not tried the large rifle Remington.
Federal don't work as well in my rifles as the CCI large rifle or the CCI BR2.
 
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Yes, they do and do so quite spectacularly in some instances.

I don't really bother testing to the nth degree with my stalking rifle loads - so long as they're sub half moa I'm happy.

But I do go the extra mile with my target rifles. Its certainly worth finding a load, then changing primers to se if the group shrinks or opens up.
 
Hi all,
In my 6.5 I have been using cci primers but today when I went to buy some more they where out of stock so I have bought some remingtons instead.
This maybe a daft question but will they effect accuracy at all?
Cheers

remmington 9 1/2 ? i had problems seating them in the 6.5 went onto cci from them and never looked back
 
Thanks for the replies
Yes thats them, will try loading a few tomorrow evening, if they fit and see if theres any change down range
 
I'll develop a load using federal large primers, and when it's good, I'll swap to CCI, and it goes to 'great' :)

When I worked a load up for my AR, I used CCI as they seem to flatten before the Remington ones, so when pushing for a 'hotter than 223' loads for my 5.56 chamber I can see just a little earlier when approaching the limits. (Bearing in mind, 'hot' is only 2550fps as it's only a tiddly short barrel)

So yes, primers can, and do, make a difference

Pete
 
Assuming we're talking standard LR primers (Rem 9 1/2 v CCI-200), the Remington is noticeably 'hotter'. In 308 Win with a 168gn match bullet and near maximum load of Viht N140, the Remington model gives around 20-25 fps higher velocities which may not sound a lot but is significant for a primer change on its own.
 
Yes, they will affect accuracy, as they are a variable in the recipe, just like the powder, brass and bullets. Some powders, especially in longer cases with slow powders, need a hotter primer like the Winchester LR or even a magnum primer to light them up uniformly. Other powders would generate way too much pressure from a hot primer and a full dose of of powder. If you buy 100 primers, load up a recipe with works for you and shoot a group of 5. If it is good, run back and buy more of the same lot, and mark them as such. Date them. They last a long time, but the point is to know what batch you have of each primer.
 
Cheers, I will have a search for that aswell be interested to see how they compare with the cci's I've been using
 
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