Primers

[DadSmith]

I haven't had much luck with the SA small pistol primers from Argentina. The first go around, I seated them with my Dillon 550 flush like I have done other American made primers and have never had a problem. The first box of 50, I had 10 not ignite on the first try out of my Sig M17. They all eventually ignited, sometimes after the 2nd strike and some on the 3rd. I seated the next box of 50 using my Hornady hand primer. It seated them below flush and they were really flattened, much more than primers in factory loaded ammo. I still had failures to ignite with 4 rounds on the first try. I'm really disappointed in these SA small pistol primers. Anyone else had any luck using these? If so, did you do anything different, like enlarge the primer pockets on the brass?

I seat mine just below flush. Maybe they are hit and miss.
Report it to Norma and see if they will refund you or have you send back the bad.

 

[Remington 90T]

F&S Wholesales have 20K bulk pack -- Chedite 209 primers - Free freight - no hazmat. -$59,90 per thousand.

 

[Chance]

Sportsman’s Warehouse in Fort Wayne has lifted their limit. SP about $5.50/100. Have had some LR this week also

 

[BE Mike]

I seat mine just below flush. Maybe they are hit and miss.
Report it to Norma and see if they will refund you or have you send back the bad.

I've heard that the SA small pistol primers might work in hammer fired pistols. I noticed that the duds left the primer with an odd looking appearance and nothing like a typical light firing pin strike. I have a theory that the primer cups may be too hard for striker fired pistols. I'll try them in my Beretta 92FS and see if they are more reliable.

 

[DadSmith]

I've heard that the SA small pistol primers might work in hammer fired pistols. I noticed that the duds left the primer with an odd looking appearance and nothing like a typical light firing pin strike. I have a theory that the primer cups may be too hard for striker fired pistols. I'll try them in my Beretta 92FS and see if they are more reliable.

I was playing around with my Dagger and ended up with a Wolff Springs XP Striker spring, a Lone Wolf 3.5lb connector, and a 6lb Lone Wolf trigger spring. It ended up being just over 4lb pull.
I had several weights in Striker Spring and the Wolff XP Striker spring gave it the best trigger pull, and of course it also was a stronger Striker Spring so it probably handled those primers without any problem.

 

[Chance]

Sportsman’s Warehouse Fort Wayne has some of each size in stock. Prices range from $5.50 to $8 per 100. No limit on purchase quantity.

 

[BE Mike]

I was playing around with my Dagger and ended up with a Wolff Springs XP Striker spring, a Lone Wolf 3.5lb connector, and a 6lb Lone Wolf trigger spring. It ended up being just over 4lb pull.
I had several weights in Striker Spring and the Wolff XP Striker spring gave it the best trigger pull, and of course it also was a stronger Striker Spring so it probably handled those primers without any problem.

Here's an update. After having a lot of misfires with the SA primers out of my Sig M-17, I thought I'd try them through my Beretta 92FS and a Sig P320 Compact. 50 rounds through each pistol today resulted in no misfires. I might add that I thoroughly cleaned the Sig, including a thorough cleaning of the striker assembly and the channel in the slide where the striker rides. The SA primers on all these rounds were seated below flush. Next week's range session, I'm going to re-try the Sig M-17 after a similar thorough cleaning with below flush seated SA primers. I will also test some SA primers using my normal primer seating technique (using the Dillon 550) with the Beretta 92FS and Sig M-17.

 

[Creedmoor]

Here's an update. After having a lot of misfires with the SA primers out of my Sig M-17, I thought I'd try them through my Beretta 92FS and a Sig P320 Compact. 50 rounds through each pistol today resulted in no misfires. I might add that I thoroughly cleaned the Sig, including a thorough cleaning of the striker assembly and the channel in the slide where the striker rides. The SA primers on all these rounds were seated below flush. Next week's range session, I'm going to re-try the Sig M-17 after a similar thorough cleaning with below flush seated SA primers. I will also test some SA primers using my normal primer seating technique (using the Dillon 550) with the Beretta 92FS and Sig M-17.

I have run a few hundred SA primers out of tow of our M17's without any failures as of yet.

Now I don't know what your process is with your brass, so forgive me if I'm wrong.
With lots of import primers they tend to be a super snug fit, when I use them, I will run the brass through a Dillon hand swedger, now a 8 station Dillon or if its only a hundred pieces or so a primer pocket reamer in a cordless drill.
Have you tried to use a pocket reamer before loading those primers?

 

[Skip]

@BE Mike
Could you measure the height of the SA primers, please?

 

[BE Mike]

I have run a few hundred SA primers out of tow of our M17's without any failures as of yet.

Now I don't know what your process is with your brass, so forgive me if I'm wrong.
With lots of import primers they tend to be a super snug fit, when I use them, I will run the brass through a Dillon hand swedger, now a 8 station Dillon or if its only a hundred pieces or so a primer pocket reamer in a cordless drill.
Have you tried to use a pocket reamer before loading those primers?
View attachment 290885

I have not used a primer pocket reamer on my 9mm brass. Does that process make the primer pocket unsuitable for American made primers? I probably do have a primer pocket swager and/or pocket reamer around here somewhere.

 

[BE Mike]

@BE Mike
Could you measure the height of the SA primers, please?

I don't have access to a micrometer. I don't know if a caliper would be accurate enough, but I could try.

 

[Skip]

I don't have access to a micrometer. I don't know if a caliper would be accurate enough, but I could try.

Caliper would be fine.

 

[Creedmoor]

I have not used a primer pocket reamer on my 9mm brass. Does that process make the primer pocket unsuitable for American made primers? I probably do have a primer pocket swager and/or pocket reamer around here somewhere.

I've never had a problem doing it. Its like loading Privi or S&B brass rifle brass, the pockets are really tight. I believe they do that with there loads not being as anemic as American loads.
Lots of old 1940's and newer mil 30-06 has tight pockets.
Even more so when using import primers.

 

[BE Mike]

Caliper would be fine.

I measured four brands of small pistol primers. They all were uniform in width. They all were .173". The SA primers were .115" tall, the Winchester were .117" tall, the CCI were .115" tall and the Remington were .121" tall. In both cases of the tallest primers (Winchester and Remington) the increased height was the result of the anvil being "proud" of the primer cup. The anvils of the SA and CCI primers appeared flush with the primer cup.

 

[BE Mike]

All of these SA primers were seated below flush. The primer strike on the left was from my Sig P320 Compact. The primer strike on the right was from my Beretta 92FS.

 

[Skip]

I measured four brands of small pistol primers. They all were uniform in width. They all were .173". The SA primers were .115" tall, the Winchester were .117" tall, the CCI were .115" tall and the Remington were .121" tall. In both cases of the tallest primers (Winchester and Remington) the increased height was the result of the anvil being "proud" of the primer cup. The anvils of the SA and CCI primers appeared flush with the primer cup.

Thank you sir!

 

[Salty]

All of these SA primers were seated below flush. The primer strike on the left was from my Sig P320 Compact. The primer strike on the right was from my Beretta 92FS.

A primer may not fire if it is not fully seated. Are you saying you seat some primers so that they are flush with the case and not fully seated? If so, the strike may be pushing the primer in further and reducing the strike. Forgive me if I misunderstood.

 

[Cameramonkey]

A primer may not fire if it is not fully seated. Are you saying you seat some primers so that they are flush with the case and not fully seated? If so, the strike may be pushing the primer in further and reducing the strike. Forgive me if I misunderstood.

Yes. OOB the anvil isn’t fully seated in the cup so they can’t go off in transit. When you seat them fully the anvil moves back a little and seats. If it doesn’t seat fully it may not go off.

 

[BE Mike]

A primer may not fire if it is not fully seated. Are you saying you seat some primers so that they are flush with the case and not fully seated? If so, the strike may be pushing the primer in further and reducing the strike. Forgive me if I misunderstood.

What I've been doing is actually crushing the SA primers slightly to get them below flush. I plan to seat them normally, to the bottom of the primer pocket, like I do American primers, to see if my previous problem was with my lack of properly cleaning the Sig M 17 striker assembly and channel in the slide, was causing the trouble. Sig P320/ M 17 & M 18 striker assemblies and channel should be squeaky clean and dry. I goofed and used a spray cleaner that left a thin film of lube. Yeah, on rare occasions, I've not seated a primer to the bottom of the primer pocket and had a first strike dud.

 

[armalitesheepdog]

CCI PRIMER 500 SMALL PISTOL 5000/CASE - Graf & Sons

CCI primers are highly evolved products because we continuously test and improve. Today's CCI primer is more sensitive, easier to seat, and more compatible with progressive and automated loading equipment than even before. CCI primers have always incorporated modern non-corrosive and...

www.grafs.com

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