Hey @backfire, just wondering if you, or any others, have recommendations for which might be a better choice for 7 PRC Large Rifle Magnum primers? I know the Federal GM 215 are the recommended, but I just can’t get any right now. I’ve got alerts set in several places, but they almost never come available, or at least I never can respond fast enough, or when they come available, they are just crazy expensive (25 cents per primer).
Anyway, I’ll certainly pick up the Fed GM 215 as soon as I can. In the meantime, I need to go ahead and get what I can get. There are several brands that come available, but the best two options seem to be the Remington 9 1/2 or the CCI 250.
I asked this in a different thread but it seems that primer choice is more a function of preference vs performance. Of course check pressures below max with new primers.
Agree with rosskruse; I use winchester, federal, remington, and cci - for the most part the load I have settled on for a given round (7 Rem Mag) doesn’t change at all or very little when I swap out the primers based on availability.
That is not always true, and you may need to tweek it some, but I think you get into real variability of performance by using primers no one has ever heard of and are a terrific bargain. Primers, to me, are similar to .22 LR ammo; the bulk shoots like bulk, and the lapua, eley, and others shoot consistently.
There are some very good studies people have done on primers out there that compare all the major brands, and in my reading, for the most part, they are all very similar. I tend to use the Federals in a magnum more than any others, but it seems that many magnum loaders like the Rem 9 1/2 because it tends to be the milder ignition of the leading brands.
Handloading, welcome to the game. Learn to enjoy it and don’t let your hobby drive you crazy.
I was able to get 1100 9 1/2 M not too long ago.