Are .223 military primers hotter?
Yes.
When I searched around the net looking for an answer to this question, I got two basic answers. One was that .223 military primers make no difference whatsoever in a handload, the other said that a military primer is the same as adding one full grain of powder to your charge.
Which is the truth? How can people possibly claim both? I don't believe that people's individual circumstances and handloading variables can be so far different that they can extinguish an entire grains' worth of pressure increase. This is precisely why it is important to never listen to others, test things for yourself, and work up loads slowly and carefully. In fact, I'm not going to tell you that they are hotter, instead I will show you my personal results, and that should be enough to create a doubt in your mind, or at least be enough of a warning. Don't trust me either, just test it for yourself.
Why use a military primer?
CCI makes a primer ( #41 ) that it also labeled as "5.56". This is a small rifle primer, and it is suppose to have a harder cup. The cup is made harder to compensate for the small dent made by the AR-15's free floating firing pin when the bolt is dropped on live round. Now, there's a whole other debate as to whether or not it actually helps or is needed, or whether the CCI #41 is actually harder than other brands. Hotter primers are also used to ensure that ignition is solid. Federal uses the #200, which is a magnum small pistol primer in many of their defensive ammunition brands, even though the #100 is the standard. Obviously, Federal adjusts their charges accordingly. The final reason to use these in a non-magnum cartridge would be to increase pressure for performance.
In any event, this primer is considered to be a MAGNUM primer according to CCI's website. I loaded Hornady 68gr HPBT's into Winchester military brass, using the CCI #41 primer and 24.8gr of AA 2520 powder. Using this load, fired from a 24" Wilson barrel in 1/8 (identical to the test barrel used by Accurate to record their data), I acheived 98% of a max load. That's well under a full grain from their published maximum load. Accurate's saami load max is listed at 25.9 grains, while their NRA load is listed at 27.0 grains. I don't think it would be a good idea to use this primer with 27.0 grains of powder...
When I searched around the net looking for an answer to this question, I got two basic answers. One was that .223 military primers make no difference whatsoever in a handload, the other said that a military primer is the same as adding one full grain of powder to your charge.
Which is the truth? How can people possibly claim both? I don't believe that people's individual circumstances and handloading variables can be so far different that they can extinguish an entire grains' worth of pressure increase. This is precisely why it is important to never listen to others, test things for yourself, and work up loads slowly and carefully. In fact, I'm not going to tell you that they are hotter, instead I will show you my personal results, and that should be enough to create a doubt in your mind, or at least be enough of a warning. Don't trust me either, just test it for yourself.
Why use a military primer?
CCI makes a primer ( #41 ) that it also labeled as "5.56". This is a small rifle primer, and it is suppose to have a harder cup. The cup is made harder to compensate for the small dent made by the AR-15's free floating firing pin when the bolt is dropped on live round. Now, there's a whole other debate as to whether or not it actually helps or is needed, or whether the CCI #41 is actually harder than other brands. Hotter primers are also used to ensure that ignition is solid. Federal uses the #200, which is a magnum small pistol primer in many of their defensive ammunition brands, even though the #100 is the standard. Obviously, Federal adjusts their charges accordingly. The final reason to use these in a non-magnum cartridge would be to increase pressure for performance.
In any event, this primer is considered to be a MAGNUM primer according to CCI's website. I loaded Hornady 68gr HPBT's into Winchester military brass, using the CCI #41 primer and 24.8gr of AA 2520 powder. Using this load, fired from a 24" Wilson barrel in 1/8 (identical to the test barrel used by Accurate to record their data), I acheived 98% of a max load. That's well under a full grain from their published maximum load. Accurate's saami load max is listed at 25.9 grains, while their NRA load is listed at 27.0 grains. I don't think it would be a good idea to use this primer with 27.0 grains of powder...
posted by HoploMan at
4:23 PM
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