mid sized rifle cartridge choice of SR or LR primers ???

[Magnum Wheel Man]

So... I built a custom 6.8 SPC Remington bolt action rifle... I have a Contender Carbine also in this caliber... like the 45 ACP, these cases are mixed between both primer sizes... in the case of the 6.8, seems like the manufacturers are about half & half... so... since I'm wanting only one size, help me choose...

I currently have both Remington & Silver State Armory cases... Remington uses LR, SSA uses SR...

buying new cases right now is tough, with Remington being about the only thing I've found new... buying once fired cases, most seem to be Federal ( which also has SR, & a staked primer... which can be fixed )

my understanding, is that I may get a little better accuracy with small primers in "good" shooting conditions, & I get better reliability in extreme conditions with LR primers... ( is that seem right ??? )

I'll mostly shoot the 6.8 as an informal target gun, & likely wouldn't use it to hunt, as I have many other choices, but don't want to limit myself to just fair weather shooting... so I'm inclined to buy more Remington cases, to add to those I already have, & do something else with the SSA cases...

your thoughts & comments appreciated...

BTW... I still haven't made up my mind on 45 ACP either, but will be shooting more 6.8 this summer... so one question at a time

[Brian Pfleuger]

Small primers are milder, which helps accuracy, and cases with small primer heads are stronger than LR heads.

Easy choice.

[Magnum Wheel Man]

My old reloading mentor worries about poor ignition, if I were to shoot a case like that with small primers during seasonably cold weather ( like deer hunting )

... & BRIAN... that means you'd rather buy used range brass, than new cases with LR primers ???

EDIT... Although I see Midway & Graffs now has Hornady cases which are also SR primers... ( the last month or so, that I've been watching them, the Remington was the only thing Midway had in stock, & Graff's site didn't tell me which size they were... I hate to start buying a 3rd brand as I can afford them, in case they go out of stock again, & leave me with 3 brands of cases

[Unclenick]

Benchrest shooters often prefer the mildest primer they can find. That generally gives more control of pressure to the powder charge as it is influenced less by the effect of primer performance variation. This is important because the matches have a time limit for getting the group down range, plus there is often no limit on sighters, so the chamber is warmer and heating primers more quickly toward the end of the string. That's the thing most responsible for change in cartridge performance with gun temperature. Thus, less total priming mix, less primer enthusiasm change with temperature. However, the benchresters are also generally shooting compressed or near 100% case fill loads. As soon as you don't have that, or the outside temperature drops a lot, then the superiority of the small primer can vaporize.

[green_MTman]

i have never heard of using small rifle primers in a .45acp,maybe a .357 mag

since when does brass come primed,i have never heard of that

[Magnum Wheel Man]

OK... sorry... I was saving some typing... 45 ACP comes in both small & large "pistol" primers, like the 6.8 comes in small & large "rifle" primers

I don't know where you got the "primed cases" unless I saved a word, & should have been "primer pocket brass"

but yes, back before things got so ugly... they used to sell new, factory, primered cases, both for rifles & pistols

[Unclenick]

Green MTman,

The small pockets in .45 Auto began to appear after they got tired of making larger flash holes for large pocket lead-free primers (usually in brass labeled "NT" for Non-Toxic, a reference to the primer residue having no lead compounds in it). So, for a time, small size non-toxic primers were the only ones getting small pockets in .45 Auto. Then, having discovered that small primers were good enough in the .45 Auto, they figured they could save some money by using small primers in .45 Auto normally, like they already did for 9 mm and other non-magnum auto pistol brass. So, now these cases are becoming common as range foundlings. If you load .45 Auto, though, you sure have to sort so as not to smash large primers against these small pockets.


P.S. I still have some factory primed Winchester .223 from the early 2000's. Did used to be common. The only difference in this stuff is no nickel plating on the brass.