CCI 250 primers

[akinswi]

I have couple thousand large rifle magnum primers "CCI 250's" I was wondering if these will be ok to use in my M1 with IMR4064 powder.

If they are, I have some 150grn Amax bullets I like to load any suggestions would be great

The reason I have so many is I used to load alot of .308 with cannister/ball powders. I have used the 250's in my .308 bolt gun with IMR4064 and worked great, But I love my M1 and dont want to bend and op rod or something. i really not like to go buy new primers due to I bought these at around 29.99 a box, the cost or primers now is outrageous to say the least.


thanks

[Longshot4]

You know as far as I know primers are the cheapest component in reloading. Yea sure I use to pay a buck pr. hundred and Yea sure they are cheaper by the 1000. All though you should be able to pickup 200 for about 10 bucks. Better safe than sorry.

[454PB]

I don't own or load for an M1, but I doubt the use of a "magnum", rather than a "standard" primer is going to damage anything. Of course you should reduce the charge a grain or so if you're using maximum pressure loads.

I've got a few bricks of CCI250 primers too, but mine were more like $15. I use them for the same purposes you mentioned, plus in my .300 and .338 magnums. But, I have used them for IMR and other extruded powders with no bad effects.

[akinswi]

Well, loaded some hornady 150 grain amax with 46 grains of IMR4064.
The load called for 46.5 but I dropped the half grain for the magnum primers will see how they work next week

[Unclenick]

Akinswi,

As far as pressure goes, there is no problem. In a case that has extra room in it after the powder is put in, magnum primers are often preferred, as they make more gas which helps pressurize that empty space to adequate starting pressure. It is not required with 4064, which lights much more easily that the canister grade versions of the Western Cannon (WC) military spherical propellants, but it won't hurt anything. What you are looking for is lowest velocity standard deviation.

The CCI #34 primer, which is made especially for the Garand and M14 is also a magnum primer. I have if from CCI that it is identical to the 250 except they make the primer anvil with its feet spread at a wider angle to reduce the sensitivity to military specification levels to reduce the chance of a slamfire. CCI says the priming formulation and quantity are identical.

The only remaining question then is the slamfire issue. I have never had one, even using the more sensitive Federal 210M primers. But board member Slamfire (his username because of this event) has blown up two Garands using the same Federal primers. So I now use the military sensitivity primers, even though I never had a problem with the others. It is just an extra precaution mostly for the other shooters around me. IF YOUR GARAND IS IN GOOD SHAPE AND PROPERLY TIMED, and you are just planning to use up some of what you have, the odds are you won't have an issue as long as you are careful to get the primers seated below flush with the case heads' High primers are the main cause of slamfires with the floating firing pins in the M1 Garand and M14/M1A actions anyhow. Also, the CCI magnum primers are not as sensitive as the Federals in the first place. My advice, if you are going that route, is to seat them fairly hard. If you bridge the primer pocket with the flat of a screwdriver blade, a narrow strip of 16 lb paper should be able to slide between the primer and screwdriver. Feel each one with your finger to check for being below flush.

However, there are no guarantees, so YMMV. If you would feel more secure using the military hard primers as a second tier of prevention, Midsouth currently has #34 primers in stock. They just aren't cheap, at $35/1000 plus hazmat fee and shipping. Same with this outfit.

For my money, the Russian TulAmmo KVB762 is a more consistent military hardness primer that produces the least velocity variation and is a standard rather than magnum primer and is less expensive, but I can't find any in stock at the moment.