The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Comparative perfromance between primer brands

Slamfire · April 17, 2014, 07:54 PM

After reading about primer manufacturing and talking to a bud, I am going to say the primer you use today is going to be very different from one that came from a different lot tomorrow. Primer cake is mixed by hand and consistency varies considerably. I was told that workers are awarded cash awards if their primer cake is the most consistent, but I was told that primer consistency is an "artifact". Which I understood to mean, it has a high variance no matter what process controls are implemented.

The percentage of components in the mix have tolerances, and given that the constituents vary in purity, etc, and the amount in the mix varies, it is reasonable to assume the end product is going to vary lot to lot.

And then, manufacturers are free to change anything they want about their primers. You may have an expectation that your primers are as unchanging as Coke Classic, but guess what, I heard Coke Classic has changed over time, and no one asked my permission.

The only consistency I have noted is that Federal primers remain the most sensitive primers made in the US.

April 17, 2014, 07:54 PM	#7
Slamfire Senior Member Join Date: May 27, 2007 Posts: 5,261	After reading about primer manufacturing and talking to a bud, I am going to say the primer you use today is going to be very different from one that came from a different lot tomorrow. Primer cake is mixed by hand and consistency varies considerably. I was told that workers are awarded cash awards if their primer cake is the most consistent, but I was told that primer consistency is an "artifact". Which I understood to mean, it has a high variance no matter what process controls are implemented. The percentage of components in the mix have tolerances, and given that the constituents vary in purity, etc, and the amount in the mix varies, it is reasonable to assume the end product is going to vary lot to lot. And then, manufacturers are free to change anything they want about their primers. You may have an expectation that your primers are as unchanging as Coke Classic, but guess what, I heard Coke Classic has changed over time, and no one asked my permission. The only consistency I have noted is that Federal primers remain the most sensitive primers made in the US. __________________ If I'm not shooting, I'm reloading. Last edited by Slamfire; April 18, 2014 at 11:57 AM.