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Old December 9, 2012, 04:52 PM   #1
SRE
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Wrong Primers

Buddy of mine reloaded 50 .223 Rem rounds. 55g FMJBT 26. Varget and accidentally used small pistol primers instead of small rifle primers. Primers he used were CCI's.

Before he goes and breaks out the bullet puller I thought I'd see what you guys had to say. Can he still shoot them? What's going to happen??

Thanks,

SRE
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Old December 9, 2012, 04:57 PM   #2
Dan Newberry
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Small pistol primer cups are softer.

In some rifles, you might find that the firing pin could punch through the primer, but in most cases I doubt you'll have an issue.

I'd just be sure to wear some shooting glasses and go on and fire them.

Not that I advocate the practice, but I've heard some folks claim better accuracy with the pistol primers in their particular .223 loads...

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Old December 9, 2012, 05:08 PM   #3
dmazur
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It's not just a possible danger to the shooter, but possible damage to the rifle. Pierced primers can lead to firing pin or bolt face erosion.

How fast will it occur? I don't believe there is a good answer to that.

It depends on whether you want that particular rifle to last. If it's a "truck gun", perhaps there is little cause for concern.

On the other hand, if it is a custom varmint rifle, I would not want to have to replace the bolt...
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Old December 9, 2012, 05:31 PM   #4
Dan Newberry
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definitely if you find one pierced primer... disassemble the rest of the rounds and don't shoot them!
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Old December 9, 2012, 07:56 PM   #5
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Folks have had to replace an AR bolt after using Remington 6 1/2 small rifle primers.

Bullets are easy to pull, only 50 rounds are involved. Bolts are expensive to replace. Using a primer designed for 35K pressure in a round operating at 55K just doesn't make sense to me.

I would pull the bullets and knock out the primers and put the correct primers in. I would use it as a learning experience.
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Old December 9, 2012, 08:22 PM   #6
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You better pull them. Components are cheaper then bolts are. Your friend should not load ammo while drinking or on drugs. That's speculation, but who loads ammo in high power rifle cartridges and makes a mistake like that? If he can't read then he shouldn't be reloading, and if he can read, then something else was going on to make him so distracted that he didn't know what he was doing.
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Old December 9, 2012, 08:31 PM   #7
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He will end up with pierced primers. In fact it will blow so bad he will not be able to tell there was a primer in the pocket. More likely than not it will also cut the firing pin spring, as well as the firing pin. I saw this happen with a friend that did that with H-335 and Remington small rifle primers (the ones that say do not use in .223 Rem loads.) Cost him a firing pin, and a spring in his AR.

If it were something like .22 Hornet then it might be a remote possibility that magnum pistol primers with light loads would work.

Unless he wants to change out firing pins, and the spring I would suggest pulling the bullets. If he woks slow with the decapping pin then the primers can be salvaged.

If he were shooting Trail Boss small pistol primers would work. as well as if it were low pressure cast lead loads. Other than that I would not do it.
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Old December 9, 2012, 09:44 PM   #8
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Easy enough to pull 50 rounds and deprime them
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