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Ok, another reloader newbie question -I've now loaded about 9,000 rounds (getting better with each thousand) and got to a box of primers I purchased when they were more difficult to obtain. I noticed they are Magnum small rifle. I'm loading .223
I can't find in any of the recipe books or the powder manufactures load charts saying anything about magnum primers.
Do you use less powder or change anything? I would assume magnum means a hotter iginition?
Funny, but I don't think I paid any more for this box than I did for the regular ones.
Thanks for your advise/help in advance.
 
Happy:
Not to beat a dead horse, but if they're hotter (I'm assuming) and they cost the same, and the recipe is the same, why wouldn't a reloader always use magnum primers?
 
Happy:
Not to beat a dead horse, but if they're hotter (I'm assuming) and they cost the same, and the recipe is the same, why wouldn't a reloader always use magnum primers?

Well, some manufacturers; Wolf comes to mind, produce a magnum primer that is not any hotter but has a harder cup. The harder cup is to reduce the chances of a slam fire in certain semi-automatic rifles. A person with a bolt gun may not want the harder primer.
 
Yes, hotter. No, do not use the same loads. It may be OK, maybe not! Always, Always, Always work a load up from minimum and check for signds of overpressure when you change ANY part of the loading components. That said, I use magnum small rifle primers in my .223 too, also bought because I couldn't find anything else. BUT, the mildest primer that will do the job may produce the most accurate loads!
 
I had the same question. I did the same thing. If you do a search, this issue is there and there is additional information in some of the articles. Lots of articles on this.
My AR likes my current load and so do all of my other .223's (5). This load was a result of my original loading of 27.7 grn of H380 that I started with in the 80's with my varmiter. I needed to modify it to fit the military cases that take less volume. All of my brass gets prepped the same way after the de-rime and swaging on military cases. After doing some research on the case wall thickness issue and weighing out some batches of cases I needed to change the amount of powder.
I dropped the powder to an even 27.0 of H380 and the small 400 primers, mainly because that is what I had. I shoot all 55 grn Hornady bullets i bought in bulk a year or so ago.
If you have the stuff try this load in your AR.
If you are running alot of brass, see my thread in reloading about mechanizing your deburring work.:)
 
some books call for CCI small rifle magnum primers with H335 powder for .223 service rifle/5.56
I have loaded this combo myself and it works well, the magnum primers help the H335 burn cleaner. H335 is a good powder but with standard primers it is a bit dirty.
 
I lost velocity when I tried using magnum primers with one of my .223 loads. It was only 20fps or so. The powder I tested it with was extruded. A ball power may net different results.
 

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