Everything You Never Knew About Primers

[The_Shadow]

Great article on PRIMER TECHNOLOGY!

Everything You Never Knew About Primers, and the New Technology That's Revolutionizing Them
A look at the latest developments for the most mysterious piece of the cartridge recipe
By John B. Snow June 30, 2018
https://www.outdoorlife.com/cartridge-primer-technology-developments

[blaster]

good info, thanks.
I wonder how those new catalyst primers will work out in the long run. it will be interesting  to see.

[The_Shadow]

Yes, I also wonder about longevity and long term storage.  These new catalyst primers may be why we are seeing the yellow priming mix coming loose in some of the newer pull downs.  Hitting the kinetic puller has knocked some of the priming pellets loose

[Trapper6L]

Well, obviously not everything about primers is in the article but the technology is interesting. My first thoughts are that maybe the catalyst primer is the precursor to limited primer life. Maybe just my paranoia but it's going to have to past muster by several more intelligent than me before I buy any. But to add to primer information. This I got from the folks at CCI. Do you know the difference between a small magnum pistol primer and a small rifle  primer? Absolutely nothing, they are one and the same with CCI. Do you know the difference between a match grade primer and a standard primer?  In the manufacturing process, absolutely nothing. The difference is the folks running the machines for match grade primers are the more experienced operators. So next time you buy a match grade primer, don't pay extra for it.

[CurtisM]

Yes, I also wonder about longevity and long term storage.  These new catalyst primers may be why we are seeing the yellow priming mix coming loose in some of the newer pull downs.  Hitting the kinetic puller has knocked some of the priming pellets loose

Usually whenever I have to unload a round at my bench it is due to failing the gauge check, which that case is bulged and never used again.  After your observation I will make sure that I don't ever use a primer after pulling the bullet with my kinetic puller.  Primers are cheap enough to discard vs. having a dud round at the range.

Thanks for all of the info above.

[Olgo]

I would say that the primer is the most important component of the cartridge. it's what sets thing in motion. Any improvement as to reliability of the primer is welcome.

Having a cartridge not go off in a crucial moment will make you wish you're wearing brown pants.

[Graybeard]

Thanks for the link Shadow, good stuff. I'm always a little skeptical when new tech replaces old tech that works well. Should be interesting if these are actually an improvement or just driven by the desire to remove lead from the equation. I really hope our soldiers and LEOs don't suffer the consequences of field test failure.

[gandog56]

I still remember watching a Youtube video of some Russian guy that reprimed his .22 LR cases. I believe he used match tips as a priming compound. I always thought there was way too much chance of misfires to do anything that foolish.

[Trapper6L]

The family has been involved in competition shooting since the mid 1800's. My dads uncle was a reloader of 22 rimfire. He used a liquid of some kind that he kept in a refrigerator for priming the cases. His wife wouldn't let him in the house with the stuff. Said he was going to kill himself and half the neighborhood with it. Never did know what it was. He also made his own gun powder and bullets. He shot Schuetzen rimfire matches until he died. He was in his 90's. He shot a 32-40 as well in the offhand Scuetzen. He was pretty good at it too.

[sqlbullet]

I still remember watching a Youtube video of some Russian guy that reprimed his .22 LR cases. I believe he used match tips as a priming compound. I always thought there was way too much chance of misfires to do anything that foolish.

Match tips work, but I would not bet my life on them, unless the other option was betting my life on my knife fighting skills.

There is also this company:

https://sharpshooter-22lr-reloader.myshopify.com/

They make a number of products related to re-manufacture of primers or rimfire ammo.  Interesting that there is a market.  Personally, I will just spend my money buying primers and rimfire ammo.

[gandog56]

The thing is, all my 22's crush the edge of the rim on a .22. I don't see any way to completely undo that using any type of die I know about. Therefore no new primer compound is going to be deposited there. So what if your firing pin hit's that exact precrushed part of the rim again?

[Olgo]

I think you use the reloaded 22s in a single shot positioned where the firing pin will hit a fresh area.

There are kits for reloading 22lrs.

[blaster]

I have reloaded primers with strike anywhere match tips. I got the info from an Army training manual titled 'Improvised Munitions". the primers all fired and were fairly easy to reload using very simple tools. (hammer & nail) I just wanted to see if it could be done. and in a real case of TSHTF, it would be a viable option. (as long as strike anywhere matches are still available.) how constiant and accurate of ammo would be produced primed with these primers  is another story. but keeping in mind that the book also showed how to use a nail and masking tape to make a bullet and had several recipes for gun powder mixes, the info was meant for extreme circumstances where making something go boom is more important than match grade accuracy.

[Olgo]

In case you can't get 22 lr cartridges when SHTF you can use 22 cal pellets and nail gun cartridges.

[50BMG]

Well, obviously not everything about primers is in the article but the technology is interesting. My first thoughts are that maybe the catalyst primer is the precursor to limited primer life. Maybe just my paranoia but it's going to have to past muster by several more intelligent than me before I buy any. But to add to primer information. This I got from the folks at CCI. Do you know the difference between a small magnum pistol primer and a small rifle  primer? Absolutely nothing, they are one and the same with CCI. Do you know the difference between a match grade primer and a standard primer?  In the manufacturing process, absolutely nothing. The difference is the folks running the machines for match grade primers are the more experienced operators. So next time you buy a match grade primer, don't pay extra for it.

On the match grade primers vs. standard.
From what I understand, yes, the manufacturing process IS identical. But, the match primers come out of the portion of the production batch which is known to be the most uniform with regards to pellet weight and mix consitency. With respect of batch to batch differences, match primers will be the most uniform in this comparison too.
Yes, the differences are very minor, but those minor variations can and do make a difference on the match leader boards.