I recently started reloading for my .308 with pretty good results and have been using CCI LR primers. I'm a little reluctant to mess with a good thing, but I'm having trouble finding them locally. Winchester primers seem to be everywhere I look. Wondering if anyone has made this switch and how, if at all, this effected their loads?
- Thread starter MBass300
- Start date
Re: Anyone substitute Winchester for CCI LR primers?
I had the same problem as you with CCI primers in short supply I tried them. They are softer than the CCI cups and may be a smidge smaller. I could feel a lot less pressure while seating them with a Lee hand tool. I got fairly good results with them, I guess not much of a difference to make a note not to use them. I now use them in my wife's gun while I use the BR2's in mine. She can't tell the difference.
Mike
I had the same problem as you with CCI primers in short supply I tried them. They are softer than the CCI cups and may be a smidge smaller. I could feel a lot less pressure while seating them with a Lee hand tool. I got fairly good results with them, I guess not much of a difference to make a note not to use them. I now use them in my wife's gun while I use the BR2's in mine. She can't tell the difference.
Mike
Re: Anyone substitute Winchester for CCI LR primers?
I didnt see much appreciable difference honestly. Im not bench shooting though mind you.
I didnt see much appreciable difference honestly. Im not bench shooting though mind you.
Re: Anyone substitute Winchester for CCI LR primers?
Win primers work fine, they are a bit smaller and feel a little weaker than a CCI but (supposedly) they ignite with more fire or something.
If you are out of CCI regular LR just use CCI magnums. I actually like the magnums the most because they seem to have a thicker cup and take a bit more effort to seat (nothing I hate more than a primer falling out inside my semi, win primers + fed brass did that to me several times).
Win primers work fine, they are a bit smaller and feel a little weaker than a CCI but (supposedly) they ignite with more fire or something.
If you are out of CCI regular LR just use CCI magnums. I actually like the magnums the most because they seem to have a thicker cup and take a bit more effort to seat (nothing I hate more than a primer falling out inside my semi, win primers + fed brass did that to me several times).
Re: Anyone substitute Winchester for CCI LR primers?
I run Winchesters and Wolfs exclusively! They are great primers and to be honest I would rather have Winchester than the CCI's. Where I am it seems to be reverse of what your saying, CCI's are abundant and the Winchester are hard to find.
Terry
I run Winchesters and Wolfs exclusively! They are great primers and to be honest I would rather have Winchester than the CCI's. Where I am it seems to be reverse of what your saying, CCI's are abundant and the Winchester are hard to find.
Terry
Re: Anyone substitute Winchester for CCI LR primers?
I get about +30 fps in .308, and more squaring of the corners of the primers. The guy at Sierra I talked with a few months ago confirmed that you do get slightly higher pressure with Winchesters.
I get about +30 fps in .308, and more squaring of the corners of the primers. The guy at Sierra I talked with a few months ago confirmed that you do get slightly higher pressure with Winchesters.
Re: Anyone substitute Winchester for CCI LR primers?
Thanks everyone for the info. I'll give them a try. There's a shop near me that has 6 boxes they ordered for a customer that ended up not taking them. The owner offered them to me for $20 per 1000. I was tempted to just grab them, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to regret it. I'm all for saving some $ when possible, but not if it means i have to sacrifice accuracy or consistancy. If you guys have had good luck with them, I'll probably stock up on the Winchesters.
Thanks again.
Thanks everyone for the info. I'll give them a try. There's a shop near me that has 6 boxes they ordered for a customer that ended up not taking them. The owner offered them to me for $20 per 1000. I was tempted to just grab them, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to regret it. I'm all for saving some $ when possible, but not if it means i have to sacrifice accuracy or consistancy. If you guys have had good luck with them, I'll probably stock up on the Winchesters.
Thanks again.
Re: Anyone substitute Winchester for CCI LR primers?
Here's some data, not speculation, I asked the same question a few weeks ago:
http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthre...603#Post2026603
Here's some data, not speculation, I asked the same question a few weeks ago:
http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthre...603#Post2026603
Re: Anyone substitute Winchester for CCI LR primers?
Thanks soberbiker! That's exactly what I was looking (and hoping) for! Not sure why that didn't come up in the search. I've got two loads I'm working with right now: a 168 SMK over 45.7gr Varget getting 2812 fps av, and a 178 A-max over 44.5gr Varget getting around 2713 gps av. Both are shooting well and I'm happy with the MVs so I was hoping the primers wouldn't make much of a difference. I'm not a BR guy either, so 5fps is nothing. I'll be picking up 6000 of the Winchesters today and should have a chance to try some of them out next week. I'll be sure to add my findings to the post for future reference, since this question seems a popular one.
Thanks soberbiker! That's exactly what I was looking (and hoping) for! Not sure why that didn't come up in the search. I've got two loads I'm working with right now: a 168 SMK over 45.7gr Varget getting 2812 fps av, and a 178 A-max over 44.5gr Varget getting around 2713 gps av. Both are shooting well and I'm happy with the MVs so I was hoping the primers wouldn't make much of a difference. I'm not a BR guy either, so 5fps is nothing. I'll be picking up 6000 of the Winchesters today and should have a chance to try some of them out next week. I'll be sure to add my findings to the post for future reference, since this question seems a popular one.
Re: Anyone substitute Winchester for CCI LR primers?
Plus its usually easy to find your brass on the line when most shoot CCI or Fed-the brass primers have gotten my hard earned Lapua back from a brass "opportunist" more than once.
Plus its usually easy to find your brass on the line when most shoot CCI or Fed-the brass primers have gotten my hard earned Lapua back from a brass "opportunist" more than once.
Re: Anyone substitute Winchester for CCI LR primers?
They will work, but they may require some small degree of load tweaking to get the best performance. Remember, you change any part of a load, and you have created a new load.
I do my load development with standard (non-match) primers. Once the load is set, I switch to the <span style="font-style: italic">same brand and size</span> match primer. If there's no improvement, I keep thr original primer as part of the load recipe.
I use Winchester for hunting loads (when brass is getting near retirement, I use it once more for hunting loads), and for Semi (Garand, etc.) loads.
They will work, but they may require some small degree of load tweaking to get the best performance. Remember, you change any part of a load, and you have created a new load.
I do my load development with standard (non-match) primers. Once the load is set, I switch to the <span style="font-style: italic">same brand and size</span> match primer. If there's no improvement, I keep thr original primer as part of the load recipe.
I use Winchester for hunting loads (when brass is getting near retirement, I use it once more for hunting loads), and for Semi (Garand, etc.) loads.
Re: Anyone substitute Winchester for CCI LR primers?
Understood. Since I'm still in the process of tweaking my loads, a small difference in performance should be easy to accommodate.
I bought the 6000 Winchester primers so I'll be all set for awhile. I do feel them going in a little easier work my Lee Auto-prime tool. I'll keep an eye on them when shooting to make sure this doesn't cause any issues. I'll let you guys know what I find out. Thanks again.
Understood. Since I'm still in the process of tweaking my loads, a small difference in performance should be easy to accommodate.
I bought the 6000 Winchester primers so I'll be all set for awhile. I do feel them going in a little easier work my Lee Auto-prime tool. I'll keep an eye on them when shooting to make sure this doesn't cause any issues. I'll let you guys know what I find out. Thanks again.
