"Cheap" primers

[rjacobs]

I am getting ready to do a large order of primers to stock up for what should hold me for the rest of the year. These will mostly be for blasting ammo.

Im looking at Magtech, Tula, and S&B all around the $105-110 per 5k. These would be small rifle, small pistol, and large pistol.

I can also get CCI, Remington, Winchester. Pretty much everything but Federal. Most of the CCI, Rem, Winchester is ~150 per 5k.

I know the Tula(the specific one my dealer has in case quantity) are not good for high pressure .223 stuff and would be relegated to 300BLK subsonic, but that would mean a second brand of primers for my .223 stuff which leads me to the magtech or S&B and not having to stock 2 different primers.

I have never run anything but CCI, Rem and Winchester, but saving 40-50 bucks per 5k is a big savings(lets me buy an extra 10k primers basically). My pistol shooting is mostly just range shooting and suppressed shooting so no accuracy demands really.

So I am contemplating an order like this:
5k Rem 7.5 BR's for .223
5k Tula/Magtech/S&B for 300BLK subsonic
5k SP and 5k LP Tula/Magtech/S&B for small pistol and large pistol

Any reason to stray from that?

Would the Magtech or S&B run as well as the Rem 7.5 BR's in precision .223? I know the 7.5's are generally pretty highly regarded and since I cant find any federal 205 GMM or CCI BR4's, I think the Rem 7.5's are about the next best thing.

 

[gordonm1]

For an AR in .223/5.5 it's generally recommended you get the Tula 556 small rifle magnum powder. I switched to Wolf primers when they came out and did not try many others in my AR reloading. I ran into problems igniting WC846 surplus ball powder with Wolf SRM and got CCI #34 to cover that.
The Tula small pistol primers are harder to light and take extra effort at my 550 press to get them seated deep enough. Lots of Glock shooters use Federals because they are softer.

I do own and use Tula primers

 

[gpz750]

I bought a bunch of small pistol tula primers when thats all i could find. I get at least 1 normally 2 every mag that dont fire. Never had the issue with cci or winchester.

 

[rjacobs]

My dealer doesnt have the 5.56 spec Tula's, just the low end ones. I wouldnt use them for anything but subsonic 300BLK. If my dealer had the higher rated Tula's or Wolf's, I would probably roll that way exclusively, but they dont.

I have been running CCI #41's(I think thats probably what you mean to put, not #34's), but the price recently went up on them so I am now exploring other options hence looking into the S&B, Magtech and the like.

I dont mind buying Rem 7.5's for my higher pressure .223 loads and then cheap stuff for everything else, but if S&B's or Magtech's will run just as good as the Rem 7.5's for the high pressure .223 stuff, I might as well save the $40.

I seem to have 3 uses for small rifle primers:
precision .223
plinking .223 using H335
subsonic 300BLK

 

[rjacobs]

I bought a bunch of small pistol tula primers when thats all i could find. I get at least 1 normally 2 every mag that dont fire. Never had the issue with cci or winchester.

I have had that with every brand and I just blame my primer seating or just the hazard from reloading in general. And for my uses, for pistol at least, that doesnt really bother me when the cost savings is almost $50 per 5k. I dont load anything for pistols besides cheap range ammo and if a gun doesnt go bang on the range, just gives me an excuse to practice a failure drill.

 

[260shooter]

I have had that with every brand and I just blame my primer seating or just the hazard from reloading in general. And for my uses, for pistol at least, that doesnt really bother me when the cost savings is almost $50 per 5k. I dont load anything for pistols besides cheap range ammo and if a gun doesnt go bang on the range, just gives me an excuse to practice a failure drill.

I too have the same problem with Tula small pistol primers, 1-2 in every mag won't fire in striker fired pistols, they run fine in a 1911 shooting small primer brass. I've been shooting a 1911 for 23 years. Last month I attended a defensive pistol class. I was one of 3 old guys shooting a 1911. Anyway they practiced some failure drills and I sucked at them, I haven't had more than a half dozen stoppages in 23 years and 99 percent of all ammo has been reloads. Reloading isn't rocket science, but it is about consistency, and you are your own quality control. So when the Tule problem came up I was rather ,,,,,,,, upset. I would stay away from primers that come with a bad reputation. Saving $50.00 on 5000 primers equates to 1 penny saved per primer. And god forbid you are ever in a situation that you have to use a firearm to save your or a loved ones life and the round in the chamber goes click. It will be the loudest sound you ever hear. All for a penny a primer.

 

[ChrisGarrett]

I've never had a US made primer fail to fire in over 19+ years of reloading. I see no reason to stop using them, even though they might cost a few dollars more. This is for pistol, as well as rifle cartridges. A few bucks saved, here and there, isn't worth it to me and I'm using all of the 'Big 4,' both standard, magnum and bench rest primers.

Chris

 

[rjacobs]

And god forbid you are ever in a situation that you have to use a firearm to save your or a loved ones life and the round in the chamber goes click. It will be the loudest sound you ever hear. All for a penny a primer.

reaching in your argument just a little bit much are we?

These are going in rounds that will only be shot on the range. I will never and have never used reloads in any gun that I carry so I am not worried about it.


So overall its two votes against Tula primers(at least the small pistol primers). What about the S&B's or Magtech's? I have read a lot of good things about the S&B's and the only "bad" thing is they have a hard cup.

 

[rduckwor]

I prefer CCI for precision rifle.

I bought a bunch of Wolf for blasting fodder and ran a test with them versus CCI at 300 yards.

Very little difference in my hands.

 

[260shooter]

reaching in your argument just a little bit much are we?

These are going in rounds that will only be shot on the range. I will never and have never used reloads in any gun that I carry so I am not worried about it.


So overall its two votes against Tula primers(at least the small pistol primers). What about the S&B's or Magtech's? I have read a lot of good things about the S&B's and the only "bad" thing is they have a hard cup.

My bad, I was tired. I'll just say it. Tula small pistol primers suck. In my opinion.

 

[JRM83]

I bought a case of Tula Small Rifle primers (the ones that supposedly have ultra soft cups and aren't suitable for .223) and have run about 600 through three different AR-15's without issue. While I have been loading in the middle of the charge range, I haven't had blown/pierced/cratered/excessively flattened primers like I have read horror stories about. Also have run the 5.56 hotter/stronger small rifle primers without issue.

For the small pistol I picked up a case of Tula Small Pistol and have run 1000 of those through a Glock 17 and Glock 19 with exactly 1 failure to fire. The primer pocket on that case was so out of spec that the primer was seated too deeply for the firing pin to get a good strike.

Smaller sample sizes than some of the others here, but I haven't had any issues with Tula or Wolf primers.

 

[lte82]

If David Tubb uses russian primers they are good enough for me.