Magnum primers for ball powder?

TheGerman

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  • Jan 25, 2010
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    Was going through some of my old 8mm Mauser load data I received from a longtime friend and noticed that he made notes to shoot all ball powder such as H414 with a magnum primer because " use of regular primer will produce erratic velocities".

    How much truth is there to this? If it matters the load range for his H414 (just for this example) was from 45 - 50 grains.

    Is this much truth to this, or a preference, or what is there to lookout for as to when to use a magnum primer and when to just go with a Federal 210 or Rem 9 1/2.

    Thanks
     
    Re: Magnum primers for ball powder?

    <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TheGerman</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Was going through some of my old 8mm Mauser load data I received from a longtime friend and noticed that he made notes to shoot all ball powder such as H414 with a magnum primer because " use of regular primer will produce erratic velocities".

    How much truth is there to this? If it matters the load range for his H414 (just for this example) was from 45 - 50 grains.

    Is this much truth to this, or a preference, or what is there to lookout for as to when to use a magnum primer and when to just go with a Federal 210 or Rem 9 1/2.

    Thanks </div></div>
    Barnes recommend using magnum primers with Winchester ball powders. They recommend that the load development is redone to accommodate the possible rise in pressure compared to standard primers.
     
    Re: Magnum primers for ball powder?

    Ball powders tend to have durable/insensitive deterrent kernel coatings. Winchester powders are ball powders, and Winchester primers are formulated to function reliably with them.
     
    Re: Magnum primers for ball powder?

    You should do your own testing to decide which primer is best with which powder. Sometimes regular primers work just fine with ball powders and at times magnum primers work best with stick powders. For cartridges up to 30/06 size, I generally start load workup with regular primers and, when I have a promising load, I'll then try various primers to see if I can get the load even better. Usually, no adjustment in powder charge is needed.

    For larger cases, such as 300 Win. Mag., 458 Lott, etc., I'll use a magnum primer irrespective of what kind of powder I'm using.
     
    Re: Magnum primers for ball powder?

    <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TheGerman</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Was going through some of my old 8mm Mauser load data I received from a longtime friend and noticed that he made notes to shoot all ball powder such as H414 with a magnum primer because " use of regular primer will produce erratic velocities".

    How much truth is there to this? If it matters the load range for his H414 (just for this example) was from 45 - 50 grains.

    Is this much truth to this, or a preference, or what is there to lookout for as to when to use a magnum primer and when to just go with a Federal 210 or Rem 9 1/2.

    Thanks </div></div>

    Speer's entire reloading manual, at least for rifles, uses magnum primers with ALL ball powders. This has been the case for many years.

    Chris
     
    Re: Magnum primers for ball powder?

    The pet load for my hunting rifle, a Win 70 .30/06 has been 57.0gr of H414 under a 165gr Honrady BTSP using regular CCI 200's. Super accurate load. Never found a reason to try magnum primers.

    I reload for a lot of other cartridges; 8mm Mauser, .303 British, etc. The only other cartridge I load for using H414 is 7.5 Swiss, which again uses the regular CCI 200's.