CCI 350 Mag primers and Alliant 2400 powder test yesterday..

[Mus408]

Due to the primer shortage and me not keeping ahead of things Magnum primers is what I have to work with other that some Winchester WLP primers.
I had tested the CCI 350 primers with my same Unique loads and saw no difference in velocity or pressure issues.

So this test was one of my favorite .44 Mag loads which is the 180 gr. XTP bullet loaded with 24.5 gr. of 2400 along with my standard Winchester WLP primer.
Had my Henry .44 Carbine setup with the Magneto Speed unit and clocked my standard load at an average of 2055 FPS with a high of 2090 and low of 2018.

Next was the test load using the CCI 350 primer and my load dropped to 24 gr. of 2400. I believe the Max load is 26.5 gr. for the 180 gr. XTP.
Anyway the results were surprising at 2003 FPS Average and a high of 2008 and Low of 2000. This indicates the slower speed of the 24 gr. load.

Case size after firing was .458-.459 for both loads.

So I feel I can use the CCI 350 primers for these 2400 loads if I need to. Since the Winchester WLP primer is rated for Mag or Standard maybe the burn not that much different than the CCI 350 primer as far as any additional pressures.

 

[Mobuck]

"Since the Winchester WLP primer is rated for Mag or Standard maybe the burn not that much different than the CCI 350 primer "
I was going to point that out but obviously you already know. I didn't load many cartridges that use large pistol primers so used Win WLP rather than stock both std and mag primers. Seemed to work well enough although I didn't load any really light loads or fast powders in the 44's so can't vouch for that.

 

[TX Nimrod]

Speer used to specifically recommend against the use of magnum primers with 2400 in the .44 Mag with their data. They stated that they got better results with standard CCI300s, but of course thousands of reloaders use magnum primers. Clearly the OP shows good results with them.




.

 

[Mus408]

Interesting that in my Lyman 49th manual for 357 Magnum they used CCI 550 Magnum primers for ALL loads tested including Unique and 2400 powder. For some reason that was the only pistol caliber to do so. Unique performs about the same with either primer with tests I did earlier.

 

[mike7mm08]

The WLP supposedly split the difference between mag and standard primers. They also are supposed to have a heavier cup to handle potentially higher pressure of magnum loads. Info I got direct during last primer shortage.

I personally don't think there is any industry provided data out there that is so close to the edge that primer changes are going to push the load into danger zone. Now performance wise yes primers can make a difference. Seen it on more than one occasion. However I have never seen it make or break a particular load.