Primer for H110/W296

[arthury]

I have been reading the previous threads in this website about the recommended primers for the H110/W296 powder.

For a recent 500SW batch that I assembled, I had a failure rate of about 7-8%. When it failed, the primer popped in a really wimpy way and only a tiny bit of powder was burnt. The bullet was lodged in the forcing cone, obviously.

What are your thots about me switching from the CCI LR primer to Federal LR primer? Or do I really need to flip over to a CCI 350 (Large Magnum Rifle) primer? Isn't Federal primers more sensitive?

Please advise. Thanks!

 

[Cholo]

Has the mainspring in the gun in question been changed to a lighter spring? Are your primers seated .001-.002 below flush? Federal primers have been to known to be softer than CCI's primers. I use CCI 350 magnum pistol, not rifle, primers with the slower burning powders. Last but not least but I have to ask...if your gun clean and nothing is slowing the hammer fall?

 

[Dan in MI]

Are LR primers recommended for the .500? Rifle primers have thicker cups than pistol primers. That may be your root cause right there.

In my years of using 296 CCI 350's or WW LP work just fine.

 

[427mach1]

Are LR primers recommended for the .500? Rifle primers have thicker cups than pistol primers. That may be your root cause right there.

In my years of using 296 CCI 350's or WW LP work just fine.

The Hornady manual shows Winchester Large Rifle primers for the .500 S&W.

 

[arthury]

Are LR primers recommended for the .500? Rifle primers have thicker cups than pistol primers. That may be your root cause right there.[...]

Yes, the standard primer for the 500SW cartridge is LR primer, unless stated otherwise by the manual.
I did not see Hodgdon recommending magnum primers and that's why I asked. May be I have missed it on their website.

 

[arthury]

Has the mainspring in the gun in question been changed to a lighter spring?

How does changing the main spring help?

Are your primers seated .001-.002 below flush?

Yes.

Federal primers have been to known to be softer than CCI's primers.

That's what I am trying next.


Thanks for helping me out.

I use CCI 350 magnum pistol, not rifle, primers with the slower burning powders.

Did you find this out by trial and error or is this recommended by any manual or manufacturer?

Last but not least but I have to ask...if your gun clean and nothing is slowing the hammer fall?

How clean should it be? Could you give me some ballpark signs to look for in terms of cleanliness?

 

[Cholo]

"How does changing the main spring help?"

It usually doesn't, but I've been known to do it. I usually get good results, once it was a disaster. Live and learn...

"I use CCI 350 magnum pistol, not rifle, primers with the slower burning powders."

Did you find this out by trial and error or is this recommended by any manual or manufacturer?

CCI doesn't make a 350 rifle primer. I use what the manufacturer recommends. They did their homework, I make reloads with what they recommend. There are always exceptions :wink:

"How clean should it be? Could you give me some ballpark signs to look for in terms of cleanliness?"

Are there drag marks on the sides of the hammer? I have it in a few of my handguns and it can cause the hammer to bind enough to give you a light strike.

 

[Lee Martin]

I use large rifle in my 500 S&W's but have used CCI 350s too. Never had an issue with ignition with either. That said, play it safe a seat LR's.

 

[arthury]

Federal LRP worked beautifully, with zero failures. Finally ...

 

[Donaldjr1969]

I use Federal Large Rifle primers for my 500 loads and they have never failed to function. I wonder if an insufficient amount of priming compound was in that CCI?

 

[arthury]

I have actually conversed with CCI and they said seating the primer deep would usually solve the problem.

 

[Tellico]

The main reason for using LR primers is not an ignition problem but a pressure problem. LR primers have thicker cups to contain 50-60K PSI. You can get a pierced primer with LP primers at that pressure.

 

[7p's]

What you described is usually a pressure problem normally caused by a below minimum charge of certain powders. This is very common in the 500 SW using below minimum charge of AA1680. Are you going "light" on the H110?

Your primer is just fine and doesn't really enter into the problem area - some of us use the WLP primer in the 500SW without any sort of problems with over the top or normal loads.

 

[RR]

Winchester Powder, Winchester Primers, what else?

RR

 

[tek4260]

What you described is usually a pressure problem normally caused by a below minimum charge of certain powders. This is very common in the 500 SW using below minimum charge of AA1680. Are you going "light" on the H110?

Your primer is just fine and doesn't really enter into the problem area - some of us use the WLP primer in the 500SW without any sort of problems with over the top or normal loads.

This was my initial thought as well. What load are you trying? H110/296 needs to be loaded to near max.

 

[98Redline]

Same thought here as well.

H110/296 has a very narrow window in which it will work reliably. If you go below the minimum charge weight then you can get inconsistent ignition.

Depending on your particular bullet, you may only have a window of 2-5gr between min and max loads with H110/296