Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles primer for 22-250

I load my 22-250 with Norma 203B (very similar to Re-15) for 50-55 gr bullets and Norma URP (very similar to Re-17)for 55-63 grainers...

Is there any consensus on one particular primer giving more accuracy than the rest? I am currently using BR-2 and accuracy is OK, but not quite there...

What about using a Magnum Primer... anybody uses them?

I doubt there is any "consensus" on much of anything because only experimentation can possibly tell you which is the 'best' primer for your load in your rifle.

I can tell you two things tho; primers are tweaks, no primer change is going to make an "OK" load into a tack driver and using magnum primers where they aren't needed almost always opens groups.

I use standard LR CCi primers. I've tried mags and BR primers from several mfgers and could see where they offered any improvement.

I do not have his "PET LOADS" with me now but, if memory serves, I believe that Mr. Ken Waters recommended the use of a magnum primer, that is why I asked.
Not existing any "consensus", I will load a few and try. Would you reduce the powder charge or it's just no thaat important if my loads are not on the maximum?
Thanks.
BBerg

Fed 210M works great for me

I have gone to the Fed GM 215 in my 22-250 with a ball powder and it did help vs standard GM 210 primer.

Any time you change components, always start at the starting load and work back up!!!

Agreed...

I've loaded for a 22-250 for a long time and have never needed a magnum primer for excellent accuracy and velocity.
Used standard CCI LR primers with IMR 4064 for years before all the powders now available were around, and have loaded alot of ball powders with just a Winchester WLR primer with no problems.
Have had good results with others such as Fed 210M, etc. as well.

Just have to find the right combo for YOUR gun/barrel............................

Good Luck,
Ted

thanks, everybody!
BB.

I guess I'm the odd duck. My 22-250 Pet load that has shot under 1/2" in every 22-250 ever tried about (8 of them)is 50 grain SPSX with 38 grains of H380 lit by CCI-250 primers. In my old 77V with near 7000 rounds of that load shoots in the 2's 5 shot groups.

Sweet HG! Mine goes to 41 gr H380 and fed 215'a with 45 gr TSX with same results as yours! NOTE: This load is over most max "books" so work up as usual.

The primers i always use is either the Fed 210M or the CCI BR-2

Sometimes it matters, sometimes it doesn't. I've had some guns that couldn't care less what primer I loaded with and some others that were hyper fussy. You've got to shoot each gun, starting with a clean mental slate, to find out what it likes. Any preconceived notion will be wrong sometimes.

.22-250 case is small enough that you don't necessarily need a magnum primer even with spherical powders. However, you may get better accuracy with a magnum primer with either spherical or cylindrical powders if they just happen to tweak the burn characteristics right for your gun.

I had one uber-fussy Rem 700 LVSF .22-250 which required exact components: WW brass, Fed 210M primers, 37.5 grains of Varget, and either a 50 grain SPSX hornady or 50 grain TNT Speer. Those are the only two bullets that ever broke under 1.5 MOA in that gun and with those loads, it'd shoot in the .2s. "Go figure."

Another didn't really care, it shot most anything reasonably well, didn't matter what components, just work up near max, 'til the primers began to look scary, make sure the bolt lift was ok, and shoot the hell out of it.

Gotta know your own gun. There's no way to tell from one .22-250 to another what's going to work best.