With all of the relatively new, or previously uncommon, brand primers on the market now, how about some of the experts doing some comparison testing? We pretty much know about the "old standbys" such as Federal, Winchester, CCI, and Remington. Now we are seeing various others such as Fiochi(sp?), Ginex, Aguilla, and others from Europe, Mexico, and South America, etc. Some of these new to the U.S. market brands offer not only small and large standard pistol primers, but also magnum small pistol primers and small and large rifle primers. I have not yet seen any, but there possibly may be magnum small and magnum large rifle primers offered as well by these newcomers to our market. It would be interesting to see a comparison as to cup hardness, reliability, and brisilense(sp?) - I cannot spell worth a dang tonight - So, how about it?

Speaking from my limited experience, Ginex small pistol primers seem to work well. Some seem to be a bit harder to seat than Federal, CCI, or Winchesters, but not much of what I would consider a problem. They go bang just fine. What I am most concerned with is with large rifle primers, particularly magnum large rifle primers.

I tried some of the Ginex LR primers.
First thing I noticed was they were extremely tight going into the primer pockets.
So tight in fact I was distorting them just putting it in.
Might be just the ticket for wore out brass with enlarged primer pockets .
Other wise no go for me



dave

I've never tried foreign primers in almost sixty years of handloading , but about half the comments mention some drawback, mostly hard to seat and sometimes failure to ignite. I'm willing to spend a little more for American-made primers.

I bought a couple thousand Sellier & Bellot large rifle primers at a great price at the beginning of the first primer shortage. I substituted them for Federal 210s in some .30-06 loads with 4350 and .308 with RL15 and could not see any overt differences in performance. They are in strategic reserve vacuum sealed.

I've got 5,000 Tula SR primers I bought awhile ago just because. There the only foreign primer I have and intend to own. They may or may not get used depends on my healthy supply of Rem 7.5's I've acquired in the last 5-10 lasts

I have used many of the Sellier&Bellot SR primers and think they are a Great primer with no issues.......
Bought a bunch of RUAG (Norma) sp primers a while back, they work great in my pistols but in my friends pistol's they have had several duds because of harder cups, they are also slightly larger making them hard to seat

I've used lots of Tula and Wolf SR primers, they work just fine.

Campro-Ginex are the only large rifle primers being sold at a retail level north of the border so I grabbed a couple bricks to try out and keep in reserve.

The Ginex SR primers are abit tight, I chamfer the pockets, then clean the primer pockets, no problems so far.

Have used lots of the Wolf LR and SR primers and found them good to go. Loaded about 500 of the Ginex LP primers with zero issues whatsoever. Used the Ginex in some R-P 44 Mag cases and they seated fine with no extra work done to the cases.

Aguila SP primers are not a favorite for me, they are hard to seat and have hard cups giving misfires in some DA revolvers that have been 100 percent reliable with Fed, Rem, and CCI SPs. They work fine in my 9mms and I’ve relegated them to that duty.

The Argentine SPs that Norma was selling not long ago are better. They’re much easier to seat and easier to set off. I’d buy more of them at $49 a brick with free shipping and hazmat. But I wouldn’t buy them over domestic primers if the costs were close.

One shop nearby has Fiocchi in the 1500ct bricks and I’ve thought about trying them but it’s hard when they’re right next to the Federals on the shelf.

I have used Wolf LR, Tula SR and Fiocchi SP. Wolf have given me some exceptional accuracy. They just have trouble running thru the tube on my Redding T7 primer system. A little large. Tula SR have been great. Fiocchi not been used much yet.

I've used Wolf/Tula SR, LR, SP, LP; Sellier & Bellot SR, LR, SP, LP; Magtech LR, SP, LP; and maybe one or two others I can't think of off hand.

The only problem I have had is occasionally some of the Magtech LP primers do not want to fire in a Para-Ordinance 45-14 or a Taurus 1911. That is using Ramshot Competition and 185 gr FMJ of some sort. Occasionally, the round will fire on a second strike with the Taurus but not with the Para. I have not had a failure to fire with a Springfield XD, Taurus PT145, or a Kimber CPD II Custom. That includes firing off those rounds that did not fire in the previous guns.

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised how well they perform.

I realize that some people are wary of brands that they haven't seen before, but the Euro brands that we are seeing in North America have been around for a while. Some just weren't imported, or only came in in small amounts.

Campro gets their name put on the Ginex product. Campro is a Quebec company that most people in Canada know as a plated bullet manufacturer. They are probably trying to grow their business by bringing in European stuff. I don't know how old you are, but before trade agreements grew with the US, Canada used to bring in a lot of Euro firearms, components and ammunition.

I got several good buys on Ginex SR and LR primers because some reloaders didn't want to shell out the money to buy that particular brand. Ginex produces primers for the European ammunition market and has for many years. With CCI, Win, Fed primers being so expensive (or unavailable), Ginex is a bargain by comparison. Enjoy!

Among the "new" brands of rifle primers I've used in the past decade (which have mostly been European primers that have been produced for quite a while) are Tula/Wolf, Sellier & Bellot and Fiocchi. All have performed very well.

One of the interesting things about all this is that many American handloaders apparently assume that European companies don't know as much about making primers as American companies--when some of the Euro-companies have been in business longer....

My suggestion is to take these opinions with a grain of salt.

My belief is that most of the observations you read on the Internet or overhear at the gun club are made by people with little or no practical experience with these brands. Often, it's, "I heard from a friend of a friend..." or worse, they read something unsubstantiated on the Web and repeated it with no first hand knowledge of what was said.

Fiocchi, Ginex, S&B and others have been in business for a long time. One of the reasons we are seeing these in greater quantities in North America is because the US companies are not producing enough product for the civilian market. As well, both the European manufacturers and US importers saw an opportunity to market their stuff here. It's capitalism at work. I wish that the Europeans could flood the market here with their primers, powders, cases and bullets. We would see big price reductions. Unfortunately, with the state of the world, manufacturers on the other side of the Atlantic are producing for the militaries over there.

We continue to live in interesting times.

I tried my first Ginex primers this week. Virgin Remington 260 Rem brass. They seated a little stiff with my hand primer. But I was working on a load. I would load 3 shots walk to may back porch and try them. I have no complaints. I would buy them again. I did about 30 rounds.

I notice some online retailers make it easy to try out these other primer brands with small order amounts.

If they work out fine, then order up some bricks. If they turn out iffy, then toss the remainders and move on.

Which is exactly why I have a few bricks of Sellier & Bellot LR and SR primers. The LRs perform very similarly to Federal 210s in several rifles.

Did an article about this years ago for Handloader, during one of the earlier primer "shortages," which listed the results with both the S&B primers and various American primers in the same cartridges, with the same powder charges and bullets.

Might also point out that Sellier & Bellot was established in 1825. They've somehow managed to stay in business ever since....

Wasn't there an outfit in Texas that wasn't going to start making primers?

Tula Primers worked very well for me. I have a 6.5-06 that loves the Tula LR. So I have about a 1000 of them left. Used a lot of the Small RIfle until unfortunately I ran out. They don't seem to be imported anymore.

You are correct. The company is called Expansion Industries out of Carrollton, Texas. They planned to set up a plant in Texarkana at the old Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant to make them. From what I can tell, they made primers for three months, shipped them, and then abruptly fired most of their employees. Some called them "scammers".

There was a post somewhere on this board about that. No status update of which I’m aware.

Y
Yeah, that's one of the problems today--partly because, again, the increasing amount of primers (and cartridge cases and powder) being spoken for by military contracts.

Which is why I've been "hoarding" (buying more than I might need in a year) primers since the primer shortage during the Clinton administration. That one was caused in part because of the early Internet, where rumors arose that all new primers were designed to "go dud" within 6 months. (Among other things, this resulted in some people putting primers inside PVC pipe and burying them in their yard. Would love to hear from anybody who's encountered any of those dud primers, since some of mine were made in the late 90s, or even earlier, and still go bang.)

Yup. That's what I'm planning to do. Pull out a couple of 'ol reliable, proven recipes and swap the primers. Then see what happens and compare.

If anyone is seriously worried about that, just shoot the newly purchased primers and hang onto the older ones for the day the new ones "expire." I don't take it seriously but if someone does, that's a way to address it.

I still shoot some primers from the 70s, and dont think twice about going boom.
Never had a dud myself..

Shot a boatload of Fiocchi, Cheddite, Argentine, and Aguila shotgun shells over the years and have yet to have a dud primer ...

The first 100 Argentine (Servicios Aventura) SP primers I loaded in 9mm last week all went bang too.

I have my domestic favorites, of course, but when times is tough ...

Plus, I've always liked Fiocchi factory shotshells, and Cheddite hulls (and primers) are a mainstay of 16 gauge load data.

I don't see a problem.

I don't know about the US, but Ginex primers are cheaper than US made and are available in many places in Canada. If you get a chance to get more, buy them.



There isn't one.

It hasn't been a problem for more years than most of us have been alive. Primers are waterproofed and have been for years. At least 60 that I know of. One of my jobs when I was in the military was inspecting explosives, storage and packaging. I worked in an X area - explosive area.. A lot of these "reports" are concocted or misinterpreted.

One of the biggest problems were reports of surplus ammunition ftf. It was often blamed on primers, but I can tell you that was only part of the problem. A lot of the ammunition was European surplus left over from some war at the end of the 19th over to the 20th century. It was sold off to civilians cheaply. There are many examples, but POF (Pakistani Ordinance Factory) was notorious for ftf. I am not sure if POF ammunition was even waterproofed. Many countries used to assemble ammunition with corrosive primers. Today, recalls are still a thing.

Over the years I have seen assembled and stored ammunition that ftf because of grease/oil in the cartridges that contaminated the powder. I have seen loose bullets that allowed water in, despite being sealed at the factory.

Ammunition destined for the CDN military has been loaded with non-corrosive primers since WWII. Our plants made both military and civilian ammunition (as most other factories around the world do). When a factory produces millions of rounds per year, some of it will be defective.

I believe the "less than 3%" figure was bandied around at military trade shows, but since I've left the military, I am no longer current.

I did find the need to chamfer the primer pocket on virgin W-W brass with Ginex primers in order to assure reliable and uniform seating. About 50% of the primers resisted smooth seating with my RCBS hand press. Could have been the primers or the brass.

Got a little confused for a minute by the abbreviation "FTF" - Failure to Fire or 'Mis-fires.'

I bought 5K of those for my nines.

Loaded up 100, & had one not go bang the 1st hit, fired the 2nd time.

Loaded & shot another 50 w/o issues.

Got over 2K loaded now to blast away when the new snow disappears.

These are outta stock now

Buy 3K & get free shipping when available

https://normausa.com/product/blowout/primers-b/small-pistol-primers-made-in-argentina/

It seems there are several different stories/rumors about this company. Who knows what the truth is.

Picked up a thousand RUAG large rifle primers a few months ago. Was the first time I ever heard of them. Haven't used any of them yet because I put the date that I got 'em on the box and use the oldest stuff first. Although I might try some of these early just to see how they work. Normally it would take a few years before these became my oldest primers. I have experience with all the American brands plus Fiocchi, Wolf, and Sellier & Beloit. Last time I had a FTF was probably close to 20 years ago with a Winchester SP primer in a .38 Spl. load. Must have been too hard 'cause the firing pin hardly dented it, but all the others worked fine.

Does anyone know of a decent outlet for large pistol primers? I'm down to my last 400 or so and looking for a deal that doesn't make me sick to my stomach.

I just received 1000 Federal Premium Magnum Large pistol primers today from Natchez. But I don't care to make you sick so I'm not gonna admit what they cost me. I felt a little nauseated just ordering them.

Target Sports had (may still have ) Remington and CCI LP primers.

I recently conducted an experiment with some 5.56 steel cased rounds picked up at the range that were essentially gobs of rust; the headstamps were obliterated by rust. I pulled the bullets with pliers from four rounds. The powder in all four rounds was dry and loose, and burned when lit with a match. Three of the four primers fired when struck with a punch. That "steel cased crap" seems to handle dampness rather well.

I had some of the Pakistani (POF) .303 British that Steve mentioned that was prone to hangfire; I didn't have any that was prone to FTF. I pulled the bullets from a few unfired rounds from the same lot and reloaded the cordite and bullets into commercial cases with new primers. All of it fired normally with the new primers. When I popped the POF primers in the rifle before scrapping some fired normally but some made a fizzing sound.

I have fired thousands of rounds of Eastern European Soviet era 7.62x54 and 8x57 from the 50s through the 70s and I've never had a dud primer. I wouldn't hesitate to use recognized brands of European primers.

Gone

https://www.targetsportsusa.com/large-rifle-primers-c-2810.aspx