Just an FYI post for those of you who have wondered how much difference a primer can make, or for those of you who say "primers don't make any difference".

My friend Rich Davis shot this target yesterday (our practice day) first thing in the AM. After firing a few shots to get the barrel warmed up and get dialed in he moved to this target.

The reason for this target was to see if the Rem. 9 1/2M primers he got a great deal on would shoot as well as the Fed. 215 primers he has been using. 

The rifle is a CPA chambered in 28-35 (25-35 Winchester necked up to .28 caliber). Powder used is 300MP. The Federal 215 primers are what he has settled on for accuracy. I will say that this rifle is a real shooter and the only reason it hasn't shot a couple of 250's is due to Rich talking himself out of them. Sorry Rich, had to let them know what your rifle is capable of.

The five (yes there are five) shots in the 25 ring are with the Fed. 215 primers. The other five were then shot with the Rem 9 1/2M primers holding on the #23 at 9:00.

Is this really a conclusive test? Probably not.

Could the Rem. primers possibly be made to work? Maybe, but I doubt it.

I don't believe I have seen this much difference in any of the testing I have done with my rifles, but seeing is believing.

Moral of the story is don't be afraid to try a different primer if things just aren't working.

YMWV

JerryH

Try some CCI BR2 Bench Rest primers compared to the Fed 215's.  Believe you will see the same accuracy.  They are more expensive though

Exactly the type of information this site was establisheb to provide for the new shooters just getting into the exacting sport of Schuetzen competition.

My hat goes off to you Jerry!
JLouis

The bottom line is what works in ones rifle or the way it behaves with a certain primer powder combination might not hold true for another doing exactly the same, rifle, chambering, powder, twist, bullet, barrel size and length etc. In other words to copy exactly what another competitor is doing could send you off in the opposite direction you should be heading. What Jerry is pointing out is the extreme differance in primer selection as there are those who believe it is not significant to finding the ultimate in accuracy for their rifle. What Jerry is really sharing is the differance between being competitive and just the opposite. Please take heed fellow competitiors this is coming from a gentleman who has shot seven clean targets at 200yds with a 25WCF in registered ASSRA benchrest competition. This type of advice / real life hard earned experience by one of thee best cast bullet benchrest competitors currently just does not show up on this site
as often as it should.


JLouis

I talked with someone at Federal about the AR primers. He told me that unless I was using them in an AR I would have problems. Indicated that even in a bolt action I would get misfires.

Jack Hughes uses the AR primers and has excellent success with them. Of course his Miller with a striker action is a whole different animal. The coil spring looks like it came from an intake valve off a big block Ford.

JerryH

I've fired a couple hundred rounds with the 205-MAR primers in my CPA .32-20CPA & my CPA .25-20WCF. So far, no misfire. Haven't had the opportunity for accuracy testing with all other components & factors such as powder charge and weather conditions being the same (or as close as is possible with the weather). If anyone has any accuracy data, I would be interested to hear it. Otherwise, when I can test, I will and I'll post anything of note. I shall post immediately, if I get any misfire.

CPA 44 1/2 have an adjustment for the tension on the hammer spring. I think that it has an effect on the hammer strike force. 
I remember tweaking it a bit and it shot better (same load). 
I think that a load that is already good or looks promising can be fine tuned that way a bit, in those rifles.

Okey Maple I just sent you some of my primer test results from my 32-40 via e-mail as requested. I hope this is what you were looking for and find it somewhat helpful?

JLouis