What primers will work?

[Neomet]

Newbie reloader and I couldn't find this with search. As I scavenge around for primers which will actually work reliably in this cartridge? SP, LP, Magnums? I know my beloved SRs will work but those are like hens teeth now. Is there any dramatic differences between them that I should be aware of?

[Steve J]

You neglected to tell us which cartridge. Unless you're shooting a tuned revolver, any brand of small pistol or large pistol primer will work just fine in the round designed around that size pocket. Leave the magnum primers for magnum cartridges.

[Neomet]

Oops, I retyped and took out the cartridge. 38SC

[JoshF]

Hi Neomet,

Everyone uses SR in 38sc to prevent primer flow with the ultra-high pressures that are typical for an Open Gun. Depending on the powder you use you can usually get away with SP depending on brand. If you are still shooting the Tanfoglio and have a light hammer spring you'll need to balance the primer hardness out with sensitivity. I believe Federal SP should work pretty well for you right now. Wolf might work but I know Leo had some issues with light strikes when he tried them. CCIs are a NO NO period with light hammer springs. One powder that seems pretty forgiving pressure wise is IMR 7625, plus it works great in the Tanfoglio open guns. Best thing you can do is test as load/gun combos tend to differ and what works for one might not work for you and vice versa.

When you test make sure you check every case after you fire it for primer/case pressure signs. N350 +Wolf SP in my Bedell shorty left the primers looking like they were molded to the case bottom, not good

Edited cause I actually used SRs with N350

Edited July 15, 2009 by JoshF

[LeoHallak]

Hi Neomet,

Everyone uses SR in 38sc to prevent primer flow with the ultra-high pressures that are typical for an Open Gun. Depending on the powder you use you can usually get away with SP depending on brand. If you are still shooting the Tanfoglio and have a light hammer spring you'll need to balance the primer hardness out with sensitivity. I believe Federal SP should work pretty well for you right now. Wolf might work but I know Leo had some issues with light strikes when he tried them. CCIs are a NO NO period with light hammer springs. Two powders that seem pretty forgiving pressure wise are N350 and IMR 7625. Best thing you can do is test as load/gun combos tend to differ and what works for one might not work for you and vice versa.

I use SR for 7625 and when I loaded N350, But I have a lot of SR. But I know henning just uses SP for his 7626 loads. Not so sure i would want to use them with N350 if you are getting that hot.

[Jeff686]

Is primer flow/flattening/cratering simply an indicator of pressure, or does it indicate an imminent failure of the primer?

If you switch from SP to SR because they start to look flat or cratered, have you really made things safer, or are you just hiding the signs of high pressure by using a different primer?

[Duane Thomas]

The problem with primer flow is that the aluminum can actually flow backward into the firing pin hole, leading to a host of problems, from failures to eject (the cartridge will actually "stick" to the breech face) all the way up to aluminum sheering off and clogging the firing pin hole. We're not only concerned with pressure here.

[Neomet]

This is for my Ed Cameron STI that uses a Mat McLearn extended firing pin. Currently running 9.3 of 3N38 if that helps.

[JoshF]

This is for my Ed Cameron STI that uses a Mat McLearn extended firing pin. Currently running 9.3 of 3N38 if that helps.

I'd definitely test a few rounds then. I think you'll find not many SP if any will stand up to 3N38, maybe CCI if anything. Just run around to your local shooting buddies try to get 5 of as many brands as you can. Load them up, label then test.

[G-ManBart]

This is for my Ed Cameron STI that uses a Mat McLearn extended firing pin. Currently running 9.3 of 3N38 if that helps.

I'd definitely test a few rounds then. I think you'll find not many SP if any will stand up to 3N38, maybe CCI if anything. Just run around to your local shooting buddies try to get 5 of as many brands as you can. Load them up, label then test.

I wouldn't say that at all. 3N38 is one of the slowest powders you'll find used in 38SC and it's pressures are going to be way lower than something like 7625, HS6, N350 etc. Even Federal SPP might be okay depending on the gun. I've lo

Actually, Dan Bedell specifically recommended SPP with either N350 or 3N37 for my shorty, which surprised me. R,

[larry cazes]

You should be good to go with pistol primers. I use Winchester small rifle primers because they were reccomended to me by the smith who built my first open gun. That was more than 4 years ago and since then I have quite a bit of history with using them so I see no reason to switch and possibly start the learning curve all over again with other primers. I suspect that most folks that use rifle primers do so for similiar reasons.