CCI primers
 

Anybody have a use history with these? Good,bad,ugly?

When I was shooting center fire rifles and handguns I used CCI and Winchester and others. All went bang which was all I cared about. Some people who shoot matches and are really great shots may say one is better than another, but I think they all work okay.

They are pretty much all I have used for all of my pistol, revolver, and rifle reloading over the last four decades. I've found none better, save for one very specific application - black powder cartridge rifles, where I use Winchester large rifle magnums. Everything else gets some kind of CCI. I would highly recommend them.

Is like gonna be like an oil thread?
fwiw, I have some (perhaps a carton) of WW primers in wooden trays.
Jim

i use CCI primers for two different rifles. no issues. i've also used remington and winchester primers with no issues.

i suppose it depends on what you are after, but if you are INTENT on accuracy and consistency, one might wish to pick a brand and type and stick with it for creating loads.

I use them for all my reloading and have not had any issues with them. I have been reloading for 30+ years.

Dave

I've recently stopped using CCI, except when it is all that I can get.

They are the only brand of primer that consistently has issues with the primer feed mechanisms in both my Dillon and Lee presses. I have issues with no other brand. It seems about one in 300 or so CCI primers will get crushed or mangled.

I recently loaded 40 30-30's for my sillouette matches with CCI large rifle primers. I had 6 out of the 40 not fire. The primer was struck well. It just didn't go off. They were seated fine too. I'm going to switch back to the Winchester primers.

wow!!! i've never had a primer not fire. interesting.

Not me. I only use winchester primers.


Someone said to me they use cci where the gun has a light hammer strike as they go off more easily, and that they like them.


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We have a primer shortage here, so I'm using Federal in my .38 Special handloads and Winchesters in my 9mm stuff.

I haven't seen CCI for sale at my two local stores for a long, long time.

Same Here in 20+ Years of hand loading.

I'm leery of old primers 5 years or more.

In my fourth decade and second hundred thousand rounds of reloads, and I have never had one either.

Craig, I believe there was something else amiss, and it just happened to occur when you changed primers.

I've used primers (and powder) that I know for a fact are older than me. If stored properly, these things don't go bad.

I used to shoot a number of disciplines of rifle and pistol matches (hence the seemingly large quantity of reloads, which really aren't compared to others who compete). The peak of my activities was probably 10-15 years ago (I've been pursuing other interests since). I am still going through the last bit of some match ammo I was loading in those years. Never a problem, and much of that was loaded with what were, even at that time, very old components.

Several of my buddies and I have actually fired original Frankford Arsenal .45-70 loads dating from the late 1800's (I know, I know - how could we do such a thing?). No problems whatsoever.

Jeff, you're right. It was an issue with my hammer spring. All better now ;)

A good percentage of the guys I competed with in IDPA preferred Federal pistol primers as they are easier to set off than Winchester or CCI. This is not to say that Winchester and CCI are bad primers, but most guys in IDPA have altered triggers and striker springs and Federals can tolerate a lighter striker hit. The bad part about Federals is that they are easier set off when reloading if something jams. I once had about 50 go off when one got crunched in my reloader. In fact Lee even warns users in their manual about Federals.

I've had it happen a few times lately. I didn't write down which primers I used with what batches, but wouldn't be surprised if it only happened with CCI primers.

You have GOT to be kidding me. :eek:

One of the cardinal rules of reloading is accurate record keeping. Such sloppiness not only endangers you, the shooter, but anyone unfortunate enough to be near you when you are shooting. :mad:

I've used many, many CCI primers for my reloads and I've never had a problem with them...

I think this is a little harsh Jeff. Not writing down which primer he used doesn't make him dangerous. Primers are fairly interchangeable. Now, not keeping record of how many times the brass has been reloaded is another story.

i inspect my brass for stretching, stress, etc. but i don't load anywhere near maximum. in fact, i pretty much stick with the minimum load.