Federal 205 in ar15
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I have been using the Federal GM205MAR primers in my AR15s (Rock River). I had issues with the WSR primers piercing. The Ferderals work great. But, I believe they make 3 versions (205, 205M, & 205MAR) regular, match, & match AR. I do not know if cup thickness is the same on all 3...
Before I "knew better", I shot plenty of 205s in ARs. Is it a bad idea? I have no clue.
By all accounts the newer brass colored WSR primers are not as thick/hard/whatever and are not as suited to the AR as the older silver colored ones. I have been using my old silver colored WSR primers in hot .38 Super loads.
I have also used plenty of the newer brass colored WSRs in an AR with no trouble, but it wasn't at max, which may have been a good thing. Are they safe with max loads? Especially max 5.56 pressure loads? I don't know, but I don't use them for the AR any more.
If I had to choose, I would use the 205 over the newer WSR. Is that a good idea, or even correct? I don't know.
Seems like more and more primer makers are getting into the "AR primer" business. I have Wolf AR primers, and CCI AR (#34) primers. Funny how we all got by before.
So the answer is, I don't know.
By all accounts the newer brass colored WSR primers are not as thick/hard/whatever and are not as suited to the AR as the older silver colored ones. I have been using my old silver colored WSR primers in hot .38 Super loads.
I have also used plenty of the newer brass colored WSRs in an AR with no trouble, but it wasn't at max, which may have been a good thing. Are they safe with max loads? Especially max 5.56 pressure loads? I don't know, but I don't use them for the AR any more.
If I had to choose, I would use the 205 over the newer WSR. Is that a good idea, or even correct? I don't know.
Seems like more and more primer makers are getting into the "AR primer" business. I have Wolf AR primers, and CCI AR (#34) primers. Funny how we all got by before.
So the answer is, I don't know.
I called Federal and spoke to a primer "Expert" and he says that while using their AR primer would be a more prudent option, in the AR15 it's not as much of a big deal as In the M1A where an out of battery ignition is possible. but in the AR, the worst it would do is discharge with the bolt dropped, or possibly double, and if that happened, to discontinue use and pull the rest of those rounds.
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