S&B primers very soft?

[Buck13]

Recently I bought a bunch of S&B primers (standard L and S pistol, no magnums) from Cabela's since the price was so low. Fired the first batch of ammo loaded with them on Friday; all went bang and accuracy was good, so no complaints about that!

But in my 10 mm Starline brass with 200 gr Nosler JHP and either 0.5 gr below max of Universal, 0.5 gr below max of Longshot or 1 gr below max of Blue Dot, the primers appear to have been nearly liquified! I haven't decapped them yet to look at the profile, but they seem to have spread to fill the edges of the primer pocket. Except for the Universal load, I've shot these previously with Winchester LP igniters, and no signs of exceptional flattening with those.

I noticed while loading them earlier in the week that the S&B seemed to seat with consistently less force than I'm used to, which would also fit with the idea that the cups are weak, although at the time I just guessed that the diameter was a tiny bit less.

So, are S&B primers so insanely energetic that they are pushing moderate loads into the nuclear category, or does one just need to ignore the appearance of their weirdly malleable cups?

(I'd post a photo, but I used to use ImageShack and they seem to have gone Tango Uniform. What's your favorite image hosting site these days?)

 

[Jlr2267]

I've used these primers quite a bit and never noticed anything like what you describe. I've also never seen a 10mm load with 240gr JHP...did you mean 180gr?

 

[Buck13]

Oops, edited. I meant 200 grain. I have Nosler 240 gr for my .44, and that number infected my fingers.

 

[njl]

Have you looked at any of your S&B LP primed brass before shooting them? They seem to be much sharper cornered cups than other brands (like CCI). This results in S&B primers looking "flattened" relative to CCI before they've been fired. Or maybe it's happening as I seat them...I've actually not carefully compared them side by side fresh out of the trays.

 

[konertjm]

IN the past few months I have used over 1K SP and about 500 LP S&B. I have noticed the sharper corners on the cups compared to CCI or Winchester.
I have also noticed that they seat much easier than Winchester, and they have been successfully seated in an crimped 9MM without issue. (Not intentionally, seating felt different and I pulled the case to examine).

I believe there are 2 thing happening here.
1. The primer is slightly smaller in diameter than other primers, I did'nt measure, but I read it on the Interwebs, so it must be true.
2. The cup metal is slightly softer, allowing for some deflection when inserting.

I too have had no problems with S&B primer, and intend to continue to use them.
While a savings of a penny and a half per round seems insignificant, that's $15 per K times however many K you load per year.

 

[Duvel]

Interesting.

I load 10 with CCI (300 & 350), and have only loaded with 150, WLP, & No. 2.5 for velocity comparisons. Yesterday I picked up a box of S&B LP to try, and will load a few ladders to next weekend, if the weather cooperates - now I'm curious if I'll see the same results.

CCI 300 on the left, S&B LP on the right.

 

[Buck13]

Agreed that the primers do come with slightly flatter bases and squarer corners than some, but that's not the whole explanation. They've definitely expanded out into the little groove around the mouth of the primer pocket some.

I decapped a couple of each, and some, but not all, have a bit of muffin-top. I had a few rounds of the same Longshot charge with WLPs left, and those look more normal. My attempts to photograph them with my phone were a bust, so I will give up on that idea.

For now, my motto with these will be "trust the data and don't look at the primers."

 

[jmorris]

I haven't noticed that but I also don't start .5 grains from max either. I also reduce loads and work back up if I change anything.

 

[Duvel]

I also reduce loads and work back up if I change anything.

Guess that DID need to be said.

 

[Dudedog]

I some LP but I haven't loaded them yet. With the SPs I found my loads with the S+Bs were about 15-20 fps slower than with CCIs.

When I have time I will try to do a quick LP CCI/S+B/WIN in .45 to see what kind of numebrs I get.

 

[1KPerDay]

Just loaded my first S&B SP primers last night and they feel tighter to me than CCI.

 

[Catpop]

I always found sb primers harder, not softer. Just my experience

 

[Duvel]

Just loaded my first S&B SP primers last night and they feel tighter to me than CCI.

Loaded my first LP in new Starline brass and I'm thinking the same thing.

 

[ljnowell]

I'm running them in everything now. They certainly seat with less force than any other brand.

I've also noticed that my very tuned match revolvers set them off just fine. One gun was only reliable with federals and it likes them just fine.