Tula Primers...any good?

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Can we just get a Stickie about Wolf/Tula primers? Seems the Search feature must be broken and this question gets asked about 50 times a year.
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Ding Ding Ding...My vote for Post of the Month.
 
I did a search with "tula" in the title only before I started the thread.

No, I didn't want to start a thread with no reason. Was surprised that on the first or second page there was only ammunition threads.

It is not my desire to start useless, repeating threads like "Governor vs Judge...which is better?"

Sorry guys.
 
It's OK, man. People that didn't respond to those threads will/would probably respond to this one with newer input. I haven't tried any Tula yet but may one day take the plunge.
It'd probably be a good idea to have a brick (5000) of that even in good times for just in case/experimentation.
 
Guillermo said:
I did a search with "tula" in the title only before I started the thread.

No, I didn't want to start a thread with no reason. Was surprised that on the first or second page there was only ammunition threads.

It is not my desire to start useless, repeating threads like "Governor vs Judge...which is better?"

Sorry guys.
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Most threads are duplicated to some degree. I have a different approach: If I have nothing to add or don't care to repeat myself, I don't post a response.
 
Anyone have any experience with them, positive or negative that they are willing to share?
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I've used well over 1o,ooo Tulammo small pistol primers.
I ran into 3 - 100 packs that had a failure rate of about 1%

but the other 9,ooo+ worked perfectly.

They're a tad bit larger than CCI, so you have to give 'em some oomph to seat 'em.
But that's GREAT for older brass where the primer pocket is getting too big.

I usually place an order with Powder Valley once a year.
For 2011 & 2012 I ordered about 20,000 Lrg, Sm, Sm mag & Lrg mag & all were Tulammo.

I'd love to use CCI, but the price difference was just too much.

PS... I haven't noticed any accuracy or pressure issues.
So order up & bang away my friends! :neener:
 
I use Wolf and Tula SR and SP primers. No problems with either. I find the Tula SP primers seat with a bit less needed force than the Wolf brand.

I have similar results to another earlier post in that Wolf SR primers gives me better SD and ES results, but just compared to Winchester primers.
 
Can you reload nickle brass with brass primers? What if nickle primers are in brass cases? What if they have been stored near steel cases? Can you buy nickel primers with nickels? If someone steals my nickels should I get a Wolf for security or am I Tulate?
Let's not even consider woodchucks.:D
 
[Can you reload nickle brass with brass primers? What if nickle primers are in brass cases? What if they have been stored near steel cases? Can you buy nickel primers with nickels? If someone steals my nickels should I get a Wolf for security or am I Tulate?
Let's not even consider woodchucks./QUOTE]

Just remember what diesel said to gasoline: "What kind of fuel do you think I am?" ;)
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I've used well over 1o,ooo Tulammo small pistol primers.
I ran into 3 - 100 packs that had a failure rate of about 1%

but the other 9,ooo+ worked perfectly.
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The problem is you don't know if the other 9,000+ are going to work perfectly until you pull the trigger. When you find those dud primers, ALL the ammo you have on hand that was primed from the same lot number are now suspect. All the ammo you're going to continue to make from that same lot is going to be suspect.

I spent several months purging and replacing my stash of Tula SPP primed ammo after running into some duds. I didn't come across any more, but that didn't make me feel any better until they were all tested (fired). A lot of those were jacketed HP's with matching headstamp and stored in MTM boxes.... something I'll not be taking the time to do with Tula SPP anytime in the near future. The cost of those HP's and the time spent sorting those headstamps greatly outweighed the 6 dollars per 1k that I saved on the primers. If I coulda paid a genie 50 bucks per 1k to magically replace those primers with Winchester, I would have. I may buy some more, someday. But you can bet they'll be loaded with cast bullets, mixed brass, and stored loose in a bag/bin for short term, only, before being used for plinking. Sure, that describes 99% of my reloading needs. But I do accumulate and keep some amount of ammo reserves. And I don't wanna second guess my ammo because I ran across a dud primer.

If you've had 0.03% failure rate with other brands, then that would be fine. I have personally had about a 0.3% failure rate with Tula SPP, a 0.08% failure rate with Wolf .223 primers, and a 0.000000% failure rate with CCI and Winchester. I've shot a bit more of the Win than anything else.
 
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I have used the Russian primers for nearly 10 years now. Originally, they were imported into this country by a guy in Phoenix, Arizona. David Tubb thought so highly of the KVB-7 primers, that he bought 700,000 of them! I bought 5,000 of them and perhaps have 2,000 left. They produce very low ES and SD numbers and all have gone bang for me. The Russian factory then signed a contract with PMC, and for awhile PMC primers were Russian produced. After their contract expired, the Russian primers came under the Wolf brand, and these primers can still be occasionally found, although I don't know if the contract with Wolf has expired and they are just old stock. The Russian primers are more commonly found under the Tula brand. I must admit, I have never used the SPP's that seem to be problematic for some, but I suspect that the problem may be a combination of the primers not being fully seated (they are slightly larger and seat a little harder), and a somewhat weak primer strike by striker-fired pistols as opposed to revolvers. In any case, I have had no problems with them. Hope that helps.

Don
 
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Used many thousands SPP but most all of that ammo was used in SMG's, so certainly no light primer strikes.
 
My experience:

About 4 or 5 years ago, there was supposedly a bad batch that hit our shores. Lots of people complained to the company and got replacements. I suspect a lot of people lied, too, to get freebies. The net result was that the company stopped sending replacements.

Which is too bad...I apparently got one of those bad batches of Tula SPP. In a variety of guns, including CZ85, Smith 15, Smith 10, Ruger GP100, Ruger SR9c, and Kahr CW9, I have had anywhere from zero failures per 100 (rare) to 8 or 9 per 100. It happens in all of the guns - it's not a spring issue. Second-strikes sometimes fire; usually they don't. I don't have a bullet puller, but I do have a small coffee can about half-full of dud rounds that need pulling. Its frustrating to shoot them, knowing I will (not "might") have to deal with duds. The one and only positive is that you quickly see any flinch you might have.

I got them for a song - a full case plus another half-case of Wolf for something like $50. For the frustration it has caused me, I wish I had not heard of either brand.

Unless it truly is crisis situation and no other primers are available, I will not buy again.

Q
 
I tried them (LPP) last night in my Hornady LNL and they were very difficult to feed. I could not get more than 5 in a row without them hanging up and not feeding. I have used a thousands of Winchester with no problems ever. I am regretting the purchase of 5,000 i ordered. Its going to take a long time to load them.
 
but I suspect that the problem may be a combination of the primers not being fully seated (they are slightly larger and seat a little harder), and a somewhat weak primer strike by striker-fired pistols as opposed to revolver
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This is fine and all, except it's not true. I believe Quoheleth is correct. I believe there were, indeed, a heck a lot of bad SPP imported a few years back. FTR, I had duds in Glocks, a hammer fired pistol, and a GP100. I actually had the most duds in the GP100. I always try rechambering and firing a dud, again, and none of the Tula/Wolf duds went off after multiple strikes. And this was AFTER having no issues thru my first several thousand Tula primers which I seated the same way and fired thru the same guns. And after having duds, I was very meticulous with my primer seating with the rest of that box, thinking maybe it was my fault. Nope. The rest of the box just got worse. Those primers were plain bad. One of the members of the forum had several dud Tula SPPs, and Tula .223 primers fired just fine in the same handguns for him.* Firing pin strength was not the problem!

I also heard of a big wave of bad Wolf primers coming in way back. Maybe over ten years ago.

And I wouldn't care if they replaced inconsistent lots with new primers at a 2:1 ratio, even. Cuz 1. I may have already loaded a lot of rounds with the bad primers - and primers are NOT the most expensive component in anything I load. And 2. If they can't keep bad primers from going to market, what are the replacement primers they are sending out worth?

I hope they've sorted out their QC issues for good. They could regain my trust in another 10-20 years. Those duds were a huge aggravation.

*That's another beef. WTH up with 223 primers firing in a Glock? They're supposed to be harder so they don't slam fire in an AR. The WOLF 223 primers I tried in Glocks and an FNP did NOT fire reliably... only 1 in 3 lit off. So to hear that Tula 223 work 100% in a Glock, I wonder what the heck they're doing over there. Do they make a bunch of primers then try to figure out what to label them as, afterward?
 
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