Magnum primers?

[reb55]

I am getting back into reloading after about 20 years. I generally preferred ball powders (H380, 760) for my '06. The new Speer loading manual recommends magnum primers for that type of powder. I used standard CCI primers with no problems before and I notice that Hodgdon reloading tables make no mention of magnum primers. Has anyone here had problems using standard primers with ball powder?

[Mobuck]

While I've not"had problems", I do recommend following the manual to the letter. There have been ignition problems with some ball powders under certain conditions. Extreme cold is one of those conditions. I load quite a lot of ammo using reclaimed surplus ball powder and use magnum type primers for that exclusively(CCI military spec).

[reb55]

Thanx for the reply. Since I have a bunch of standard CCI primers, I will probably use them, but look at magnum primers for any cold weather shooting. If I had a different manual I would probably not be aware of the idea. Seems strange that the powder manufacturer's reloading data tables make no reference to it.

[reb55]

I generally learn things the hard way. Went out yesterday and fired a bunch of reloads using H335 powder and CCI 200 primers. The loads left a noticeable amount of free space in the cases. I discovered that when the powder was near the rear of the case (I tipped the rifle up before each shot) the point of impact was higher and the groups were tighter than when I didn't. In a couple of instances where I did not tip the rifle up, there was a noticeable delay between pulling the trigger and the gun going off. Further experimentation is in order. Will try next using magnum primers.

I'm thinking a powder that nearly fills the case is a good idea.