We are often asked “Can I get more velocity by switching primer types?” The answer is “maybe”. The important thing to know is that changing primer types can alter your load’s performance in many ways — velocity average, velocity variance (ES/SD), accuracy, and pressure. Because there are so many variables involved you can’t really predict whether one primer type is going to be better or worse than another. This will depend on your cartridge, your powder, your barrel, and even the mechanics of your firing pin system.
Interestingly, however, a shooter on another forum did a test with his .308 Win semi-auto. Using Hodgdon Varget powder and Sierra 155gr Palma MatchKing (item 2156) bullets, he found that Wolf Large Rifle primers gave slightly higher velocities than did CCI-BR2s. Interestingly, the amount of extra speed (provided by the Wolfs) increased as charge weight went up, though the middle value had the largest speed variance. The shooter observed: “The Wolf primers seemed to be obviously hotter and they had about the same or possibly better ES average.” See table:
Varget .308 load
45.5 grains
46.0 grains
46.5 grains
CCI BR2 Primers
2751 fps
2761 fps
2783 fps
Wolf LR Primers
2757 fps
2780 fps
2798 fps
Speed Delta
6 fps
19 fps
15 fps
You can’t extrapolate too much from the table above. This describes just one gun, one powder, and one bullet. Your Mileage May Vary (YMMV) as they say. However, this illustration does show that by substituting one component you may see significant changes. Provided it can be repeated in multiple chrono runs, an increase of 19 fps (with the 46.0 grain powder load) is meaningful. An extra 20 fps or so may yield a more optimal accuracy node or “sweet spot” that produces better groups. (Though faster is certainly NOT always better for accuracy — you have to test to find out.)
WARNING: When switching primers, you should exercise caution. More speed may be attractive, but you have to consider that the “speedier” primer choice may also produce more pressure. Therefore, you must carefully monitor pressure signs whenever changing ANY component in a load. Glen Zediker recommends decreasing your load ONE FULL GRAIN when changing to a different primer type, one that you haven’t used before.
Berry’s unique, all-metal Bench Topper lets you place a reloading press above your bench surface, clearing valuable space in your reloading area.
The Bench Topper, from Berry’s Manufacturing, is a sturdy platform that holds a loading press and storage bins in a raised position above your bench — effectively creating additional room for scales, trimmers, and component storage below. The $114.66 Bench Topper (Midsouth item 037-00191) can bolted to your bench, or it can be secured with C-Clamps (for easy removal). Do you load at the range? The Bench Topper can be easily transported in your vehicle, providing a handy platform for your press and powder measure.
Bench Topper Specs:
Top Plate:
6 x 20 x 1/4″
Bottom Plate:
10 x 20 x 1/4″
Height: 11.5 Inches
Weight: 12.5 Pounds
Berry’s Bench Topper is crafted from CNC-machined aluminum and powder-coated black for durability. It comes with two aluminum hangers for storage bins for bullets or brass. All fasteners are recessed for a clean work surface. NOTE: The Bench Topper must be assembled by the purchaser, and YOU MUST DRILL YOUR OWN HOLES for installation of your press or other hardware. This requires a few minutes of initial set-up time, but this allows a secure, custom installation for any brand of reloading press.
Product Tip from EdLongrange. We welcome user submissions.
Looking for a good job in the firearms industry? The NSSF has you covered. The NSSF Career Center offers up-to-date job listings, powerful search features, and a mobile-friendly interface. It’s easy to upload your Resumé, and the Job Alert feature can send you new listings via email as soon as they post. Visit jobs.nssf.org for current employment opportunities in the shooting, hunting and outdoor industry.
Check out the latest job listings on the NSSF Firearms Industry Jobs Website
There are some interesting opportunities right now. Both Hornady and Smith & Wesson (American Outdoor Brands) are looking for engineers. Do you enjoy social media? Well Swarovksi Optik needs a Media Relations Specialist. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is seeking a Regional Director, and Century Arms needs a Sales Manager.
Western Powders has released its NEW Handloading Guide, Edition 7.0. This $2.99 print resource contains the latest load data for Western’s propellants including Accurate, Ramshot, and Blackhorn powders. Edition 7.0 features the most current data available for Ramshot and Accurate powders, including popular LT30 and LT32, and new Accurate TCM, Accurate 11FS and Ramshot LRT propellants. This latest load guide also has load data for the new 224 Valkyrie, 300 Norma, and 30 Nosler cartridges. Along with reloading recipes, this resource features helpful articles on handloading methods and rifle maintenance/cleaning with X-Treme products.
In the new Handloading Guide 7.0 , you’ll find load data for over 100 rifle cartridges. The cartridge listings are up to date — you’ll find the popular new mid-sized competition cartridges, such as the 6.5 Creedmoor and 6.5×47 Lapua, along with many popular wildcat varmint cartridges, such as the 20 Vartarg, 20 Tactical, and 20 BR. Benchresters will also find recipes for the new LT 30 and LT 32 powders which have proven very accurate in the 30BR and 6PPC respectively.
Download FREE Version 6.0 Guide:
If you can live without the very latest info, you can still get Version 6.0 of Western’s Reloading Guide for FREE. That’s right Version 6.0 is a FREE downloadable PDF. This FREE Reloading & Load Data Guide (Edition 6.0) contains thousands of recipes for handgun and rifle cartridges (plus shotshell and muzzle-loading info).
Once again a serious threat to citizens’ Second Amendment rights is coming from the Left Coast. If you live in Washington State, you need to educate yourself on Initiative 1639 (I-1639), a THIRTY-page gun control measure on the November ballot. This is one of the most restrictive and radical gun measures ever put on a State ballot. Your vote is needed to block I-1639 from becoming law.
This measure basically defines virtually ALL self-loading long guns as “assault rifles”. This would even include popular .22 LR rimfire rifles such as the Ruger 10/22, Marlin 60, and Remington 597. In addition, I-1639 imposes draconian gun storage requirements, imposes new taxes on gun ownership, creates a far-reaching gun registry, and mandates annual “verification” of gun owners. LEARN MORE HERE*.
“Law enforcement professionals recognize the extreme nature of I-1639,” said Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. “Not only does the initiative discriminate against gun owners, it classifies common recreational firearms as ‘semiautomatic assault rifles’ and requires gun buyers to surrender their medical privacy in order to exercise a constitutionally-protected right.” I-1639 is being pushed by the Seattle-based Alliance for Gun Responsibility, an extreme anti-gun advocacy group funded by billionaire dollars.
Not just organized gun rights groups are opposing I-1639. In fact many Washington State law enforcement organizations have opposed this far-reaching anti-gun measure.
The Washington State Sheriffs Association (WSSA), Washington Council of Police & Sheriffs (WACOPS) and Washington State Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors Association (WSLEFIA) all oppose I-1639.
The WSLEFIA stated: “Initiative 1639 is being promoted as a public safety measure; those actually working law enforcement know that IT WILL DO NOTHING TO STOP A SINGLE CRIME. This initiative has nothing to do with ‘assault weapons’ and is directed only at our good citizens who already pass multiple background checks before owning a firearm. I-1639 is an attack on civil rights and is an attempt to marginalize all firearm owners, including law enforcement officers. I-1639 will impair public safety, embolden criminals and impose burdensome restrictions on our most law-abiding citizens.”
WACOPS Executive Director Teresa Taylor added, “WACOPS believe that Initiative 1639 contains provisions that are in clear violation of both state and federal individual constitutional rights, which, as law enforcement, officers, WACOPS members are sworn to uphold. In addition to the constitutional issues, this 30-page initiative, if passed, would impose significant restrictions on a citizen’s ability to possess and access commonly-owned firearms for lawful self-defense.”
* Furthermore, according to the NRA: “The Washington Department of Licensing (DOL) and law enforcement agencies are directed to collect and store information on purchases and transfers of guns under this Initiative, without limits on how this information may be used. Besides putting sensitive personal data at risk, this opens the door to a government registry of guns and gun owners. The Initiative also directs law enforcement agencies and the DOL to develop a process to ‘verify, on an annual or more frequent basis’, that both handgun and SAR owners continue to be eligible to possess any firearm under state and federal law. It authorizes law enforcement to ‘take steps to ensure’ that anyone who fails the verification process no longer possesses guns. The Initiative doesn’t rule out seizure and confiscation of firearms as means of enforcing this directive.”
Here’s a simple modification that makes your classic beam balance more user-friendly. For a few dollars you can enhance your balance scale system to improve work-flow and reduce eye strain. This clever modification makes it easier to see the balance’s zero-mark center-line when weighing charges.
When he chooses to measure his loads or sort bullets by weight, Forum Member Boyd Allen likes his trusty RCBS 10-10 scale. He finds that it works predictably, time after time, and it doesn’t suffer from the drift and calibration issues that plague some of the less-expensive electronic scales on the market.
To make it easier to see the balance point, Boyd has adapted a magnifying glass with a mirror. This makes the end of his balance beam easier to view from his normal position on the bench. Boyd explains: “This set-up uses a cheap magnifier with positioning arms that was probably designed to hold and magnify small objects while soldering them. I think that it came from Harbor Freight many years ago. The mirror lets you look at the scale as if is was at eye level, and of course the magnifier makes the image easier to see.”
Do You Like H4350? Then You Should Try Reloder 16 — It Is Accurate and Temp Stable
Alliant Reloder 16 is used now by many top shooters for cartridges that work well with Hodgdon H4350. In fact, we’d say that Reloder 16 is the best substitute for H4350 on the market. Alliant’s RL 16 is very temp stable, offers good velocity, and the accuracy is top tier. Some guys report slightly better accuracy than H4350 in the .284 Win, .260 Rem, 6.5 Creedmoor, 6mm Creedmoor, and 6XC cartridges. If you currently use H4350, you should definitely give Alliant Reloder 16 a try. The powder also boasts excellent lot-to-lot consistency and contains a proprietary de-coppering additive.
This is NOT just a slower version of Alliant’s double-based Reloder 15 (which words great in the 6mmBR and Dasher cartridges). Reloder 16 is a completely new formulation, produced in Sweden by Bofors for Alliant. Reloder 16 utilizes TZ technology, which manipulates the response of the propellant and resists the natural tendency to generate more pressure at higher temperatures and less pressure at lower temperatures. As a result, Alliant’s Reloder 16 offers truly outstanding temperature stability.
Match and Hunting Cartridge Applications:
Alliant tells us that Reloder 16 “is ideal for traditional hunting cartridges, such as .30-06 Springfield and .270 Winchester, as well as 6.5mm target loads and tactical applications wherein temperature stability is required.” We also think the powder will work well in these popular match cartridges: 6XC, 6mm Creedmoor, .243 Win, 6.5×47 Lapua, 6.5 Creedmoor, .260 Rem, .284 Win, and .300 WSM. For example, Alliant’s Reloder 16 Load Data Page shows a 2932 FPS load with Berger 130 grain Hybrid bullet in the 6.5 Creedmoor.
Alliant Reloder 16 Load DATA for 6.5 Creedmoor:
Alliant Reloder 16 Load DATA for .243 Winchester:
NOTE: This is a partial .243 Win Data set. More loads available HERE.
What kind of 200-yard accuracy can you get in an enclosed, underground test range? Would you believe 0.162 MOA at 200 yards with a .338? Have a look at these test targets from Sierra Bullets. Like most bullet manufacturers, Sierra does live-fire bullet testing to ensure that Sierra projectiles perform as promised, with repeatable accuracy. Sierra tests bullets in its own underground test complex. Sierra’s 300-meter test range is the longest, privately-owned underground bullet test facility in the Western Hemisphere. (RWS has a 500m test tunnel in Germany). Sierra offers free tours of the test tunnel as part of Sierra’s Factory Tour Program.
Day in and day out, various bullet types are tested using a big collection of barreled actions. These barreled actions are clamped in stout, return-to-battery test fixtures. These big, heavy test fixtures provide near-perfect repeatability (with no human-induced holding or aiming errors).
Sierra Bullets 10-Shot Groups at 200 yards
Check out these 10-shot test groups shot at the Sierra Test Range at 200 yards. Note that the numbers listed on each sample are actual measurements in inches. To convert to MOA, cut those numbers in half (to be more precise, divide by 2.094, which is 1 MOA at 200 yards). For example, the 0.340″ middle group works out to 0.162 MOA at 200 yards.
Scan-Verified 0.162 MOA Accuracy at 200 Yards
To verify the accuracy of Sierra’s measurements, we measured the middle (.338 caliber) 10-shot group with our On-Target Group Measurement software. We registered a group size reading of 0.339″ — within one-thousandth of the Sierra measurement*. The calculated group size in MOA (Minute of Angle) is 0.162. That’s amazingly good for ten rounds of big .338 caliber bullets. A FIVE-shot 0.162 MOA group at 200 would be considered excellent at any benchrest match. But remember this target has TEN shots. The current, one-target IBS world record for ten shots at 200 yards is 0.245″, set by Ed Watson in 1999.
Bevy of Barreled Actions for Bullet Testing
Sierra Bullets uses dozens of barreled actions for testing bullets in its enclosed, 200-yard test range. Each barrel has its own logbook to track the barrel’s usage.
Click Photo to Zoom
*Note, there were ten (10) shots in the group, but for simplicity we are only displaying five (5) shot circles. Adding more circles won’t change the measurement because the two most distant shots, which determine group size, ARE included.
Thompson/Center Arms has a new rebate program running October 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018. Get $50 back with the purchase of a T/C Compass rifle or $25 back with the purchase of a T/C Impact muzzleloader. You can also get $50 rebate on T/CR22 rimfire rifles, as part of the Rimfire Redefined promo which began in August, 2018.
The T/C Compass is a basic, no-frills hunting rifle. T/C Compass owners say this rifle offers excellent “bang for the buck”, with decent accuracy (approaching 1 MOA). American Rifleman has done a very thorough review of the T/C Compass that’s worth reading. That review shows details of the action and the three-lug bolt. The tester liked the Compass trigger, writing: “It’s as good a factory trigger as I’ve encountered.” The test rifle, chambered in .30-06 Springfield, averaged 1.23″ 5-shot groups with three types of factory hunting ammo.
To participate in the “Hunt for Savings” rebate program, customers must complete and submit the online rebate form at Smithandwessonrebates.com. Deadline for rebate submission is January 31, 2019.
Rebates will be delivered as follows:
$50 USD Smith & Wesson prepaid MasterCard on any new T/C Compass bolt-action rifle.
$50 USD Smith & Wesson prepaid MasterCard on any qualifying new T/CR22 rifle.
$25 USD Smith & Wesson prepaid MasterCard on any new T/C IMPACT! Muzzleloader.
Do you need to pull bullets that have been seated in a case? You can use lever-actuated, collet-type pullers, or inertial hammer-style pullers, but there is a faster solution. The Grip-N-Pull bullet puller is a precision-machined hand clamp that works for multiple calibers. A single Grip-N-Pull can replace several other tools, while being faster to use. With larger-diameter bullets loaded with light-to-moderate neck tension, it works well. The bullets come out pretty easily, with no scuff marks or dents. For smaller-diameter, .204 to .243 caliber bullets, it may be hard to grip the bullet easily, or you may end up with some jacket damage. And we wouldn’t use this for factory-crimped cartridges.
Introduction to Grip-N-Pull — How It Works:
How to Use the Grip-N-Pull
Put your loaded case in the shell-holder on a reloading press. Raise the ram so the bullet is exposed at the top of the press. Then select the correct, caliber-specific slot in the Grip-N–Pull, clasp the bullet firmly, then lower the ram. The bullet withdraws from the case-neck, retained in the tool. Fast and simple. If there isn’t much neck tension (or a crimp), the bullet should come out undamaged.
Not So Great for Small-Diameter Bullets
Watch this video — the tester says the Grip-N-Pull works well with larger-diameter bullets, but there can be slippage with smaller-diameter projectiles, or those with short bearing surfaces. NOTE: When there is a lot of neck tension, you have to grip extremely hard which can cause your hand to hurt after a while. And the bullets can get marred.
This video explains some of the shortcomings of the Grip-N-Pull.
Four Grip-N-Pull Models Available Grip-N-Pull bullet pullers can be used for multiple calibers. For example, the Standard Rifle Grip-N-Pull pulls bullets for these calibers: .17, .20, .22, .24, .25, .26, .27, .28, and .30. The Large Rifle model works with 8mm, .338, .375, .416 and .458. There is a third model for pistol cartridges, and a fourth “Mil-Spec” unit that does 5.56, 7.62, .338 and .50 BMG. Grip-N-Pull bullet pullers are made of 1/4″ heavy-duty #30 stainless steel and are backed by a lifetime warranty.
Speed and Efficiency of Grip-N-Pull
The Grip-N-Pull’s creators claim this hand clamp cuts bullet pulling time in half. For a speed comparison between Grip-N-Pull and a hammer-style (inertial) bullet puller, watch this Extreme Outer Limits video. Bob and Chris Beck do a head-to-head comparison between the Grip-N-Pull and an inertia puller. It’s no contest — the Grip-N-Pull is way faster, and the powder stays in the case.
Pull Comparison — Grip-N-Pull Vs. Hammer-Style Inertial Puller
Scan-Verified 0.162 MOA Accuracy at 200 Yards
