Ugh! Primer shortage.

The problem with military style weapons is the floating firing pin which strikes the primer when the round is chambered. That is why we use CCI #41's for this rounds and #34's for 308. The issue is out of battery firing especially in the M-14 which I have caused to happen with a standard primer. On the AR15 I used to load with Winchester standard small rifle primers before the cci primers were widely available. With the shortage of the CCI's due to a billion round military order I have started using the Wolf small rifle magnum. The pressure is the same as with the CCI so use the same data as I have testing equipment to test chamber pressure.

The difference between a standard and a magnum primer is cup thickness and that is the only difference. There is no difference in the amount of the primer compound. Magnum rifle primers exist because without them the magnum rifle loads will blow a hole in the primer cup damaging the gun.

I used standard primers for the 223 round for many years. The problem comes when you chamber a previously chambered round multiple times which can cause a out of battery firing which can be ugly. I loaded over 100,000 rounds using Winchester small rifle primers and fired them through several M-16's that I own as well as a couple belt fed 223's as well. I have never had one go off on the first time I chambered it but I have had them go between the second and tenth chambering but most went between five and ten.

It is still a good idea to use military primers or magnum primers. I have throughly tested all Wolf primers and they are non corrosive and they always work. I have fired close to 50K rounds of reloaded rounds with Wolf primers with zero failures to fire.

I started ordering reloading supplies the evening the Obama got the nomination as I knew he would be elected. I got a few hundred thousand primers and am good for the rest of my life. If people keep buying CCI primers for $200 a thousand on gun broker I may sell some of mine.