My .223 Handi rifle is a break-barrel design and has a transfer bar between the hammer and the firing pin. If the trigger is not pulled properly the transfer bar drops and the hammer can occasionally strike the transfet bar a glancing blow which results in less of an impact on the firing pin and primer This I believe has caused a few misfires but also it sporatically causes a significant reduction in velocity causing a drop of as much as 5 to 6 inches at 100 yards. Factory ammo performs completely normally. What primers should I use in my reloads so that they will at least perform as well as the factory ammo.

Remington, Winchester and Federal all make primers and I would think they use their own primers in their own ammo. CCI is I guess what you would call "aftermarket". But who knows, they may even furnish primers for the large ammo mfgs.

Federal is know to have a "softer" cup, I used to use them when I had a Sharps for reliable ignition. WW cups are wuite hard, the best way to figure it out is buy 100 of CCI, WW, RP & FED. & give them a try.

You say the factory ammo fires fine and that you are lossing 5-6" in trajectory at 100 yds with hand loads that you blame on a problem with the rifles transfer bar? I`d look at your loads and double check that primers are seated fully. The primer not being fully seated will screw with ignition and can show light striker indents. That the rifle works with factory ammo and doesn`t with reloads leads me to question blameing the transfer bar.

What do you mean by "If the trigger is not pulled properly..."? The trigger, hammer and the transfer bar are mechanically linked, so a glancing blow is not possible. Maybe the rounds are fine, but the bad trigger pull is more like a flinch, which can cause the low shots.

MCLernon ----- You have a rifle problem good buddy. Your primer either fires or not, there is no partial firing of a primer. The only thing you can do as a reloader that affects the primer is use very old or damaged (fouled by forign substances) primers or you are not seating them properly. Try federal primers only and be particularly careful seating them flush with the case head. If the trigger pull affects anything with the firing you should go to a gunsmith immediately. Good shooting.

The manufacturer acknowledges that if the transfer bar receives a glancing strike because of the trigger position just after release then the impact on the firing pin will be reduced. This can result in misfires or reduced primer performance leading to reduced muzzle velocity. According to the gun manufacturer some hard primers are more sensitive to light strikes and will exihibit these symptoms. Most factory ammo, because it must fire in a all guns, use primers that are not sensitive to light or heavy firing pin strikes.

When I removed the hammer extension and thus decreased lock time, the problem all but disappeared in my hand loads. The last series I loaded/fired were with another type of BR primer(Rem) and I had one"dropped' shot out of 18 rounds. My next series will be with 6-1/2 Remingtton primers that are known to be soft.

Thanks to all for the input.

Although the specific question you ask is not answered there, Saeed has done a study of the effects of different primers on loads. (For some reason, participants on this forum seem to ignore or be unaware of a wealth of information that Saeed has provided on several topics that get a lot of attention here.)

Saeed's results are at:

http://www.accuratereloading.com/primer.html

Just a short range report on the 6-1/2 Remington primers. I used 28 gr. of W748 which must have been to hot for the primers because two out four blew threw at which point I quit.

quote:

Originally posted by McLernon:
Just a short range report on the 6-1/2 Remington primers. I used 28 gr. of W748 which must have been to hot for the primers because two out four blew threw at which point I quit.

What bullet were you using? If it was a 40 to 45 grain one, you should be well able to use 28 gr. of W748 -- I have loaded and fired such a load hundreds of times without any problem.

Try switching to another primer brand and see whether that solves your problem.

If you are getting blown primers, it isn't always a sign of too hot loads. I had such a problem some years ago with a particular brand of primers, with loads that were well under published max for the given caliber and bullet. Eventually I found that the problem was the primers themselves. I informed the manufacturer of those primers (I won't give the name, except to say that is was a prominent American one, because it could have occurred with any brand) about my problem and was told that the primers themselves were to blame because they had been exposed to ammonia and this had weakened the brass of the primer, causing blow-through with non-max loads.

I was using 40 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips. I am puzzled by the response of these primers with this recipe because it is nowhere near as hot as the Winchester White Box 45 gr. load.

Thanks

McL