I have had a S&W 640 centenial in.357 for 2

yrs.It has always had sticky extraction,had to

whack the ejection rod pretty hard,usually

tearing up my hand,then pick the empties out

of the cylinder by hand,

even with minimum loads.I have used unique

exclusively in this gun,along with 125 HPs,and

win. primers. I

had read that stubbies

were a little finicky to get the empties out,so

I assumed it was the "nature of the beast,"

(sticky cases)

Well,I received a lb. of H-110 for X-mas.

Thought that might help with sticky cases.

Loaded up 20 rds. 4 different charges of powder

and let 'em fly.

No difference that I could tell as to

extraction.I still tore up my hand on the

ejection rod.

So today I stopped at the reloading store and

picked up some rem. primers. Loaded up 30 rds.

15 each of unique and H-110.When I popped the

ejection rod,all the cases fell out,everytime,

without tearing up my hand That had

NEVER happened before.

I knew that changing primers would effect the

load in some fashion,but not this dramatic.

I can't say for accuracy as it was dark out

when I shot these loads.Really cool cylinder

flash.

But decent extraction(or should that be

ejection)and I assume lower pressure as well as

less felt recoil with rem.

primers is the way to go in this gun,even with

max book loads. Now I have to wait til Saturday

to check the accuracy.

Provided the cylinders were clean and in spec, if you were having sticky ejection your loads were not minimum.

I load for my 44.mag ruger red hawk.. 20 grs of AA#9 with a 240 XTP gave me sticky ejection with any primer. i had to settle on 19 grs of AA#9 with any LP primer no problem

Grumulkin,even with a min. charge of 7.6 grs. of unique,or 17.6 grs.of H-110,125 HPs, I was still having sticky extraction and slightly flattened primers with Win. mag primers.Not a good situation.By simply changing to Rem.5 1/2 primers,the sticky case,flat primer issue disappeared.Even with full power loads,the cases extract very easy.

PRP, Primers can make a huge difference.

In rifles I've seen a change in primers change velocities 100 fps, and move a point of impact 12 inches.

I'm trying to figure out what is going on here. Are you saying that a starting load with Winchester primers will stick cases while a maximum load with Remington primers won't? Could you list what the specific loads you used were? Also, any chance you could chronograph them?

I run 17 grains of H110 behind a 158 grain bullet in my M&P 340.

In the WAY old days and many years prior to Jamison and Simpson pubishing their tests in Shooting times, I ran some tests on primers regarding accuracy.

I even sent some of my test results to various gun rags, hoping to get them published and make a bit of change, but mostly to educate...No such luck...we had to wait for Jamison and Simpson to come along and pave the way.

I had a bugholer group for my 788 22-250 I used as the control group...a top load with Nosler 50 gr SB's(that far back).

All I did was change primers...4 different ones 2 standard and 2 "benchrest", 2 - 5 shot groups each.

Groups opened up with each change from 1/4" to 1 1/4".

At that time I didn't completely understand all that I didn't know about ballistics and reloading.

Today, I understand the change in group size has to do with more with barrel vibration/velocity change caused by the brisance of the different primers...different primers produce different velocities all other conditions/load parameters remaining the same and the barrel vibrates differently which means the bullet exits the barrel at a different point in the vibrational plane.

AND, what is more important to the understanding is that even though there is a change in group size/velocity with a change in primer, it is a simple matter to adjust the powder or amount and regain a smaller group. Maybe even smaller...maybe not.

The fact that EVERY reloading manual cautions against changing components and the possibility of a dangerous load happening if you do change to a different bullet, primer or powder, is/has been well documented.


It's always refreshing to see people are still learning all the nuances of this game.

I learned a long time ago that when things don't seem quite right, they probably aren't and it's time to back off and re-evaluate.

Luck

56hawk,you are understanding my post spot-on.

With a min. charge of unique powder-7.6 grs. or,- 17.6 grs. of H-110 using win. primers, I had a sticky case,high pressure sign issue, (flattened primers).

Changed to Rem. primers and the sticky case/flat primer issue disappeared, even with a full power load,9.4 grs. of Unique or 19.6 grs. of H-110.

Changing to H-110 did not solve my pressure issue,but changing to Rem. primers made a huge difference.Problem solved. Cases popped right out of the cylinder.

I do not have a chronograph so I have no idea what the velocity is.

I use a regular pair of pliers pointed down over the nose to pull bullets, using the loading press. I always reload and shoot them and can't say I have ever noticed a differance, at least out to 200 yards. shayne