Differences in Pistol Primer Hardnesses

Not all primers are created equal, especially when it comes to pistols. Here are a few things to note amongst the major primer brands, at least in my experience.

Amongst the competition shooting set, Federal primers are the most prized because they are the softest. This means that they are the most likely to go bang, regardless of the strength of the hammer hit. This makes them a particular favorite amongst revolver shooters who will run super light springs while chasing their impossible dream:  a smooth and light trigger pull in a wheel gun. In fact, I’ve known many competition revolver shooters who will freely admit that their pistols will only fire Federals. I’ve also heard that Federals ignite hotter than other brands, but this may be a wives’ tale; I haven’t been able to see any velocity differences with Federals, but I haven’t cared to study it that hard, either. Finally, I’ve personally found that their sparkly-shiny coating helps them to feed into the primer pocket more smoothly than… well… next upis….

Winchester is the Mama Bear of this group. Not too hard, not too soft. That said, I feel like there is something about this brand that makes them the most prone to going into the primer pocket off kilter and smashing and making me use bad words. Your proverbial mileage may vary in this regard, though. On the plus side, I feel like they are also the most readily available of the major brands, which is a plus, especially during primer shortages. 

For no particular reason, I haven’t used Remington primers much, so I don’t have a ton to say about them… but my impression of them is basically the same as Winchester, except that they are maybe a little harder and less likely to go in wonky. Given my lack of experience with them, though, I’ll just say that they’ve worked fine for me, and so while I don’t go out of my way to find then, I don’t avoid them, either.

CCI manufactures the hardest primers of all, and yet it is far and away my favorite brand because their primers are coated in some sort of a nickel/chrome/fairy dust concoction that makes them run through the reloader super smoothly. Combine that smoothness with their extra smidge of hardness, and they seat in the primer pocket like they were meant to be there… because they are meant to be there. The downside is that if you try to shoot CCI’s with those superlight trigger springs, they are going to make you scream and yell and give up shooting altogether. If your firing pins are striking with authority, though, then their reliability is superb.

As for any other brands?  Yes, they’re out there, and I’m sure that some of them are excellent, but I prefer to stick with these four major brands. Whenever I’ve used othermanufacturers – usually during a shortage – they tend to shock me with their hardness and/or lack of uniformity. Stick with these four, know what you’re getting, and life will be grand at the range.