I'd like to buy a bulk of primers that would work well for 30-30 and .308. CCI 200, WLR, Rem 9 1/2??? I recall reading that the Fed. 210 does not work well with a Lee Auto-prime, so I'd like to stay away from that one. O learned brethren, I ask for thoughts or pearls of wisdom.

I think CCI are the main ones Lee says to use with the Auto prime. I have tried Winchester and CCI and havent had a problem with either going off though.

Try a few loads and vary the primers to see what works best then go from there. Remember to wear safety gear when priming the cases as well. You never know when one will go off.

Richard Lee has a Pi$$ing match going with Federal. That's why he claims their primers won't work. Think about it, If there were any differences between 210's and the other brands they wouldn't fit the pockets and would be out of Saami specs. Don't believe everything you hear or read from Richard Lee, This isn't the first time he has used his loading manual to condem or promote his personal agenda. Good place for a few grains of salt.

Most loading suppliers big and small handle CCI, the small sports shops tend to also. When buying in bulk it don't seem to make much difference. I pretty much have tried them all, and I go back to CCI. Why I don't really know. Unplated primers are softer, and I have had a few of them pierce when using hotter loads. However you can use that to your favor also, when shooting a firearm with a light primer strike they are easier to ignite.

I've used ALL the major brands in my Auto-Prime. They all work. So it's what ever you want to buy.

The only other advice I can give you is to ALWAYS wear safety glasses when priming brass.

RJ

A majority of what I've used over the last 15 years in my Auto Prime is Federal primers. Haven't had a problem yet.

Here's Richard Lee's words.

"Use only Winchester or CCI brand primers. No other brand is safe. If a tray of Winchester or CCI primers should go off, they will blow off the cover. Safety glasses will prevent any serious injury to the user. Other brands detonate with such force that it turns the tool into shrapnel. Federal brand primers are the most dangerous when used in the Lee tray fed priming systems.

This is not to infer that they are inferior, they simply are dangerous when used in tray fed tools. Nor should you conclude Federal primers are more powerful. Tests show Federal rifle and pistol primers have about the same energy as other brands. It's simply is too darn dangerous to use federal primers in the Lee tray fed priming tools."

This is from pages 37 and 38 of the Modern Reloading manual by Richard Lee.

You can ignore this advice from the folks that manufacture this tool, but there have been accidents and no lawsuit against Lee has been successful.

I've personally talked to Mr. Lee and the "pissing match" is not true. Federal primers due to the difference in priming compound appear to be more sensitive to handling than most.

Take the published warning for what it's worth, it's your eyes and health at stake. When I was a youngster I was given advice on how to pick up a skunk. If you grab them by the tail they won't spray you. I'll leave it to you to judge how well that advice worked.

As for primers I've used CCI with some success for 40 plus years. Quite a few years ago I started using the magnum primers in both pistol and rifles regardless of weather they were a magnum or not. Until recently when I started shooting a 204 Ruger those large rifle magnum primers went in every rifle case I shot and large pistol magnum went in every revolver I shot. I use BR4 small rifle bench rest primers in the 204 and now that I've added a 38 special to the list of calibers I load small pistol magnum primers go in that.

That means I buy 10,000 at a time and only need four types of primers. I've not had any ignition or velocity variations different than using standard primers.

Like every reloader should I've worked up my loads so I know what I'm shooting is safe. The 280 Remington doesn't seem to know or care if it's using the same primer that my 8mm Rem mag is using. I can not tell from the groups any difference in accuracy.

Faucetb is absolutely correct.

There are two types of priming material, called (IIRC) basic and common. Whatever the other differences are between the two, the one Federal (and ONLY Federal) uses is more susceptible to mass detonation that the other kind. That's why -if you ever noticed- Federal primer packaging is made with a LOT of room between individual primers. That's so they can be shipped with reduced danger of mass detonation should one of them go off.

In a priming tool, there is NO room between primers. If you have CCI or Winchester or RWS primers in that tray one of them goes off, it might set off one or two others, if any. But if that tray is chockablock full of Federals, the whole thing is gonna go off, guaranteed.

Now, having written the facts, let me offer an opinion. I have and will continue to use Federal primers in my Lee Priming Tool. But I do it VERY carefully. I always wear safety glasses (and would also wear a face shield if I owned one). I know there's still a risk, however small and if anything ever happened, I'd never sue Lee because it was MY decision to ignore his prudent warning.

Old time reloaders will recall the day when primers came in little cardboard boxes with wooden trays. The primers were nested against each other with no separation. Matter of fact, there's still a couple boxes like that on my reloading shelf.

Urban legend has it (may be true, I'm just repeating heresay) that back then, a UPS driver accidently dropped a box containing some Federal primers with that packaging and they went off. That's why today you pay a big hazmat fee for shipping powder/primers and all the mfg'rs began shipping primers with individual compartments for each primer. Federal went into almost overkill with their settlement.

Wouldn't beat on them with a hammer, but I've had missteps in seating and had them crushed or near crushed with no detonation. Used to have ignition when using a Lee Classic Loader seating magnum LP primers in .44 Mag cases. That was the fault of the tool, though.

Have used the Lee auto primer as well as their hand held primer seater and never had any problems with any brand of primer. Prudent application and wearing safety gear is essential with ANY reloading procedure.

I think Rocky has it right about sensitivity. Federal primers are often recommended to people experienceing inconsistent ignition with other brands. The hardness of the primer cup is another contributor, and Federals are not hard. My guess is that Lee intentionally set off primers in his trays to see what would happen? The difference (perhaps in Brissance as much as in sensitivity), caused these primers to shatter his trays rather than pop the top. Could well be.

For the same reason, CCI's extra hard military primers are recommended for autoloaders with military floating firing pins, thus to avoid slam fires. Nonetheless I have shot Federal 210M's in both the Garand and M1A for years without a slam fire. I have seen small firing pin indentations on extracted live rounds, but no ignition has occured.

I have seen the old hammer-operated Lee Loaders set off primers. A friend of mine set off a half dozen one evening while using the obsolete shotshell version. But never in an Autoprime. Maybe if you slipped in the occassional Berdan case, you could eventually get it to happen? But you've got to decap these and mix them with your other brass first. Not likely to happen by mistake.

I remember those "pissing matches" between Lee and Blout!
Both companys took out full page ads in the gun rags.

Me 'thinks"" that ALL reloaders should respect the power of a primer. If it gets crushed in "a way", it will spit fire,flame, and metal fragments. That is what they are desingned to do!
BE CAREFUL WITH ALL OF THEM!

BOOM! Your eyes are gone!

Cheezywan

Thanks guys, all opinions are needed and welcome, especially the comments on safety. While I gleaned lot's of info(probably go with CCI) maybe the REALLY important theme of this please remember to be safe......

Old time reloaders will recall the day when primers came in little cardboard boxes with wooden trays. The primers were nested against each other with no separation. Matter of fact, there's still a couple boxes like that on my reloading shelf.
I'm not that old, 37, I have (had, been us'n them) a whole brick of these and the tray is plastic, the price tage said $1.27!

I recall the pissing contest between Lee and Sierra over whether it was OK to indent a bullet profile with the Lee Factory Crimp die or not? Same thing. Magazine ads from both were declaiming each other's position. Finally saw one from Lee that said, in effect, OK, the die worked great to create more accurate ammo, EXCEPT don't buy those green box bullets to do it with. Pretty odd, when you consider that shooters can try it out and see whether it works for themselvest? Winchester Supreme Match bullets I pulled had a small Lee-like indentation. Didn't seem to hurt it. I've found the crimp can be helpful with loads that have to slam up an autoloader feed ramp. Can't bring myself to distort VLD's with it though. Too few oportunities to shoot at 1000 yards to do the experiment.

I'm not that old, 37, I have (had, been us'n them) a whole brick of these and the tray is plastic, the price tage said $1.27!
I AM "that old" and can remember when primers, any brand, sold for $8.00 per thousand. Bet there are others here who got them even cheaper than that. :p

Began reloading in 1962 - everything was cheap then by today's standards. But back then, $4 for a pound of powder and .50 for a pack of primers was still pretty steep, when you were making $2.50/hr wages.

For what it's worth, the primer testing chart on www.castingstuff.com lists Federal as the strongest. But...CCI LRM is right behind them. Fed match is way down the list.
Doz

If Richard Lee was in the primer business, rest assured he would recommend that ONLY Lee primers be used. RCBS/CCI did it. Anything written in a reloading manual about brand x vs brand y is just there in hopes that you will purchase brand x over brand y. If he says not to use Federal primers it probably is a result of some (real or imagined only by himself) pissing match with Federal. I wouldnt want to drop a priming tool filled with any type of primers, no matter what brand.

Yes, wear safety glasses. REAL ones. About 3 years ago i had a piece of steel removed from my left eye after a valve spring compressing tool broke while i was working in my garage (small piece, still have my eye thank God) I was wearing a pretty typical pair of safety glasses, but when the tool broke i flinched and it entered from the side. I now use a pair of glasses that can be worn over my normal glasses, that cover top, bottom, front and sides. They look really stupid. I dont care. I imagine a tiny piece of burning primer would do quite a bit more harm than that small bit of steel did. Makes my skin crawl just thinking about it.