Spring 2023 still finds Large Rifle primers scarce. In my supply are some Federal large rifle primers given to me by my shooting mentor grandfather in the 1970’s, and they were old then. They are likely 60 years old and maybe older. They have been stored well and pass visual inspection. This picture shows the packaging, anvil sides, and the domed face in comparison to a current production flat face primer.
They looked good, but will they work?
I have a priming arm with the concave face needed to seat these without deformation.
Now to test them. My test rifle is a Ruger No. 1 .30-30. I first primed a case and function tested the primer. It went bang. I loaded 10 rounds with my light cast bullet load: 150 grain 20 to 1 PBFN on top of 7 grains of Red Dot. Seating went without a hitch using the priming arm for dome faced primers. The feel is quite different than what one is used to in checking seating depth. Here are the seated primers:
The range results were positive, all 10 fired with results consistent with previous experience with this load: 5 shots in ½ inch at 50 yards.
I look forward to using these primers, likely for informal shooting. Had I known of a safe way to dispose of a carton of primers, I might have done so. Now it looks like I can dispose of them the right way: one at a time.
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