Primer failure with .327 Fed Mag?

[Colorado Redneck]

Has anybody experienced primer failures shooting the .327 Federal Magnum? For the handloaders amongst us, it seems like the recommendation is to use a small rifle primer, as pressures with hot loads in the .327 FM exceed even .357 magnum.

I have used Remington 6 1/2 primers, but today primed 100 rounds with Remington 1 1/2 and then the lights went on in my old feeble brain. The plan wasn't to load for max velocities, so the pressures will be less than published max (when such data is even available.) Dang it! So in the interest of not loading some bunny fart rounds, if anybody has experienced primer failure, I would appreciate the particulars of the load involved.

(Moderators---if you feel this belongs in the reloading forum, feel free to move it and I apologize if this was a mistake.)

 

[Billy Shears]

No failures to speak of, but I have noticed flattening of small pistol primers in even moderate hand loads. Haven't seen this in other calibers and have been wondering if the 327 is less forgiving of minor variances from load to load than lower pressure calibers or if this is just the nature of loading for such a high pressure round and I should get used to it.

 

[Colorado Redneck]

So I loaded a bunch of these cases primed with Rem 1 1/2

Used 5.4 gr Unique under 100 gr. XTP. Shot some at the indoor range (so no chrony) and there were no pressure signs. This is a fairly mild load. Primers were fine. From now on, Rem 6 1/2 are all I am going to use for the .327 Fed Mag.

 

[FrankenMauser]

I run small pistol primers in light loads. They've been fine.
I've run standard small pistol and small pistol magnum primers in moderate loads. They've been fine (some flattening of the standard primers - nothing spectacular).

I have also run some small pistol magnum primers in hot loads (not max loads, just nice and warm). I did not have any failures, but they were starting to crater and flow.

Now, I only use small rifle primers in hot loads or loads that will be run up to maximum pressures.


Failsafe approach, for me: If in doubt, use small rifle primers.
(I have a couple thousand Mag-Tech SR primers that are reserved solely for use in .327 Federal.)

I'm running "reduced power" hammer springs in both of my .327s, and neither has ever had a problem detonating the SR primers. I even tried some SR mag primers, once; and still had 100% ignition and good, solid firing pin impressions in the primers.

 

[Colorado Redneck]

Thanks for your comments

Wonder if Speer and Federal load their factory rounds with small rifle or small pistol? Dang! Too bad we can't get access to more load data.

I shot 6 rounds that are fairly hot to finish the evening. H110-12.7 gr with Hornady 100 gr. XTP and Rem 7 1/2. Felt really good, and grouped 2 1/2 inches at 25 feet. Impressive flash. That load chrony'ed a bit over 1300 fps earlier, and I really liked it. JBM Calculator shows 380 ft. pounds of energy.

The load data from Speer on the 115 G.D. advises using a small rifle primer, so that answers that.

 

[FrankenMauser]

Wonder if Speer and Federal load their factory rounds with small rifle or small pistol?

Several people have posted online, claiming that they managed to get some one at ATK to admit that all factory loads use small rifle primers.
But... I've never been successful in getting them to admit anything 'technical' about components or ammunition.
So, I classify the information as: "Plausible and likely; but unverified."

It sounds like you found a decent load.

 

[magmax]

Colorado Redneck,

H110-12.7 gr with Hornady 100 gr. XTP and Rem 7 1/2. Felt really good, and grouped 2 1/2 inches at 25 feet. Impressive flash. That load chrony'ed a bit over 1300 fps earlier

What is the barrel lenght [and gun] that is giving you those numbers? Just to use as a frame of reference.
I'm getting ready to load some .327 mag for my S&W 632 w/3' barrel using H110. Thanks.
David

 

[Colorado Redneck]

Barrel length question

Ruger SP101 with 3 1/8 inch barrel.

Evidently the load data on the Hodgson site was derived using a longer barrel as they indicate quite a bit more velocity than that SP101 produces. Oh well--It seems like a nice load, and if the little gun will print good groups with a blind old fart like me pulling the trigger, that is fine.

How do you like you Smith?

 

[magmax]

I did load some .327 Federal Mag today using 12.5gr of H110, CCI 500 primers with 100gr Hornady bullet. They clocked using my ProTach at 1168 fps. I was hoping to get in the 1200-1250fps neighborhood to use as a download as compared to American Eagle 100gr loads that clock at 1430fps. Funny the difference in the numbers between our guns.
I like the S&W 632 [I like J frames], although I'm not sure about the "expansion chamber" that hangs at the end of the barrel. Hard to know what value it has without a side-to-side comparsion.
David

 

[Colorado Redneck]

Here is the chrony data from the Ruger

Factory Ammo
Fed 85 gr. Reduced Recoil: 1401 - 1424 fps Very consistent.

Speer Gold Dot 115 gr: 1361 - 1438 fps

Hand Load
100 gr. XTP over 12.2 gr H110 with Rem 7 1/2 primer: 1129 - 1282 fps

100 gr. XTP over 12.7 gr H110 Rem 7 1/2 primer: 1280 - 1352 fps

As you can see, the load with 12.2 gr. of H110 was pretty variable. When working up loads to test, a powder trickler helps nail the weight pretty close. My chrony isn't anything special--just an old F1. But the thing that stands out is the consistency of the Federal Reduced Recoil rounds.

Each firearm is unique.

 

[Bob Wright]

Exactly what are you calling "primer failure?"

Failure to fire? Pierced primers? Gas leakage?

I looked at Hodgdon's online loading data and no mention is made of using rifle primers.

Are you primer pockets enlarged to the point the fired primer falls out?

Bob Wright

 

[Colorado Redneck]

What kind of failure?

Any kind. There has been mention made about using only small rifle primers for the .327 Fedral Magnum, since the max pressure is so high. Evidently there is some concern that pistol primers may "fail" due to the high pressures. The Speer web page presents hand load data for this caliber, and they recommend using small rifle.

In my original post, the main conern was the fact I had absent mindedly used small pistol primers when prepping cases for the .327 FM. So I inquired herein to see if I should be overly concerned or go ahead and load them any way I wanted to. So ended up loading what I consider mid range loads to avoid trouble. There were no signs of high pressure, no flattened primers, no perforated primers, no nothing, other than a nice bang when the trigger was pulled.