Small rifle primer adapters

[Don McDowell]

Did some testing today with LR and LP primers to have a base with which to compare the SR and SP primers .
Wind was 18 gusting to 32 so I was more interested in the vertical. GM155M primers still give me the best vertical. 1 fouler then 3 shot group 5/16" V @100 yds. (with rifle depth pockets)

After a lot of trial and error, I finally got 4 small pistol primers installed in the cases. After all the problems, I'm pretty sure its going to have to be 3 shots in one hole to be worth messing with because its a pain to do.

First test will be the GM200M Small Pistol Magnum Match vs GM155M Large Pistol Magnum Match

One of those things that seemed like a good idea at the time?

[Semtav]

Tested my best two primers against the Small Pistol Primer

100 yds wind quartering from the left at 15 Gust to 24 1 fouler and 3 for score

GM155M 3/4"V X 1"H including fouling shot and 4th shot (4th shot was 1 bullet right)

BR2 1/2"V X 3/4"H including fouler but not 4th shot. (Wind came up strong at 4th shot and went 2" right. Didn't think it should be that for out from the wind.

GM200M 7/8"V X 7/8"H including fouler but not fourth shot. it went 3" right but didn't notice large increase in wind.

Small Pistol Primer shot 6" lower than all the Large Primers

have no idea what was going on with the 4th shot, but they steadily got worse.

Will try a Small Rifle Primer for posterity's sake, but doubt I will test further.

[bruce moulds]

most interesting brian.
you have saved me doing the same experiment. i always wondered about this issue.
shooting in a bit of condition as you were, there is little point in worrying about too much horizontal.
statistically there is probably insufficient evidence to say the 1/2" vert group is better than the 3/4" or even 7/8".
what you can say is that they all shoot under 1 moa, and one might be better one day and another the next. it is now time to compare aggregate group sizes.
all groups seem accurate and well shot with large primers.
in actual practice the easiest solution is to just load br2.
keep safe,
bruce.

[Semtav]

Probably, BR-2 is what I've used for a couple yrs in the 45-90. Will test the different primer pocket/ hole size/over primer wads with the GM155M out of curiosity, but it will all probably have to be under the same windy conditions.

[Semtav]

Brian, can you post a link on how those tools work?
Gary

Gary

The swager works very similar to the RCBS swager.
minor differences. It has a small pin sticking up to swage the flash hole and the swaging rod is a lot larger.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdkA7vDeaes

[Semtav]

Swaged 4 primer pockets to pistol primer depth and loaded them to see what difference it would make if any.

100 yds left wind 25 gust to 35, GM155M primers

first three shots 5/8"V X 3/4H" including fouler
and then, the dreaded 4th shot.
I carefully ran two damp patches thru the bore just like the others, mopped the chamber, cautiously chambered the cartridge and.....then it really went to blowing, blew the target way, blew all the trees away (Ok there weren't any trees to blow away, but it woulda) finally blew my patience away so I went and did something else for 15 minutes til the wind went down enough I could shoot. Barrel was probably all dried out by now and sure enough, 4th shot was two bullets low.
That does it, from now on I'm going to use real heavy targets, I've got some pickup doors complete with holding frame (pickup) that should work great.!!!!

[bruce moulds]

brian,
maintaining a constant barrel condition, blowtubing or wiping, is an art in itself.
he who masters this has mastered what you have to do to test and compete seriously.
the same thing can happen during an unexpected ceasefire in a comp.
here in oz, if the holdup is for more than a certain period of time (3 min?), the next shot is optional to keep.
even just barrel warming can alter things, especially blowtubing.
only one way to get on top of such things, and that is experience and lots of it.
i have read about the fourth shot syndrome, also called the 6th shot syndrome, but have to get better to come to grips with it.
keep safe,
bruce.

[Semtav]

Bruce,
That is one of the reasons I went ahead and shot it as is. I had pulled the shell and wiped wiped one more time 5 minutes after the target blew away, but decided after the next 10 min break to just see what it did.

I think I've settled on using the 155's with swaged pockets and will see what a 10 shot string will do then take the scope off and go back to practicing at longer ranges.

[bruce moulds]

brian,
you are to be admired for your attitude.
only by throwing yourself into the cauldron will you end up a) learning anything and b) with the temper that only a cauldron can administer.
it also gives you realistic expectations, so you don't go to pieces when all is not well.
the other thing you are doing is being honest not just with all of us, but more importantly with yourself. this is what great shooters are made of.
bruce.

[Semtav]

Thanks Bruce. One thing I noticed tonight when loading up a batch of shells. The primers seat so smoothly and consistently. I can feel exactly what I'm doing, not just forcing a primer in to a pocket. If he makes a swager just to uniform the the rifle primer pockets, I'm going to get one for my other shells.