Bench rest primers?

[Curt]

I am sure this has been covered up and in years past. My buddy was nice enough to allocate some primers for me from a family member who does not need/want them anymore. I think there is 300 of each type and brand and probally from 1970-2000.
Anyways there are a few packs of CCI LR bench rest. Should I just assume this is a clever marketing idea and use them up for 1903-1917 rifle, loads for the summers vintage matches as I intended?
I am not worried about any inherent "Match" qualities, just safety in a US bolt gun.

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[Matt Anthony]

As long as you work up your loads with the different brands, I see no reason not to use them. Make sure there isn't any deteriorization going on with the older primers. The reason I say that is I have in the past have been given primers from numerous people. There was one time that the primer material had broken down. There was primer powder throughout each 100 pack container. I later learned the reloader had kept them in a very old outbuilding, almost as bad as if he had just left them outside.
Matt

[USSR]

Curt,

The CCI benchrest primers are a really mild primer, so any load you currently use with another primer will be safe with these.

Don

[Bill H]

Safety should not be an issue, as the difference is that these primers are more consistent, and slightly milder than standard primers.

If you are using something like 4895, then you should be ok. You will definitely not be ok with ball powder such as 748.

[gunner]

I use only these primers for all loads ( .308Win, .303, .30-06 and 7,5x55) for the reason that they are very evenly instead of other primers. And that´s also good for the accuracy of your loads.

Regards

Gunner

[rider]

FWIW
CCI - Primers

[Curt]

I have 3 packs of 100 of these BR primers. I was just going to burn them up in IMR 4064 loads with 168SMK's.I have about 300 clean 1963NM case's. I have a stash of newer LR primers but I would rather use up these older ones and the brass for that matter first. This should be two years worth of vintage matches for the 1903 and 1917-Thanks

[Sunray]

"...assume this is a clever marketing idea..." Nope. CCI 'Milspec' primers are a clever marketing idea for magnum primers. Match primers are not. They're made for a consistent burn. Safe they are.
"...just going to burn them up in IMR 4064 loads with 168SMK's..." For 300, I'd do that too. Not enough to screw around with too much. Mind you, how they've been stored matters too. Not as much as how powder has been stored though. And CCI match primers can still be had.
A lot depends on the components you're using now. Change any one component and you have to work up the load again.

[duggaboy]

I use cci primers all the time and I do not waste any time to work up a load when I change to federal or winchester primers. I talked about primers with a rep from Federal, and the story he gave me was that they mark primers as match primers because they look at them a little closer for quality, not the strenth of the primer firing.

[Matt Anthony]

I use cci primers all the time and I do not waste any time to work up a load when I change to federal or winchester primers. I talked about primers with a rep from Federal, and the story he gave me was that they mark primers as match primers because they look at them a little closer for quality, not the strenth of the primer firing.

All primers, be it regular, match or magnum do have differences, I have chronographed many combinations over the years and witnessed those differences.
When changing primer brands and even lot numbers of the same brand, there will be differences due to mixture content of components and the components themselves.
Industrial standards dictate to work up the load when changing any component from a developed load, that's what the manufacturers say, all of the reloading books say the same thing.
Whether or not a particular load is dangerous when substituting a different component, I would believe that if your load is near max, then it's a very good idea! And even if it isn't, you might find changing to a different primer caused fliers, that happened to me when substituting Federal Match small rifle from Remington 7 1/2's in my 222's. The Federals caused fliers! I do adhere to the practice of reworking if any component is changed, however after nearly a half a century of loading, my loads are pretty much set in stone.
Matt