New to reloading

[Luv1911's]

I am looking at purchasing reloading components for 9mm and .45. Win 231 powder seems to be very well liked especially for .45. Does anyone have any input on Federal Champion Primers and also powder for 9mm. I know this has probably been asked many times. Looking for range loads and I shoot some action pistol competition and plan on using RN-FMJ or plated bullets.

[Pete1979]

231, Bullseye and HP-38 are all good powders for .45 and 9mm up to 124gn. Does your .45 brass have small or large primer pockets?

[Luv1911's]

It's all large primer.

[Bill Steele]

There are a lot of powders that will do an excellent job for you.

As mentioned, Bullseye or W231/HP38 will work great. Also WST is a nice light shooting powder in those calibers. If you want to get fancy VV-N320 is dreamy.

[Luv1911's]

Thanks guys, I think I will order some W231 to start with. Anyone have any experience with the Federal Champion Primers both large and small?

[MIAMIbaseballer]

W231 is great for 45 and 9. Fed primers work fine, but they are the softest.....

[Luv1911's]

While waiting for replies I did read that Federal primers are soft, CCI are hard and Win. is in between. So what does a soft primer mean to me when reloading for range use. Are they more temperamental, easier to set off prematurely? I can understand harder primers being hard t set off if you have reduced power springs in you guns but what are the down sides to soft primers?

[MIAMIbaseballer]

While waiting for replies I did read that Federal primers are soft, CCI are hard and Win. is in between. So what does a soft primer mean to me when reloading for range use. Are they more temperamental, easier to set off prematurely? I can understand harder primers being hard t set off if you have reduced power springs in you guns but what are the down sides to soft primers?

Soft primers are great for fine tuned revolver actions and striker-fired guns with lightened springs. Fed primers will be easier to set off when priming a case..... There seems to be a lot more problems out there with Fed primers than the other brands. I just don't see an advantage to using them unless you need to...

[Luv1911's]

Thank you for the info, I will stay away from those. One last question, what about Wolf primers?

[shooterbill]

I have used a few thousand Wolf spp and srp. They have worked great. There's nothing wrong with the Federal primers in pistols. They don't work well in my AR's.

[MIAMIbaseballer]

Wolf or Tula primers are great for target ammo. I would not use them for hunting/SD/any round other than target.... They have a higher failure rate, but for the price, you can't beat them.

[Luv1911's]

You guys have been very helpful, greatly appreciated.

[MIAMIbaseballer]

Anytime! Ask any other questions you have.... Lots of knowledgeable folks on here.

[Sunday]

While waiting for replies I did read that Federal primers are soft, CCI are hard and Win. is in between. So what does a soft primer mean to me when reloading for range use. Are they more temperamental, easier to set off prematurely? I can understand harder primers being hard t set off if you have reduced power springs in you guns but what are the down sides to soft primers?

http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/primers-and-pressure-analysis/

[Bill Steele]

Sorry to the OP, missed your original Q about primers.

You have it pretty straight, Fed are softer, CCI and WOLF harder cups, Winchester in between. Fed uses a different compound than the others which is easier to ignite, as noted, great for guns with lighter springs. For a long time Lee used to admonish users not to use Federal in his primer feed setups due to their easy ignition characteristics. I have loaded a lot of Federal primers (including in Lee Equipment) with not a single problem.

I have found Federal, perhaps because their soft cups flatten more easily, makes reading them for pressures kind of useless, although many will tell you relying on primer flattening for pressure reads is useless and downright dangerous anyway.

In recent years I have loaded about 30K Winchester primers using LPP, SPP and LRP. Recently in both my hotter 10mm (LPP) loads and my 308 Win loads (LRP) I have experienced cracked cups and some breech face erosion on the guns where this happened (not to mention the crappy SD's). This is a known problem with Winchester primers they will replace any lot that exhibits this problem (at least I have never heard anyone who had a problem getting exchanges). But I have decided when I have used up the last of my Winchester primers I am done with Win primers. The bad news is I have a couple years worth to use up. I have already switched to Federal Match for loads in which reliability is critical.

Good luck, have fun.