Federal 205 and ball powders

[totaldla]

They were $5.99/100 at Sportsman's Warehouse so I picked up 500 to try out - new to me. I used them to light 24gr of TAC pushing a 70gr Speer Soft Point. Ran them over the chronograph and was a bit disappointed with the wide ES (150fps). I inadvertently made a squib and the Fed 205 didn't have enough power to move the bullet.

So I'm wondering if I screwed up trying to use these primers with powders like TAC and H335?

[Unclenick]

H335, definitely. It's an old '60s formulation that wants a magnum primer. TAC claims it doesn't need the special primer, so I don't know what is happening there, except that if case fill is poor, you probably still need a magnum to pressurize the empty space.

The 205, in Charles Petty's 2006 primer tests in the 223 Rem, was the mildest of all and is probably best with cases filled well with a stick powder. He was using Reloader 10X with a 55-grain Hornady V-max.

[hdwhit]

What cartridge are you loading? You didn't say.

You say you "inadvertently" made a squib. Does anyone intentionally make a squib?

You need to carefully review your reloading procedures and make the necessary changes so that you don't load another squib.

Of course the primer didn't have enough energy to drive the projectile clear of the barrel, few do.

Go back and read the section on "How to Reload" at the front of all of the reloading manuals. Conform your practice to what the manual describes. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

[totaldla]

I'll load some up with cci450 and report back. I may have to put the Fed205s away until I'm using a stick powder.

[jetinteriorguy]

Originally Posted by Unclenick

H335, definitely. It's an old '60s formulation that wants a magnum primer. TAC claims it doesn't need the special primer, so I don't know what is happening there, except that if case fill is poor, you probably still need a magnum to pressurize the empty space.

The 205, in Charles Petty's 2006 primer tests in the 223 Rem, was the mildest of all and is probably best with cases filled well with a stick powder. He was using Reloader 10X with a 55-grain Hornady V-max.

Hmm, interesting thought on H335 and magnum primers. I’d never heard that before. I’ve been using H335 for some loads in both .233 and 7.63x39 with standard primers with pretty good results. I’ll have to try some magnum primers to see if there’s any improvement. This is in my AR type rifles. I like H335 with 55gr bullets in the .223 and just regular 123gr bullets in the 7.62x39.

[Marco Califo]

I use WC844, military pull-down (mil-surplus H335). I have found it to work fine with CCI 400 primers, until I started loading hotter and pierced primers and other pressure signs. Switching to CCI 450's and then Tula 556M fixed that. I think the CCI 400 are not suitable for full power 223. Yes, magnum primers are recommended for ball military powders.
One other thing about H335: it burns HOT and Savage bolt gun sporter weight barrel got very hot in 10 rounds. Heavy weight barrels mitigate the excess heat.

[zeke]

Not experienced with 335 or Tac. In 223 am using a lot of 748 with Rem 7 1/2 primers, which gave better accuracy/consistency results than Fed 205's. Also using 748 in 308, and getting better accuracy/consistency with CCI 34's than Fed 210's. Am using very close to max charges in both calibers.

[totaldla]

I loaded both 55gr sp and 70gr sp with H335 and CCI450 primers - the ES was 40fps. So I think the Fed205 primers are better used with an extruded powder. Live and learn.

[Unclenick]

If you read Allan Jones's old article on primers, he says that in 1989, when he was at CCI, they reformulated their magnum primers specifically to do better with spherical propellants. A lot of this was adding materials that throw hotter sparks. These days, a lot of standard primers have copied that hot spark shower, and in some circumstances (cases reasonably full), they will do OK. But any time a case isn't full, you have extra empty space for the primer to bring up to a reliable starting pressure for consistent ignition, and that's when a magnum primer can do better. This is true even with stick powders. I've seen magnum primers produce lower ES in a 30-06 with a "Garand" load that has a fair amount of empty space in the case, but a standard primer produce lower ES when case fill was good. In the end, you just have to try it and see what happens in your gun with your load.