6.5 Creedmoor Small Primer for Hunting

The size of your firing pin hole in your bolt may dictate which selection of primers you will choose. If you see cratering on the primer, it is a sign of over size firing pin hole, and in this case, you would not want to use a thin cup primer, opting for a thicker cup primer.

Thin cup primers are:
Winchester Small rifle
CCI 400
Federal 205 and 205 Match
Rem 6 1/2

Thick cup primers are:
Rem 7 1/2
CCI 450
CCI BR-4
CCI 41
Tula and Wolf

There are several reputable gunsmiths that "bush" the firing pin hole to the appropriate dia, afterwards, cupped primers are a thing of the past.

VinceMule said:

The size of your firing pin hole in your bolt may dictate which selection of primers you will choose. If you see cratering on the primer, it is a sign of over size firing pin hole, and in this case, you would not want to use a thin cup primer, opting for a thicker cup primer.

Thin cup primers are:
Winchester Small rifle
CCI 400
Federal 205 and 205 Match
Rem 6 1/2

Thick cup primers are:
Rem 7 1/2
CCI 450
CCI BR-4
CCI 41
Tula and Wolf

There are several reputable gunsmiths that "bush" the firing pin hole to the appropriate dia, afterwards, cupped primers are a thing of the past.

Click to expand...

This is not completely accurate (but the soft vs hard cup is important) - there are some Wolf small rifle primers that are "thin" - you want the Wolf/Tula/Other Russian primers that are either "556" or "SRM". I have some Wolf small rifle primers that unfortunately will not take any pressure (PIERCE EASILY!).

I shoot a lot of small rifle primer cartridges and I do not have ignition issues - I have "soft primer cup issues". 223/5.56 especially puts a lot of demands on small rifle primers not to mention 6 Dasher, Creedmoor family, etc.

I use Russian 556/SRM for 223/5.56 and CCI450s for bolt guns.

There are PRS competitors having success with CCI400 and Federal 205s with the BR family and even into GTs. Your results may vary!

I run Fed 205M in all my small primer loads including 6.5CM without ever having any issues. If I buy a rifle that will not shoot accurately after a couple hundred rounds I just don't keep it, and currently I have several running small primers. They are terror to the local varmint herd lol.

I shoot a lot of rounds in SRP cartridges.

.223 Rem
22GT
6CM
25CM (x2)
.260AI (x2)
25MBK (coming soon)

I only use CCI450 in one of my .260AIs. All the rest use either CCI BR4 or Fed GM205M with no issues. From single digits to 115°+. All but the .223 Rem use H4350.

All of the Wolf/Tula primers I have ever used were the Small rifle magnum, I have never seen any of the std primers.

Most custom actions have minimal firing pin dia vs bolt head firing pin hole clearance. Factory actions, Remington, Howa, Savage, Sako vary greatly in firing pin clearance in the firing pin clearance in the bolt head.

Also, the Large rifle primer, as a general rule of thumb, is much less apt to pop from cratering vs a small rifle primer. A guy that has a 6.5/6 Creed may be forced to use a large rifle primer brass vs small due to primer cratering because the "crater" bugs him.

VinceMule said:

All of the Wolf/Tula primers I have ever used were the Small rifle magnum, I have never seen any of the std primers.

Most custom actions have minimal firing pin dia vs bolt head firing pin hole clearance. Factory actions, Remington, Howa, Savage, Sako vary greatly in firing pin clearance in the firing pin clearance in the bolt head.

Also, the Large rifle primer, as a general rule of thumb, is much less apt to pop from cratering vs a small rifle primer. A guy that has a 6.5/6 Creed may be forced to use a large rifle primer brass vs small due to primer cratering because the "crater" bugs him.

Click to expand...

The good news is I shot some Federal Gold Medal with small primers and it shot and grouped well.

USAFRet said:

I get brass from the local range and I got about 100 Federal with small primer pockets. Reckon from Gold Medal Match. If I use these for hunting, should I go with a small magnum primer or will a regular small primer suffice? Using H4350 mostly and hunting in NC. Thanks.

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Fed GM205M's and CCI450's are about the same in my testing, in my rifle. Rem 7.5's are hotter. Run what you have and test it in cooler weather to test results. Just don't prime all your cases until you are sure.

I run GM205M's in Lapua brass. Never had an issue in sub-zero temps with H4350 and 135-147 class projos. Terminus Zeus action, not sure if that makes any difference or not.

PH

I found this primer comparison somewhere in the past when I had issues with Wolf Small Rifle Primers piercing in 223:

Small Rifle Standard
CCI 400 -thin .020" cup, not recommended for AR15 use by CCI/Speer. Good for .22 Hornet, .30
Carbine. See Note 1 at the bottom of the page (surprising but PRS competitors use CCI400 in "hot" 6BR and similar loads with 105+ projectiles)
CCI BR4 - match primer with a thicker .025" cup.
Federal 205 - Mil-Spec cup thickness according to Federal - okay for 5.56mm. .0225" cup thickness.
Federal 205M - same as the 205 but the match version.
Magtech PR-SR - .025" cup thickness (not much feedback yet on this new primer as to AR15
suitability but with the same cup thickness as the Rem 7 1/2 it looks good so far)
Remington 6 ½ - thin .020" cup, intended for older, lower pressure rounds Remington says do not use
for the .223 Rem or other similar pressure rounds. Good for .22 Hornet, .30 Carbine.
Remington 7 ½ BR - A match or "bench rest" primer. Lyman & Nosler classify this primer as a
Standard. Remington says the compound is the same as the 6 1/2 but with a thicker .025" cup.
RWS 4033
Winchester WSR - some piercing issues noted when changed from silver to brass cup. Cup thickness
is a bit thinner at .021". Most say they are good to go for the AR15 despite that, probably because of
the hardness of the cup. Some feel they are less resistant to higher pressures.
Wolf/Tula Small Rifle SR #KVB-223 - soft, sensitive copper cup, not recommended for
AR15/military rifle use or high pressure rounds. (These are the ones that gave me a fit)

Small Rifle Magnum
CCI 450 - same thicker .025" cup as the BR4 and #41. (my favorite PRS primer in Dasher and 25x47)
CCI #41 - commercial version of the fully-qualified DOD primer for use in U.S. military ammo. With
this primer there is more 'distance' between the tip of the anvil and the bottom of the cup than with
other CCI SR primers. .025" thick cup. Same primer mix as CCI 450.
Remington 7 ½ BR - A match or "bench rest" primer. Hornady, Handloads.com, and Chuck Hawks
classify this primer as a Magnum, differing from other sources that classify it as a Standard. .025" cup
thickness.
Wolf/Tula Small Rifle Magnum SRM - hard, less sensitive brass cup intended for AR15/military rifle
and high pressure rounds - #KVВ-5,56M. (these are working well for me in all small rifle primers uses)
Wolf/Tula Small Rifle 223 SR223 - #KVB-223M "This is the newest primer available in the Wolf line.
It is ever so slightly hotter than the small rifle magnum primer and it comes with a brass colored thick
cup. This primer can be used in place of the SRM primer or used when a different powder is used that
is hard to ignite."(these are working well for me in all small rifle primers uses)

Large Rifle Standard
CCI 200 - mild in brisance. Hard enough for use in semi-automatics.
CCI BR2 - same as the 200 but the match version. Hard enough for use in semi-automatics.
Federal 210 - medium brisance between CCI/Remington & Winchester. Do not use in semiautomatics.
Federal 210M - match version of the above primer. Do not use in semi-automatics.
Magtech PR-LR
Remington 9 ½ - mild in brisance.
RWS 5341
Winchester WLR - the hottest standard primer. Hard enough for use in semi-automatics.
Wolf/Tula Large Rifle LR #KVB-7 - all brass - "For Standard Rifle loads".
Wolf/Tula Large Rifle #KVB-7,62 - "For 7,62 NATO cartridges"
Wolf/Tula primers are used by noted match shooter David Tubbs who says: "Be sure they are seated
into the case - if not they can be hard to ignite. Russian primers use a different sinoxide compound
(closer to the European type), which, in my testing, consistently delivers better extreme spreads over
Federal..." Hard enough for use in semi-automatics.

Steve Chernicky took pictures of primers going off, posted in Precision Shooting magazine years ago. The Ignition pictures show just how different primers are, incredible.

I don't think that Wolf/Tula primer have been imported into our country for a decade. These primers also take an extra effort to seat as they seem to be a few .0001 thicker, and I save Lapua brass that have loose pockets for use with Wolf/Tula primers.

VinceMule said:

Steve Chernicky took pictures of primers going off, posted in Precision Shooting magazine years ago. The Ignition pictures show just how different primers are, incredible.

I don't think that Wolf/Tula primer have been imported into our country for a decade. These primers also take an extra effort to seat as they seem to be a few .0001 thicker, and I save Lapua brass that have loose pockets for use with Wolf/Tula primers.

Click to expand...

The Wolf/Tula are still out there as new old stock - I got the "soft" Wolf SRPs from an estate sale and found the Wolf SRM and 556 from a local.

Yes, us scroungers can find them, once in a great while. I don't expect to see the Wolf/Tula primers ever imported again in my lifetime.

Well, small primers did not work out. In testing both a 120 grain Sierra SP and a 129 ABLR with H4350, I got blown primers in the same spot during ladder testing about 1 grain below max. I got excellent results with the LRP and the 120 Sierra. So, I will set those cases back for an emergency.

I got really good velocity and accuracy with StaBall 6.5. I have srp and lrp brass, but I'm not sure if I've loaded any srp with it yet. I liked it so much in the CM and my 22-250 I bought 16 pounds of it. Ragged holes at 100 yards.

highfinblue said:

I got really good velocity and accuracy with StaBall 6.5. I have srp and lrp brass, but I'm not sure if I've loaded any srp with it yet. I liked it so much in the CM and my 22-250 I bought 16 pounds of it. Ragged holes at 100 yards.

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That is my next venture on the 129 ABLRs I tested. They were jumpy in velocity and impact points were pretty spread out on ladder tests. I did get 2900 with the 120s from a 20" barrel. Happy with that and from the numbers looks like they should group well.