BE-86 and Federal 100 primers....

[Klingkong251]

So I picked up some BE-86 to load up some 147 grain Federal HST pulls I bought online. I wanted to mimic the recoil impulse of my carry ammo for training purposes and from what I've read, federal uses BE-86 or something similar for their HSTs. When looking at Alliant's load data, they list 5.1 grains as their max. I picked up federal 100 primers since they also list that on their load data as well as using federal cases. I worked loads up starting at 4.6 grains all the way up to 5.1 grains. I noticed that at 4.8 grains, the primers started to flatten slightly and by 5.0 grains they were pretty flat. My question is, are the federal 100 primers more prone to flattening because of how soft they are or is Alliant's data on the hot side? Im just curious as to why I'm seeing pressure signs below the max. Every component is the same and I'm running slightly over the recommended oal.

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[gaijin]

Federal primers are known for having "soft" cups. They were/are a favorite for use in lightly sprung, double action revolvers for this reason.

Try other SPP or even SRP.

A "trick" from the early days of USPSA .38 Super Major; SRP's to help with WAY over pressure loads.
I still use SRP's with 9mm "range" loads simply because I had so many.

[bigedp51]

Some very good primer info on pistol and rifle primer with cup thickness and hardness at the link below.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT PRIMER - A PRIMER ON PRIMERS
https://www.sksboards.com/smf/index.php?topic=56422.0

[Klingkong251]

That is an interesting read. Thank you for the link.

Some very good primer info on pistol and rifle primer with cup thickness and hardness at the link below.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT PRIMER - A PRIMER ON PRIMERS
https://www.sksboards.com/smf/index.php?topic=56422.0

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[shadowrider]

1) Federal primer cups aren't a lot different from other U.S. made primers. They do have a more sensitive priming compound which as far as I've been able to determine only Federal uses.

2) I was told by a friend who is a Federal sponsored shooter that BE-86 is "probably" what they are using in their factory ammo at least the American Eagle line. It's been a bulk powder for several years and only somewhat recently been made available as a canister powder. I've started playing with it and I'm amazed at how versatile it is so it makes sense that the factories are using it. Seems to be a great powder. It seems that one could load almost any pistol caliber with this single powder and get decent results.