My apologies as I know this question has likely been asked here multiple times previously and answered, but multiple searches here didn't turn up any helpful info so I am going to ask for the help of those more knowledgeable at reloading for 223/556 AR's than myself.
A little background about myself. Been reloading for over 30 years and in that time have made 1k's of HG and rifle loads. Although I have owned AR-15's for almost 10 years now I've never reloaded for them or any semi-auto rifle. There were quite informative sections in several of my manuals about reloading for semi-auto hunting rifles and I thought that information was good enough if applied to reloading for my AR-15's. I did reload for my friend who owned a 223 16" T/C Contender years ago and have several thousand CCI 400 small rifle primers. I knew one day I most likely would have to reload for my AR's so I gradually built up my stores of 55 and 62 grain FMJ bullets along with great metering 223 powders like TAC, CFE 223, AA2230 and a few others.
Like any good reloader before I bought any primers or powder to reload 223, I consulted all seven of my reloading manuals (Hornady, Speer, Sierra, Lyman, Hodgdon, Nosler and Lee) to compile data and reach a consensus on what powder and primers best suited my needs to reload for 223. Based on my manuals suggestions over the last 5-6 years I stockpiled CCI 400 primers, Winchester and Federal non-magnum, small rifle primers and Federal magnum small rifle primers.
I also have and use the newest version of the Hornady LNL AP progressive press and have enjoyed excellent success reloading 9mm with it. Now that I wish to start reloading strictly plinking range fun ammo I again consulted my manuals. Then it occurred to me that all of the reloading information for 223 was strictly for bolt action rifles and no semi-auto hunting rifles and none of my manuals even so much as mentioned reloading for the AR-15 platform of rifles. This might be due to the fact none of them had a print date any newer than 2004. I then remembered an EIGHTH reloading manual I owned titled "Precision Shooting Reloading Guide" by Davis Brennan and it had an entire section dedicated to precision reloading for high powered gas operated service rifle competitive shooters.
While reading through that manual I came across a problem for semi-auto service rifles like the M1 and M14 and although rare compared to M1's and M14's also the AR-15 platform called a "slam fire" that could have disastrous results for the rifle and possibly the shooter as well. The manual said no conclusive cause for slam fires in in service rifles had ever been determined. It also never suggested strictly using magnum small rifle to reload for AR-15's and said both regular and magnum SM rifle primers worked well. It did mention that there was thought that Federal primers had to thin a cap and that was likely the cause because most of the hang fires were occurring with federal primers. But Federal published data in an issue of the magazine "Precision Shooting that refuted the notion their cups were any thinner or weaker than anyone elses, and cited the fact federal primers were by far the most common primers in use by people reloading for service rifle comp shoots as why thier primers were experiencing most of the hang fire incidents.
I felt considering this manual was written in 1995 the internet might offer me a better explanation for the cause of "slam fires" in semi-auto service rifles. So I did a search and what I found was people stating that using non-magnum small rifle primers like CCI 400 non mag SRP have thinner cups VS magnum SRP and are the main cause for hang fires in the AR-15 when combined with the fact the AR-15's firing pin is free floating is the cause of slam fires.
These same people went on to say to avoid hang fires you should NEVER reload 223 for use in a AR-15 using standard non-magnum small rifle primers and should ONLY use magnum small rifle primers or risk a hang fire. This is a bit of a problem for me considering about 70% of my small rifle primers I bought specifically for reloading for my AR-15 are standard non-magnum small rifle primers.
So is this true concerning small non-magnum rifle primers as the primary cause of hang fires for AR-15 reloads or not?
Thanks,
Arthur.
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