August 11th 2023How Primers are Made — From Start to Finish at Federal FactoryDo You Know How Gun Primers Are Made? Do you know how explosive elements are placed into those tiny cups of primers? This video was filmed in a Federal ammunition plant. The video starts with 1000 empty primer cups being loaded into trays by vibrating (0:05 mark). Although much of the process has been automated, production workers still play a major role in the process. They apply a green, sticky compound to the interior of hundreds of primers cups. After the cups have been filled, the plate of cups is “mated up” with a plate containing anvils (0:40 mark). The primers are then removed from the trays and examined. The Shooting Times website has a great article on primers. This authoritative article from Shooting Times explains the finer points of primer construction and design. The author corrects some common misconceptions about primers, and reveals little-known facts. Here are some highlights.Useful Trivia – although Small Rifle primers and Small Pistols have the same depth specification, Large Rifle primers and Large Pistols do not. The pocket of a Large Pistol is shallower than that of a Large Rifle primer, by 0.008 to 0.09 inch. Magnum Primers
There are two ways of making a Magnum primer: either add more of the standard chemical mixture to give a longer burning flame, or change the mix for one with a more aggressive burn characteristic. CCI used to use the first option for Magnum Rifle primers prior to 1989. After that, we switched over to a mix optimized specifically for spherical propulants that produced a 24% boost in flame temperature and 16% boost in gas. Foiled Again
The paper disk is usually placed between the anvil of the component primer and the priming mixture. It’s called “foil-paper” not because it is made of foil, but because it replaces metal foil that was used to seal the early percussion caps. This little disk is purely a convenience for manufacturing. Wet primer pellets have a smaller diameter than the inside diameter when they are inserted into the cup and must be compressed to reach their correct diameter and height. The wet mix would adhere to the compaction pins without the foil paper and cause the assembly process to be clogged. Read Full Primer Story on ShootingTimes.comVideo find by Boyd Allen. We welcome reader submissions.Similar Posts:Tags: Federal Primers, Primer Compound, Primer factory, Primers
