A PRIMER PRIMER

Ah, the little primer—that tiny, metal cup that’s the spark plug for our center-fire cartridges and shot-shells. It’s often overlooked; yet, without it, we’d still be sending showers of sparks with flint and steel.

Unless you handload your ammunition or frequently use an inline muzzle-loading rifle, the primer might not matter all that much to you, but it can make or break the accuracy of your ammo. Primers can be finicky little buggers, changing the performance of your handloadseven though the powder type and charge weight are identical—because no two brands or types of primers produce the same results.

BOXER PRIMER

The primer is the first stage in the chain of events leading to the