16ga.com ~ View topic - RIO primer recipe advice Green Dot powder

Joined: 02 Feb 2011 Posts: 16 Location: Holland Michigan

Hello all,

Well the hoarders have been at it hard the past couple months, (you know who you are and I hope you can't sleep at night Laughing

) and the only primers I can get a hold of are RIO.

Anyhow, I've got my own big beautiful tub of hoarded Green Dot which is my main go to powder. I also use BPI SG 16 wads with cheddite hulls. (Though I have other hull types and a few wad types.) Generally I use cheddite primers on my reloads. I have a 3/4 once 2.5" load and a 1 oz 2.75" load using 16gr and 18gr of Green Dot respectively. I know these loads are both under 9000psi. Do you think a primer swap is reasonable for these loadings?

Or do you have any RIO primer loads to recommend?

I am a member of the Low pressure reloading group, and have even helped update the spreadsheet a couple years ago. Said spreadsheet has almost no RIO primer data. I at a bit of a loss here, any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

Joined: 16 Jul 2015 Posts: 2124 Location: Hudson,Wy

My biggest concern, based on what others report, would be primer pocket issues. The Rio is bigger and can enlarge the primer pockets so that other primers fit loose, not a good thing if you soon can't get Rio primers and must switch back to something else due to continuing market shortages. I don't want hulls that are no longer suitable with other primers in a "take what you can get" world.

I do not have experience substituting Rio for the primers and can't make a good recommendation without further research.

Joined: 02 Feb 2011 Posts: 16 Location: Holland Michigan

WyoChukar I was thinking of just cycling through a 100 or so hulls with the RIOs and leaving the rest of the hulls unsullied by them. This is desperate measures for desperate times, not my preferred path by far.

Joined: 08 Feb 2009 Posts: 1307 Location: Western WA

A very close friend of mine has used Rio, Cheddite, and Fiocchi primers interchangeably in Cheddite type hulls for some years with no noticeable differences in his modern guns. Per Wyo’s comment, once Rio primers are used, the primer pockets are expanded however, and you are pretty much stuck with Rios in those cases.

If you are concerned about pressure issues, you ought to send a handful of loaded shells to Tom Armbrust for testing. Or you could chrono the loads yourself and see if it makes any difference.

B.

Joined: 24 Jul 2016 Posts: 548 Location: Ohio

Wish I could get Rio primers. I use them in Federal hulls when the primer pockets get oversized. I sub them for Federal or Winchester. I too use Green Dot (15.5 grns) and SG16 wads.

Joined: 13 Apr 2017 Posts: 150

I believe BP and maybe others have Rio hulls in stock.