Will changing primers open up groups?

Thanks for all the replies. I finally picked up 2 bricks of Remington 7 1/2 BR primers for $22.50 a brick today. Bought them off a person who purchased them at Sportsman’s a few months back. Two thousand should hold me over for a long time.
 
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The fact is a lot change can mess you up, not just a primer substitution, but it is more likely with a powder than a primer in my experience.

I am glad the OP found his primer again. But with the break up of Remington I would try to source more if the opportunity affords itself, just because.

I would also test for an alternative brand of primer so you have a “fall back” load in the wings. It may even require a different powder.

I had a fly shoot’in load in a .22-250 Rem 788 that took me forever to find. It involved WW 760 powder. I told a long in the tooth gun enthusiast about it. He told me I had better go and source that lot of powder like there was no tomorrow.
I had experienced a lot change already and no determental effects so I reflexively laughed ...... he got mad and set me straight!

His anger with me got me motivated and caused me to find just one remaining powder in stock of that lot. When I ran out of that pound I bought the next lot number and it was all washed up!

I tried and tested until I was blue in the face and to no avail, primers, powders everything but my .460” for five shots load was no more! I finally settled on Varget and .6” but more velocity.

You know what? Coyotes died just as well if not better with the added velocity!!

It comes down to what you are doing with your ammo, expectations are one thing. Needs are sometimes another.

Three44s
 
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It can. I've experimented with it in the past. I've seen no change, a little change & huge change.

And the only way to know is to work up loads with a different primer & see what happens
 
I don’t shoot the gun enough to have had to stress about finding them. I haven’t shot the rifle in years just because I have a lot more “go to” varmint rifles. I did some digging and found about 300 I had loaded up a few year back I forgot about. Been out of Rem 7 1/2’s other than those for years and some i forgot I primed in some 450BM cases I would have removed and reused worst case scenario. I don’t plan on using the 2 bricks of 7 1/2’s for any other rifles accept for this one now. I have a feeling after the Remington bankruptcy and federal buy out of them now we won’t see primers again for a long time.... or ever again. I did buy 15 or 16 bricks( maybe more) of everything on the last couple of months from my LGS for $22 to $39 a brick so I don’t have to worry about a “lack of” primer inventory issue again. They were nice enough not to mark them up but limited to one brick a day so I made many trips with a buddy or relatives to stick up. Worse case scenario is I would have had to switch primers and I’m sure it would still shoot sone pretty small sub MOA groups with the same load. I at least have a lot of other brand primer bricks I can trade someone for 7 1/2’s down the road of needed. If I do run onto more I will buy them.
 
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Good to know that 7.5's work good with Benchmark. I have not had the luck others have had with the 7.5's at all.

I normally use CCI #41's for Benchmark powder. Maybe someday i will throw the 7.5's in and run them over the chronograph while evaluating group sizes?
 
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