Hi Miller:
It certainly hadn't occured to me that the large pistol primer was underpowered and causing the velocities to be erratic.
In the MagTech 16 the powder is actually around and to the side of the primer. When I was fiddling with the nitro in MagTech hull I cut open some early paper shells I had that were made for nitro. The powder "chamber" in those is shaped like a funnel with the primer firing into the apex of the cone. After I read your post I cut open a couple Modern shells. The chamber is not cone shaped but more like a somewhat flattened semi-hemisphere. The base wad in the two different modern hulls keeps the powder from being to the side of the primer.
I had decided that I would have to have Rocky Mountain Cartridge factory make some brass shells for me if I wanted to shoot nitro in a brass shell. They turn theirs on a lathe and made in such a way that no powder is to the side of the primer. I was even going to have them shape it like the "chambers" in those early paper shells. But the expense of the Rocky Mountain hulls threw me off the project.
I have some Rem UMC 16s that use a smaller primer, I guess from your post they use #57s. I have never loaded them. The "chamber" of those Remingtons is shaped just like the MagTech. If I could round up some #57 primers I could experiment with nitro in that Rem UMC brass shell. I have enough of those to make it an interesting project.
Wonder where I can get 57 primers?
Thanks for the information.
