Got i question,,, has anyone reloading the 45acp ever substitute a large rifle primer, in place of the large pistol primer, and the same for small pistol primer to small rifle primers, i havent never done this in my reloading, but was wondering if this is safe to use or not. I've notice some 45acp have the small primers (blazer brass) instead of large pistol primers. thanks for any comments.
- Thread starter mwhite
- Start date
don't do it_ it will raise the pressures
I think rifle primers are harder, not sure you'd get positive firing pin hits. Also they are hotter so you'd have to adjust your charge. But to be honest, I haven't tried. I have no need since I have lots of LP primers.
I did try some LP primers in my 30-40 Krag with light cast bullet loads. Bad ideal, only shot one, it was pierced.
I think I'll stick to pistol primers for pistols and rifle primers for rifles.
I did try some LP primers in my 30-40 Krag with light cast bullet loads. Bad ideal, only shot one, it was pierced.
I think I'll stick to pistol primers for pistols and rifle primers for rifles.
mwhite,
There's a reason they make Rifle primers and Pistol primers; they're different, and rarely interchangeable. In the case of small primers, there's actual dimensional differences, in addition to the rifle primers having considerably harder cups, and different priming compound mixes.
Use Rifle primers in rifle cases that were meant for them, and Pistol primers in pistol cases that were intended for them.
There's a reason they make Rifle primers and Pistol primers; they're different, and rarely interchangeable. In the case of small primers, there's actual dimensional differences, in addition to the rifle primers having considerably harder cups, and different priming compound mixes.
Use Rifle primers in rifle cases that were meant for them, and Pistol primers in pistol cases that were intended for them.
I'm not going to recommend it, BUT we have shot literally 1000's of .45 ACP with large rifle primers. Our loads our quite low for Wild Bunch SASS shooting, but they work fine.
According to SAAMI, large pistol primer pockets are .118" to .122", while large rifle primer pocket depths are .128" to .132". In short, rifle primers in a pistol, even if they were of the same "power" (and they are not) could easily result in a high primer-slam fire situation. Sinclair sells primer pocket uniformers that reflect this difference. It makes no sense to use rifle primers in your 45, you're going into unknown pressure tested regions, you're running a chance of a slam fire, rifle cups are generally much harder than pistol cups, you could even find a situation where the handgun doesn't have enough striking power to ignite the primer (although with a 1911 that is un-likely). The typical very fast powders used in 45 (bullseye being the king) are double based powders, given enough compression and a priming source, the flammable solid (the smokeless powder for small arms) can and will act like a high explosive. I'm not saying that this will happen in a 45 with 5 grains of bullseye and a large rifle primer, but the poor practice of "substituting" primers should never been started, or recommended by anyone-poor loading practice results in damage guns and people, you don't need a damaged gun, and none of us would like to see you damaged! BTW large rifle primers, as of late, have become harder to find than large pistol primers (in my part of the 48), you shouldn't have much trouble finding someone will to make you a trade, if you're having problems finding large pistol primers.
Thanks guys for the input on this, I've never reloaded my 45 with nothin but the right pistol primers,,and im not going to start a poor practice by doing so now,,,but i was just wondering if worst comes to worst and cant get no large are small pistol primers would this work.
I tried it once with an empty case on my 1911, took 3 hammer strikes to light a Win LR Primer. The weapon was in perfect repair, and had never misfired on any of my PISTOL loads... 
Was one of those Conversations that ended up in "hell lets see..."
Was one of those Conversations that ended up in "hell lets see..."the large rifle primers are a tad taller than the large pistol primers and they will stick out the base of the case a bit, it won't make safe lock up in your pistol and will create all kinds of unhappy events for you.
small rifle in small pistol works just fine but consistent ignition could be problematic.
small rifle in small pistol works just fine but consistent ignition could be problematic.
Check out this thread.
http://www.snipershide.com/shooting/snipers-hide-reloading/178604-primers.html
http://www.snipershide.com/shooting/snipers-hide-reloading/178604-primers.html
Last edited:
leadbullet,, your right, i done some measureing with my cali. and the large rifle primers r taller, but the small rifle and small pistol primers measured the same. but i believe the small rifle primers are thicker. if worst comes to it i might would use the small rifle primers if i ran out of the small pistol primers, but not the large rifle.
