I'm wondering if anyone has info on the dos and don'ts of switching primers? Specifically I load a number of different rounds and I'm wondering what the effect would be of using a large rifle primer (got lots of them), in a round calling for large pistol and large pistol magnum primers (harder to get). This would be in a pinch, of course, and not something I would WANT to do except in an mergency, but maybe there is something to it! Thanks for your time.
Swapping ot primers
- Thread starter Lew Hodge
- Start date
I have a bunch of large pistol i’d trade for large or small rifle if you live near iowa/ill area. I believe the cup is shorter on large pistol so could have a protruding primer and bad things happening (discharge out of battery?). I believe you’re ok with small rifle in lieu of small pistol though. My friend does it now and again. Sometimes his striker fired pistols will fail to ignite one though due to the harder cup on the small rifle primers he is using.
Thanks Brasscow for your reply. I took some measurements on large rifle primers, .124" depth, large pistol primers .118" depth, .006" difference.
Measuring some brass, 30-06, large rifle, primer pocket depth .130", 460 S&W, large pistol primer pocket depth, .130", 50 Beowulf, large pistol magnum primer, depth .125". It looks like the large pistol primer in the S&W is .012" below flush and the large rifle will be .006" below flush. Large rifle primer in 50 will be .001" below flush and large pistol magnum will be .007" below flush. Seems like brass is not closely following the differences in depth of primers, with everything below flush to one degree or another. Now the question of ignition differences? I can't answer that one. I think, in a pinch, if I had to swap primers using these specific batches of brass, I might drop the load another half grain to account for possibly stronger ignition in the large rifle primer and see what it looks like on firing. Again, not sure. Any kind of testing is somewhat a waste of very hard to find ammo and reloading supplies. I check the sites every day; you need what you need for what's to come. Thanks again!
Measuring some brass, 30-06, large rifle, primer pocket depth .130", 460 S&W, large pistol primer pocket depth, .130", 50 Beowulf, large pistol magnum primer, depth .125". It looks like the large pistol primer in the S&W is .012" below flush and the large rifle will be .006" below flush. Large rifle primer in 50 will be .001" below flush and large pistol magnum will be .007" below flush. Seems like brass is not closely following the differences in depth of primers, with everything below flush to one degree or another. Now the question of ignition differences? I can't answer that one. I think, in a pinch, if I had to swap primers using these specific batches of brass, I might drop the load another half grain to account for possibly stronger ignition in the large rifle primer and see what it looks like on firing. Again, not sure. Any kind of testing is somewhat a waste of very hard to find ammo and reloading supplies. I check the sites every day; you need what you need for what's to come. Thanks again!
NorCal.
You can use rifle primers for pistol loads (common among USPSA shooters - in fact, all I use is rifle primers in my 9mm loads). However, do not use pistol primers in any rifle load.
