45 ACP primers large and small . . .

P

Prof Young

New member
So in my very first venture in to reloading 45 auto I discover the amazing phenomena of some having large primers and some having small. Read up on them via this forum and others. Seems like you just keep them separated to save the hassle and pretty much load otherwise normally. Is that about right?

Live well, be safe
Prof Young
 
I've heard the small primers are going to lose about 25fps to the large primer. Never ran them over the chrono to find out for sure. YMMV
 
You can do your test if you want ( probably should). I dropped my charge and worked back up. Turned out it was the same charge anyhow. Now I just keep the to the side. Not sure if I will ever use them again.
 
Mostly a non event with the exception of progressive presses. There are a number of accounts of progressive presses blowing up when a small pistol primer 45 ACP case appears above a large pistol primer.

Even though I thought I was careful, I picked up a Blazer small primer case with my large primer 45 ACP brass at the range. I tumbled the stuff and was reloading them on my Dillion 550B when I noticed difficulty in priming one case. Pulled that case out and found it was one of those small primer cases. Tossed it into a trash can. Luckily nothing happened. If I had pressed enough the large primer underneath might have gone off, but it did not.
 
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Sorting is nuttin' special during initial inspection and the only "problem" I've read about in the years since small primed brass started showing up is when progressive press users don't inspect their brass and then jam up their press trying to insert a large primer into a small pocket. All the articles/tests/comparisons I've read show very little difference in performance using identical loads in small vs large primed cases (the 25 fps difference noted above)...
 
Being the reasonable fellow that I am I think you should just inspect and separate them and then consign the .45 ACP cases with the small primers to the LOWERMOST RING OF THE NETHER WORLD WHERE BAD THINGS WOULD HAPPEN TO THEM.
 
I use the large, and small primer casings to help me keep in mind which is loaded up...

Aka small primer for 185gr. bullets, large primer for 200gr.
 
Small magnum primers in 45 acp?

Okay, so I still have this case of small magnum pistol primers that I bought "inadvertently." If I used those in the 45 acp with the small primer pockets would I still have to adjust the loads?

Live well, be safe, Merry Christmas
Prof Young
 
small pistol magnum primers are not going to fit into a 45auto case with a SP hole. The small magnum primers are deeper and will not seat flush. Sounds like you need to buy a 357mag so you can use those up ;)
(edit: my mistake, small primers interchange but the LP and LR are different depths)
 
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I just sort out the SPP .45acp brass (which is really a PITA) and put them in a bag.
And then give them away.
If I can't find someone who wants them they go in the trash. I don't get enough to scrap, and there is no way I am going to load two different primer sizes in .45acp.

Stupidest idea ever.

Some Accounting geek figured he could save his company .000000001 per round, when multiplied by billions of rounds, might end up being 3 bucks per year. Notwithstanding the fact that at the retail level, SPP and LPP cost the same...

At today's ammo prices, it would have been far easier to raise the price of a box of .45acp by 2-3 cents...who would have noticed? Are the companies loading SPP .45acp making exceptional profits? Doubtful.
 
Small Pistol Magnum primers are the same size as the regular small pistol primers. Just hotter ignition. In .45 ACP, I'd back off on the powder a bit, to compensate if I was to use them.

I deep six all small primer .45 ACP cases. Cases are cheap.
 
In my few years dealing with assorted primer sizes, I have found that all small primers are physically the same size (diameter and length) but large pistol primers are shorter than large rifle primers (about .008"), both standard and magnum...
 
I'd throw the small primer cases away, but only so I can feel like I'm rich.
"...would I still have to adjust the loads?..." Yes. Aside from magnum primers being about the powder used, only, when you change any one component you should wok up the load again.
 
Brasscollector may be right . . .

Well, I tend to resist getting yet another caliber, and my honey is starting to look askance a by bulging gun safe, but maybe a 357 magnum will have to be the next purchase . . . Life is good.

Live well, be safe
Prof Young
 
Please send small primer casings to...

Std7mag
Altoona PA 16601....

:D

I don't even "throw away" steel casings. Have separate bins, and watch the price of scrap metal. Same with aluminum.
 
I just sort them and save them, occasionally one slips thru and I cuss the person who came up with the idea and hope he gets a lump of coal this Christmas.
 
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