Found some magnum large pistol primers
- Thread starter the45er
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reynolds357
New member
Never seen any pressure difference that I could notice. Unless I had loaded up to the max+p load, I wouldn't go down on powder, but that's me. The official protocol is go back to starting load.
It will probably work, but why??
I've always felt that using a magnum primer in a cartridge like the .45ACP was a stupid waste of a magnum primer. I felt that way when primers were a penny each and the shelves were always full and you could get as many as you could afford and carry any, and everytime you went shopping, today with tremendous high prices and shortages it seems almost criminally waste full.
I'd save the magnum primers for cartridges and loads that need them. The .45acp doesn't.
Yes, you can adjust your loads to compensate for the magnum primer, so by doing that magnum primers can be used in everything with suitable loads.
But, the reverse is not true. Lighting off large amounts of slow powders and powders with difficult to ignite deterrent coatings are times when no matter how much you wish, standard primers don't do as well as magnums.
Consider this, in these shortage riddled times, somewhere out there is somebody who needs magnum primers and might have something worthwhile to trade... Like. maybe standard primers...
I have guns that use both, depending on the load, so I don't "waste" magnum primers on loads where standard primers do just fine.
That being said, its your stuff, its your money "waste" it any way that pleases you (and isn't prohibited by law
)Usually, magnum primers in that short powder space don't make a positive pressure difference. Sometimes they actually lower pressure by unseating the bullet before the powder burn gets serious, thus increasing the burn starting volume. If they are the only primers you have, I suggest you compare velocity on a chronograph to see whether the pressure is trending up or down. Going back to a starting load makes perfect sense for a first try at this.
A simple powder quantity won't be universal because that same half a grain makes much less difference in a large powder space than it does in a small powder space, or with a light bullet or a heavy one. So does the difference in primer gas quantity, for that matter. A chronograph, owned or borrowed, is the simplest way to compare your experimental load to your old load. Velocity is not a proportional reflection of peak pressure, but if you aren't changing the powder type and are matching velocity with that same powder for an established load, it will be very close.
A simple powder quantity won't be universal because that same half a grain makes much less difference in a large powder space than it does in a small powder space, or with a light bullet or a heavy one. So does the difference in primer gas quantity, for that matter. A chronograph, owned or borrowed, is the simplest way to compare your experimental load to your old load. Velocity is not a proportional reflection of peak pressure, but if you aren't changing the powder type and are matching velocity with that same powder for an established load, it will be very close.
cavediver27
New member
Over many years of reloading and multiple primer shortages, I interchange large pistol magnum and large pistol primers (as well as small pistol magnum and small pistol primers) with zero issues. I chronograph every load I develop and have not found any noticeable difference in FPS or accuracy. The fired primers show no sign of over pressure and the cases have survived many reloading. I’ve never needed to adjust powder weights but I load in the mid to upper range, not maximum loads.
The “why” is quite simple. I FOUND SOME AT A REASONABLE PRICE! Maybe you have an endless supply of cheap primers, but I don’t. I personally haven’t seen large or small pistol or rifle primers in a gun shop for over two years and buying them online when you can, they end up costing about $125/1000. Does that explain it well enough?
reynolds357
New member
Why? Because that is what the man can find. There is a shortage. Have to use what you can get.It will probably work, but why??
I've always felt that using a magnum primer in a cartridge like the .45ACP was a stupid waste of a magnum primer. I felt that way when primers were a penny each and the shelves were always full and you could get as many as you could afford and carry any, and everytime you went shopping, today with tremendous high prices and shortages it seems almost criminally waste full.
I'd save the magnum primers for cartridges and loads that need them. The .45acp doesn't.
Yes, you can adjust your loads to compensate for the magnum primer, so by doing that magnum primers can be used in everything with suitable loads.
But, the reverse is not true. Lighting off large amounts of slow powders and powders with difficult to ignite deterrent coatings are times when no matter how much you wish, standard primers don't do as well as magnums.
Consider this, in these shortage riddled times, somewhere out there is somebody who needs magnum primers and might have something worthwhile to trade... Like. maybe standard primers...
I have guns that use both, depending on the load, so I don't "waste" magnum primers on loads where standard primers do just fine.
That being said, its your stuff, its your money "waste" it any way that pleases you (and isn't prohibited by law
I've never seen a difference in 45acp worth mentioning. But I have mostly loaded warm using slower powders. I've not used mag primers with fast powders - although I will in the next year as I just ran out of standard primers.
lll Otto lll
New member
45acp is a low pressure round, so a magnum primer isn't going to matter safety wise with a plinking load. By the way, I found CCI large primers selling for $85 this week online....and the price included shipping and Hazmat.
During the shortage in the early '90s, I got 5000 of the Winchester standard/magnum combo primers and never needed to adjust a load with them. However, I've seen measurement data showing pressure differences resulting from primer choice before. German Salazar's old Rifleman's Journal showed an 8% difference in peak pressure in a 30-06 firing H4350. A 2006 Handloader article on the 223 using Reloader 10X by Charles Petty showed a velocity difference that corresponded to about a 25% difference in peak pressure was reported, though, unlike Salazar, Petty was not measuring pressure on a strain gauge instrument, so the difference is one I deduced in QuickLOAD.
At any rate, the old advice to work loads up from the bottom when you change a component still applies.
At any rate, the old advice to work loads up from the bottom when you change a component still applies.