Standard and magnum handgun primers

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Bucksnort1

New member
Sometime in the past, I primed 50 .357 cases. I did not complete the loading process; instead, I set them aside for completion at a later date. I did not annotate whether the primers are magnum or standard. I don't want to toss the cases and waste them and the primers.

The question is, can I load these and if so, as standard or magnum?
 
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zxcvbob

New member
It depends what powder you use. There are a few powders that need a magnum (or rifle) primer. Most powders don't care.

Do you have any 2400 powder? that's a good magnum powder that works with any primer. Also Herco, Power Pistol, AA#7, and probably lots of others.
 
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LeverGunFan

New member
Most of the reloading manuals that I have use magnum primers for all .357 loads, regardless of powder. So all of my .357 Magnum reloads have small pistol magnum primers, and I usually prepare and prime cases in advance. Magnum primers are probably not required for many .357 Magnum loads, but it simplifies the storage process for me.

In your case treat the cases as if they have magnum primers, and use compatible load data. If you previously worked up maximum loads using standard primers, then I suggest that you need to back off the powder charge as indicated in your reloading manual data. If you are using midrange loading data, then you may or may not need to adjust. In all cases, do not exceed any published data that was developed with magnum primers.
 
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rc

New member
We were discussing this in 9mm and it seems cup thickness was the main difference and not spark. I would load up some mid range loads with 231, unique or similar and not worry about which primer they are.
 
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lugerstew

New member
If you have regular primers in them and only use a light load of H110, you have a chance of getting squib loads. It happened to me in 357 magnum and 125g bullets once, never again. I looked like a fool at the range pounding bullets out of the barrel of my nice Ruger GP100.
 
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rc

New member
Mid range powders will have the least chance of an unpredictable result like one may see with H110/296. Good powder for some applications but Unique is Sooo much more versatile.
 
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Nick_C_S

New member
We're coming to consensus I think. Keep it "middle of the road." Middle of the road propellant, with a middle of the road charge weight. You'll be fine.

Just don't use a slow burning ball powder (i.e. W296/H-110) that really should be ignited by a magnum primer; and don't use a fast powder where pressures may spike. Middle-middle.

Do you have any 2400 powder? that's a good magnum powder that works with any primer.
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2400 runs with either primer. But my chronograph tests showed that the use of magnum primers gave me less velocity, with more signs of pressure (158gn JHP's). But I was doing load work ups and was intentionally pushing the pressure boundaries. If you go with a modest charge weight with 2400, you'll be fine.
 
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rclark

New member
Just stay away from H110/W296. 4227 Likes a magnum primer, but doesn't have to have one. 2400 likes a standard primer, but doesn't have to have one. If you have been using Unique or Universal, or any of the medium burn powders, just load as you usually would. You'll either have a little more, or a little less velocity. No biggie. If you don't feel comfortable with that (I would), then load up some .38 special loads from the .38 special load data (from the high side) and you are good to go.
 
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THEWELSHM

New member
I load 357, 44, and 500 Magnum with AA#9 or 2400. No Magnum primers required, but you can if you like, no issues..

Thewelshm
 
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rclark

New member
What about a starting load with Unique
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You didn't mention 'bullet' weight. Anyway, In a .357 cartridge, 6.0g or 6.5g under 158g SWC would work fine. The only bullet I load for now is the 158g SWC. No reason to load anything else. As said above, don't bother with a starting load ... or overthink it.
 
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Bucksnort1

New member
158 grain JHC or I could load 158 grain LSWC but as I said earlier, I use nickel plated cases for hotter JHC rounds and brass cases for plinkers . These primers are in nickel plated cases. Would like to maintain my habit.
 
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Metal god

New member
I just ran into this issue the other day but in my case it was totally different , haha . I had 100 357mag cases primed with what I knew was mag primers but wanted to use them with a load combo I did not work up with mag primers . Looking at the data it shows the load I want to use produces 24k cup and the max load using the powder and bullet weight I'm using is 40k cup . This lead me to conclude it's unlikely substituting magnum primers in this load would be unsafe . I'll let you know on the 25th if I was wrong :eek::p:D
 
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