Using Small Rifle Primers in handguns

[dahermit]

I went out yesterday and shot 50 rounds of my handloads in my recently acquired RIA 1911 A1 .38 Super. They functioned at 100%, were accurate enough for my home range, falling plate 16 yard range.

Cases = Starline .38 Super Comp.
Powder = 4.7 Titegroup
Bullets = Home cast, RCBS 125 round nose, gas checked, Red powder coated.
Primers = Very old CCI # 400 Small Rifle Primers (old Green box) about 1,000 given to me a few years ago.

Being able to use the CCI small rifle primers allows me to reserve my usual Federal Small Pistol primers for my revolvers.

 

[Grey_Lion]

Please advise - why are you using a gas check on a powder coated round? Is it due to the powder charge?

 

[dahermit]

Please advise - why are you using a gas check on a powder coated round? Is it due to the powder charge?

It was the RCBS mold I happened to have when I was using NRA formula Alox 50/50 before I switched to powder coated cast bullets. The reason I still use the gas check is because I think it may seal the base better than without a gas check. I think that the gas check may (or may not) be of benefit if I push the .38 Super a little faster in the future. However, at this point the gas check may not be necessary for warm, powder covered cast bullets. The gas check may just be "gilding the lily", but unlike some years back, I don't have a supply of heat treatable alloy to work with... I would be much happier with harder bullets that I am resigned to use nowadays. So, I may as well use a gas check.

 

[jetinteriorguy]

I just picked up five bricks of S&B SRP’s for $80.00/1000 just for using in my pistols. I figure even once things settle down we’re going to be paying $70.00 anyway and another $10.00/brick is good enough insurance for continuity shooting wise I don’t mind the extra cost. Plus I can always use them in my AR’s.

 

[Shadow9mm]

I have been using small rifle primers in 9mm, 38spl, and 357 mag for a little while now. No issues.

 

[rc]

Anybody using Remington 7.5s in 9mm with Universal? I'm wanting to load some 124s in mixed range brass but want to conserve my pistol primers for other calibers. Not sure if they will give me light strikes in my Springfield and Kahr.

 

[44 AMP]

Not sure if they will give me light strikes in my Springfield and Kahr.

Primers don't "give light strikes" the gun does. And "light" is only in relation to the primers being used. If the ammo is properly loaded, (primer fully seated) and the firing pin strike doesn't fire it, then the strike (not the primer) is too "light". If it does fire, you're good to go.

To find out what works in your guns, you have to test in your guns. The Internet can't tell you, we don't have your guns.

 

[Unclenick]

Rc,

If you have 7½ primers, they are the most popular primer among precision riflemen according to this article which surveyed some of them. For that reason, you may be able to trade them for small pistol primers if they don't function reliably. Load a few into 9 mm cases and see if your gun fires just the primer reliably. That way you won't wind up with a dud load you have to tear down. They have the same compound as the 6½ but have heavier cups for higher pressure, and it is the cup thickness that would be the potential issue in a handgun. The 6½ is used in cartridges with lower peak pressures, like the 22 Hornet and I've used them in the 222 Remington with moderate loads. They are fine for handgun pressures and will ignite more easily.

 

[Shadow9mm]

Only way to tell for sure if your guns have enough spring to punch them is to try. And it is recommended to re-work the load just like changing primer brands. But aside from that, I would load up 2-3 starting loads with them and see if your guns will set them off.

My glock19, Ruger LC9s, Sig P365 and GP100 in 38/357 all set off both Winchester and CCI SRP no problems.

My Friends Baretta 92 generally does fine, but occasionally has light strikes. But I'm fairly sure he has a modified spring kits in it.

My friends SP101 in 38/357 and GP100 in 44spl, both with spring kits, had some problems, and he had to go up in spring weight.

I would anticipate a factory sprung gun would have zero problems.

 

[rc]

The titanium firing pin in my Springfield loaded gives me the most fits even with some factory ammo like IZQ which has hard primers. If the primers run reliably in that gun they will run reliably in most any 9mm.

 

[jetinteriorguy]

Only way to tell for sure if your guns have enough spring to punch them is to try. And it is recommended to re-work the load just like changing primer brands. But aside from that, I would load up 2-3 starting loads with them and see if your guns will set them off.

My glock19, Ruger LC9s, and Sig P365 set off both Winchester and CCI no problems.

My Friends Baretta 92 generally does fine, but occasionally has light strikes. But I'm pressure he has modified spring kits in it.

My friends SP101 and GP100 in 44mag, both with spring kits, had some problems, and he had to go up in spring weight.

I would anticipate a factory spring gun would have zero problems.

Ok, SP101 and GP100 in 44mag? I may be wrong but I believe someone is pulling your leg. There are a couple GP100’s in 44sp. But as far as I know they use a LPP,not a SPP and LPP’s are not interchangeable with LRP’s.

 

[cdoc42]

How about small pistol MAGNUM in 9mm? I'm comfortable with them in .38 Special because the GP100 also handles .357 Mag and .38 Special +P, but I'm not sure about 9mm.

I usually keep all handgun loads a grain below max just in case I get a throw slightly over but much below max.

 

[Shadow9mm]

Ok, SP101 and GP100 in 44mag? I may be wrong but I believe someone is pulling your leg. There are a couple GP100’s in 44sp. But as far as I know they use a LPP,not a SPP and LPP’s are not interchangeable with LRP’s.

Sorry I was not clear AND mis-typed. SP101 is in 38/357. The GP100 is in 44spl, not mag. Corrected it.

Point was, stock guns seemed to do fine in general. However modified guns can have problems.

 

[rc]

I tried 5 rounds in my Springfield and 5 in my K9 with Remington 7.5s. While not ideal for indentation, they all went boom. The indentations look like those from the IZQ ammo. They must be using rifle primers in their 9mm. 3.5 grains of Universal was giving me about 775 from the Kahr and in the 800s in the Springfield with one overly short round I had made about 920. Function in both was fine. I'm going to reduce my load length to about 1.135 from 1.145 and up my charge a bit so I'm closer to 1000fps from a 5 inch barrel. From the 3.5 inch Kahr, it was about as powerful as a standard 38 special round and from the 5 inch barrel it was not even close to what you can get out of a 4 inch tube. Unfortunately, load data isn't very good for Universal in 9mm with 147s but it's clean and works well with maximum 115 grain loads. Data seems to be on the conservative side because people might try to load 147s to the same length as 115s.

 

[Unclenick]

Keep in mind that as you seat deeper you deprive the cartridge of powder space, thereby increasing primer pressure and raising the speed of ignition and the resulting peak pressure. Only the volume the load data was developed in will be valid for the peak pressure level claimed for it.

 

[rc]

I tested my final load that was 0.2 grains over book max and with my new length the cartridges fit in magazines fine, fed perfectly and had my muzzle velocities right on target. 960fps with a SD of 9 and 15 for two five shot strings from the 5 inch springfield and around 880fps from the Kahr's 3.5 inch tube. No FTF at all with the 7.5 primers so far. They do have minimal indentation but very similar to IZQ 9mm factory primers which have had a few failures to fire in the Sprinfield. The Rem 7.5s may be more sensitive. 4 inch guns should have MV in the middle around 900fps. Length does make a huge difference with the 147s so I felt pushing things to 1050 would have been unwise for a target load but I was not worried about pushing the charge a smidge based on the lab radar chronograph data. So I can say that substitution of the Remington 7.5s in 9mm in my case has been a success.

 

[Unclenick]

There is at least one (and probably more) YouTube video that compares CCI SRP's and SPP's in 9mm and found no performance difference. It's not automatically true across all brands but could be. Tests in a rifle detected a difference in the primers, though. One thing that may explain that is the short powder space in the 9mm. It may be the primer is unseating the bullet before the powder burn gets very far underway so that the burning space isn't really being changed or is actually expanded some with the magnum primer. QuickLOAD's author, Hartmut Broemel has pointed out that magnum primers can occasionally produce reduced velocities and this is one of the possible reasons for it. Unfortunately, the only way I know of to confirm the timing in live ammo involves instrumentation I don't own.

 

[Jim Watson]

I had seven sorts of small primers on hand, pistol, pistol magnum, rifle. So I loaded some 9mm (HP38 + 135 coated) with each. Six of the seven gave velocity ranges that overlapped. The seventh, Remington 1 1/2 were SLIGHTLY faster.

I did not have any Remington 7 1/2 small rifle but the racerunners have been using those in their overloaded .38 Supers for a long time.

I later tried some CCI BR primers. They were very tough and gave misfires when loaded on the Dillon. I got some use out of them by hand seating them hard and deep.

 

[lll Otto lll]

Anybody using Remington 7.5s in 9mm with Universal? I'm wanting to load some 124s in mixed range brass but want to conserve my pistol primers for other calibers. Not sure if they will give me light strikes in my Springfield and Kahr.

They work ok in a modified Glock G34 that has a lightened striker, Timney trigger and extra power striker spring.
But the Rem 7 ½'s were not reliable in any of my CZ's or Sigs. I was getting around 6% failure rates in those guns. I have a boat load of the Rems and thats why I'm using them in the Glock.