pastorjohnd Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 I just got a bunch of range brass & found that it had a good number of small primer cases mixed in it. I've heard before that you can load them with the same charge & a small pistol primer with the same results. Is this true? I was hoping to use this brass at some matches where I can't pick up brass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retread1911 Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 That has been my experience. I have loaded about 500 or so with Winchester standard small pistol primers in place of the same in large. There was no noticeable difference I could tell. I did not chronograph either load as they are just my target loads Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itchy Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 I've loaded several thousand 45 ACP with small primers without any issues and have friends that have been using it for over 2 years. I've shot them out of both autos and revolvers. Many of the small primer 45 cases have a crimped primer pocket though. I load on a 1050 so it has a swage. I still crush about 1 primer every couple of hundred rounds. Seiichi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trini Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Last year I used small primer cases with 4.3 clays at A5. Didn't have any problems making major. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RH45 Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 There was an article, in the latest Front Sight magazine that talked about a load tumbling when loaded with small pistol primers, but, not with large. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njl Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 I just got a bunch of range brass & found that it had a good number of small primer cases mixed in it. I've heard before that you can load them with the same charge & a small pistol primer with the same results. Is this true? Not really. I was curious, as I have both small primer and large primer .45 brass and 3 different brands of LPP (CCI which is what I normally buy, Magtech, and Wolf). I did several batches of .45acp 230gr Zero JHP (1.234" COAL) with 4.4gr WST and the various mentioned primers. These were all loaded in the same session...so the powder charges were as consistent as can be. Wolf: 690.6-762.7 725avg Magtech: 711.1-745.1 725avg CCI LP: 668.1-711.6 700.3avg CCI SP: 654.2-707.1 682.5avg So, depending on the actual primers you use, you may lose 20-40fps. If you're loading light and just making PF, that could take you to minor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blankyrick Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 (edited) I didn't realize that they were making 45 ACP with small primers. I don't load a lot of 45 but just ran into this. It took me a minute to figure out what was going on when the primer wouldn't seat. Oh well, guess I'll put them aside and use them if I get at least 100 pieces of this brass. Edited January 27, 2012 by blankyrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
contactcole Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 I just got a bunch of range brass & found that it had a good number of small primer cases mixed in it. I've heard before that you can load them with the same charge & a small pistol primer with the same results. Is this true? I was hoping to use this brass at some matches where I can't pick up brass. I've used SPP in .45acp brass without changing anything. Worked fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtrooper Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I have started to pick up some range brass with the Blazer head stamp in .45 and they are for small primers. I was loading .45's and the large primers would not go. The brass looks to be possibly once fired due to the bright finish, they had been run through my tumbler. I'll load them with small primers and see how they perform. Anyone run into these? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbopp Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I've also seen Magnus (CBC) SP brass. If you look close it appears there's a reducing ring pressed into the primer pocket for the SP primers. They're a PIA to reload, even after using my RCBS primer pocket swager the pockets are real tight. ATI (Federal, CCI, Speer, Blazer) seems to be the biggest user of SP brass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dee loo Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 The small pistol primer 45 is originally for the lead free primers. The article I read reported the lead free large pistol primers didn't work as well, the primers would blow out too easily. The small pistol primers blew out much much less. But they still have the strong crimp to hold the primer in. Supposedly the lead free primers ignite differently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanw186 Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 So how do I tell if I have large or small primer? I bought 1k once fired range brass and need to sort them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whistlepig Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 So how do I tell if I have large or small primer? I bought 1k once fired range brass and need to sort them? If all your primers fall out, and the powder goes everywhere, you have small primers and large primer pockets. If your press smushes the primers like a dog turd that has been stepped on, you have large primers and small primer pockets...................... If they stay in, it's just right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Woo Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 You can easily see the difference. Try comparing a 9mm to a .45 and there you have it.......... Unless you happen to pick up a .45 with a small primer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njl Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 I've found with some of the SP .45 brass, it's very obviously SP, but others, I just can't tell until it's been deprimed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
my-t-mopar Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 After an hour of sorting, and bad lighting, I grabbed a spent .22 case and try to encompass the primer pocket. It's not an exact match, but it's a quick ref. Also, I have choosen to just hold on to the sp brass until I can get some real data. Less area= higher pressure? Small primers may contribute to a higher/lower peak? "What if I just load to min?"=squib? I gotta measure them, but I've been told that the o.d. of these cases are smaller aswell. I'll just wait for hogdon;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whistlepig Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 I have to admit that I use a scorched earth no tolerance policy when it comes to finding a SP .45 case. I beat it flat with a hammer and take away the chance that it might soil the reloading universe with anymore SP .45 offspring. It then goes in the scrap brass bucket for once a year trip to metal recycling place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EkuJustice Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 Ill take the SP 45 Just getting into the 45 loading and would rather have the SP brass. It just means I do not have to change out the primer feed on the loader or stock 2 types of primers since im loading 9mm and 40sw now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whistlepig Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 If I find another bunch in Range pickups they can be yours. I imagine that SP .45 will work fine, but with buckets of LP .45, I don't need the headache. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
contactcole Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 I just got a bunch of range brass & found that it had a good number of small primer cases mixed in it. I've heard before that you can load them with the same charge & a small pistol primer with the same results. Is this true? I was hoping to use this brass at some matches where I can't pick up brass. I've reloaded them changing nothing. Worked the same as LPP. I just keep collecting them for a day I have only SPP on hand. That's day has yet to come though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakshow10mm Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 I wish the industry would change all auto pistol brass to small primer. The 10mm and the .45 ACP do not need a large primer. Only magnums from the .41 Magnum up and the .45 Colt need a large primer. When I load SP .45 ACP I don't change a thing other than primer size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meeksamus Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Smushed Primers??? The only time I had a primer "Smush" it went *B A N G* Life Affirming. I had a boxfull of deprimed, resized brass that I was priming in my living room while I was watching the tube with a handprimer, and I found one of those damnable small pistol primer pockets, and for the fist time too, I had never heard of a 45 ACP case taking anything but large pistol. so it did not occur to me that it should not fit. I have not so much as put a primer in backward since. needless to say, I am not allowed to do anymore reloading outside of the man cave... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leros Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 I mainly shoot LP 45acp brass and I pick up all my brass and a little extra from the indoor range I shoot at. I have quite a collection of SP 45 brass now (roughly 2K cases) and I have them tumbled and in tupperware ready to go. I load the SP brass for when I'm going to shoot in a Steel Challenge, Action Pistol, or USPSA/IPSC match. For some reason I just don't feel so "attached" to the SP brass as I do with my LP brass so I use it in matches, that way if I don't pick it all up during the match I don't feel so bad about leaving the brass lay. Some of you might think this is odd but I need to pick up my brass. I try to shoot a lot during the week, generally I take a long lunch at the range at least two times a week but try for three days depending on my work schedule. This is why I got into reloading, I reload so I can shoot a lot without costing me a fortune. I will say though that while running a batch of LP brass and a SP piece sneeks through the case feeder (I use an XL650) and to the primer station, it pisses me off. What a pain in the butt! I load the SP brass just like my LP brass and don't notice any difference in the way it shoots, 4.3 grns of Clays behind a 200gn Bear Creek moly bullet. I have not chrono'd both loads but they feel the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DsWright Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 I just started reloading .45, i actually find so much SP brass that i don't load LP until i get a bunch of it, and that's the brass i will probably use for "lost brass" matches =) SP primers are cheaper too around here.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 If you really want to minimize your primer inventory, use all the small primer .45 and use the ".223" small rifle primers, then you are good for all the (most) pistol calibers and also an AR. Only thing is to check and make sure any weapon will fire them as they have a heavier shell than other small primers so they won't slam fire in an AR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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