Small Rifle Primers for 9mm Minor Load - ?

[40S&W]

Can you use small rifle primers for 9mm minor loads without any problems?

[calvinc78]

Yup as long as u have a good strong firing pin. Should be no issues

[bajadudes]

I use federal #205 small rifle primers for 9mm minor no problem.

121grain MG filled hollow points w/ 6.7gr HS-6. Out of a beretta 92 @ 10ft from the chrono I get about 1050 fps which translates to a PF of about 127. Cutting it close but it's a nice load and works well in the gun.

BTW I use Federal #205 small rifle primers in all my loading work.

[StephensOutdoors]

I've done it by accident & know of some people that have done it on purpose, seems to be no issues that I'm aware of.

[Justsomeguy]

In most cases that I know of, small rifle primers have somewhat thicker cups than small pistol primers. The reason, of course, is that rifles have significantly heavier firing pin falls than a pistol, and you don't want a punctured primer which will allow "blowback" through the action, thus the thicker cup. Plus, rifles produce way more pressure than pistols and the primer must contain that, so the cup must be able to stand the pressure. In pistols with standard hammer or firing pin springs, most will still fire the small rifle primer, but some won't. Add to this that there is a difference in thickness and/or hardness of various primers depending on their brand. Federal's, on the one hand, are known for being a "softer" primer and somewhat more sensitive than others. Winchester and Remington are a bit harder, then CCI, some of the South American brands, and then the Russian stuff being probably the hardest. You will have to test the primers in your gun to determine if they will get a sufficient hit to set them off.

Now on to the other differences... Rifle primers are a bit "brighter" than pistol primers. That is, they have either a bit more, or a more volitile compound in them then pistol primers by design. This is because they have to light up considerably slower powders in a longer column than any pistol powders. This means that generally when you use small rifle primers instead of small pistol primers more of the powder will be exposed to the hotter flame from the primer and tend to light up faster than it would from a pistol primer. Loads should be reduced slightly to compensate for this when using medium and slow pistol powders since they will act a bit more like fast powders because more of it is immediately lit up by the rifle primer. Faster pistol powders (TiteGroup, Bullseye, Clays, et al) will light up almost immediately using almost any primer anyway, and are not as affected, but caution should still be exercised and loads reduced during developement until you know what effects are being produced by the change in primers. In other words, get out the chrono and test with the new primers and see. If you are currently using loads near the maximum for a particular powder with a pistol primer, then it is even more important to reduce those loads when changing to a rifle primer, even if it is a fast powder.

I hope this helps.

[daves_not_here]

I've used rifles and magnums with titegroup.

Federal magnums give me good consistency with minor loads. No misfires with glock standard striker springs.

Use proper safety measures in building up your load.

Don't use LARGE primers. Didn't switch the primer tube once Nothing went boom but I mangled some primers.

DNH

[lord torquestick]

Dave..been there also..OOOPS !!

[40S&W]

Thanks guy. Been using Federal Small Magum & Fioochi, Remington Small Rifle primers for 40 S&W major loads with TG.. No problems. I will give the SRP a try with minor 9mm & 40 S&W loads and see what happens.

[DyNo!]

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=167976&st=50

[JACKIE40X40]

Just curious, had anyone every chronograph

Say a 40 cal with both sp and sr primers?

And if it was a extreme difference?

[Cowboy1629]

I have with 9 major and didn't see any difference on the chrono.

[Shadyscott999]

I have chron both SRP and SPP in my 40 major loads. Same load on n320, same day, same gun. The SRP were about 10fps faster. Very small difference.

[Aircooled6racer]

Hello: Small pistol magnum primers chrono faster than small rifle primers about 10fps and small pistol primers are about 8fps slower than small rifle. They all work in minor loads in my 9mm 2011's and 40 limited guns. Thanks, Eric