Mag primers?

[IGOTGLOCKED]

I was having a conversation recently regarding using mag small pistol primers. I was told they provide better ignition for lower grain loads for competition shooters especially under 3.8 grains. 

 

Does anyone have any experience / knowledge of this?

 

Thx!

[Alaskapopo]

Magnum primers give better ignition in the opposite case with heavy compressed powder charges. They are not needed with light charges. 

 

[bowenbuilt]

(Quote)

"I was told they provide better ignition for lower grain loads for competition shooters especially under 3.8 grains". 

 

 

I don't know that I buy all that but I have used them when nothing else was available. They worked just fine for Production loads. I could not really tell a definable difference. I would still use them in place of a regular SPP if that was all that was available and wouldn't give it a second thought but my chrono sessions did not prove any superiority using magnum primers.

[Dr Mitch]

2 hours ago, IGOTGLOCKED said:

I was having a conversation recently regarding using mag small pistol primers. I was told they provide better ignition for lower grain loads for competition shooters especially under 3.8 grains. 

 

Does anyone have any experience / knowledge of this?

 

Thx!

It isn't worth doing unless it makes financial sense, i.e. for some reason magnum primers are cheaper.  I use small rifle, they are usually much cheaper and I only have to keep one type of primer on hand.

[Bamboo]

I bought a bunch of the Wolf mag SPP when they were being closed out (Grafs? Weidners?  now sure now) for $16/1k.  Been using them for my 38super open loads, and regular 9mm PCC and pistol loads.  They work fine and seem to decrease the SD by a few points in the low charge weights seen in tailored130-ish pf PCC loads.  Not a  huge difference and not worth it to purchase them specifically unless they are a good deal as others have said.   

[Steve RA]

I use Tula mag SRPs and haven't been able to see any downside in 9mm and .45ACP.  Only problem is that they are not presently available.

 

(yes, I use SP .45 cases and like them! )

[Pirate]

I've used SPM primers only because I didn't see "MAGNUM" written in red on a dark blue box.  I didn't notice any difference in 40 major loads.

[IGOTGLOCKED]

17 hours ago, 57K said:

 

Most powders around the same burn rate are going to ignite pretty easily. I think what you heard might be better related to cartridges that use low charges and leave a lot of unused case capacity, i.e. .38 Sp. or larger. In this case it's more about spherical powders that are very dense and flake powders rarely need a magnum primer. As an example, for target loads in 9 x 19mm with 124/125 gr. bullets and .38 Sp. with 158 gr. coated SWCs loading both with True Blue which is very dense and fine grained, I use magnum primers in the lower pressure .38 Sp. load and standard primers in 9 x 19mm.

 

While we experienced shortages, a good many handloaders were forced to use what they had on hand. Most advice was that magnum primers could be used in the interim but I don't believe there is any added benefit to doing so. And while True Blue is not as vulnerable to powder positioning in a larger case, ignition is more uniform that you can see with your chrono stats.

Thanks, I'm shooting IDPA & GADPA. Currently loading 9 w/145 gr rn, 3.3 gr titegroup @ 1.6 oal which is a pf of 132 ish. I suppose the 3.3 of tg is why this was mentioned to me..?

[IGOTGLOCKED]

16 hours ago, Bamboo said:

I bought a bunch of the Wolf mag SPP when they were being closed out (Grafs? Weidners?  now sure now) for $16/1k.  Been using them for my 38super open loads, and regular 9mm PCC and pistol loads.  They work fine and seem to decrease the SD by a few points in the low charge weights seen in tailored130-ish pf PCC loads.  Not a  huge difference and not worth it to purchase them specifically unless they are a good deal as others have said.   

Yes, this is what i heard. I'm shooting 9 with a pf of 132 ish. That's great if it decreases the SD, and they are the same price so it must be doing something good in "there"..?

[Mosig]

I bought some mag primers by accident. So I'll be trying them out

[IGOTGLOCKED]

On 2/28/2017 at 9:50 AM, Mosig said:

I bought some mag primers by accident. So I'll be trying them out

Your thoughts would be appreciated...

[GrumpyOne]

When the great primer shortage was in full swing, I bought 20k Winchester small pistol magnum primers and used them in every load I shot..38super mj, 9mm mn, 357 mag and 38 spl, and 40 mj and mn...no ill effects at all. Shoot them.

[IGOTGLOCKED]

11 hours ago, GrumpyOne said:

When the great primer shortage was in full swing, I bought 20k Winchester small pistol magnum primers and used them in every load I shot..38super mj, 9mm mn, 357 mag and 38 spl, and 40 mj and mn...no ill effects at all. Shoot them.

Thanks Grumpy!