Small Rifle and Small Pistol primer questions.

Arby

August 22, 2011 10:29

Small Rifle and Small Pistol Magnum Primers have the same size dimensions....

Questions:

If you are long on Small Pistol Mag primers and short on Small Rifle primers could you use the Small Pistol Mag primers to reload .223 Rem cases?

Does anyone have any idea what the relative primer power is between the two primers?

I have plenty of both and am asking the question out of curiosity.

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  jonk

  August 22, 2011 10:31

  It's more a question of primer cup thickness. The rifle primers are tougher. You might pierce a primer if you use a pistol primer, though with reduced loads it's fine.
  
  FWIW I made the mistake of using LP primers instead of LR primers recently and loaded and fired some top end 30-06 loads. Heavy dent with flowing in the primer, 1 rupture, but no pierced ones.

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  XXCross

  August 22, 2011 11:12

  Listen to the man Arby, he know of which he speaks.

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  charliemeyer007

  August 22, 2011 11:25

  +! Jonk except LR and LP are reversed. I had lots of SR and shot them up in a Model 60 S&W. Had to install a washer to shim the coil hammer spring to get 100% ignition. As a kid my dad had around 10k of mistery large primers. We ran them through a 45 ACP 1911. Way safer to put rifle primers into handguns but be mindfull pressures can go up due to the larger flash. One of the older gun digest had lengthly study on all aspects of primers.

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  Hawk Carse

  August 22, 2011 14:55

  I would not use small pistol primers in a .223.
  Remington doesn't even advise their lesser No 6 1/2 small rifle for .223; the 7 1/2 is made for the hotter rounds from .222 on.
  
  I have shot small rifle standard primers in 9mm with no misfires and no great increase in velocity; presumably not much in pressure, either. Federal used to recommend their small rifle primers for .357 magnum before they offered a magnum pistol primer.

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  Rocky Raab

  August 22, 2011 15:41

  In rare circumstances, it is permissible and even desirable to swap rifle and pistol primers. But those occasions are VERY specific.
  
  As a general rule, swapping primer types is a lot like using salt in place of sugar. They look alike, but the results aren't usually good.

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