Small Pistol For Rifle Rounds?

Sniffer

Sniffer

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Has anyone used small pistol primers for rifle rounds (223 specifically)?

What are the differences between small pistol and small rifle? Small rifle are pretty hard to get these days and I have a ton of small pistol (Campro / Ginex specifically).

Thoughts?
 
I have done the opposite and it works fine.

Dimensionally the primers are the same, the only difference could be primer cup thickness and/or hardness. As most handgun cartridges work under 30k psi while most rifles work at 45k - 60k psi people worry that pistol primer cups might not be up to task for the pressures.

I would be tempted to start with some mild loads and work up carefully to see if the primers show any sign of flattening or flowing at much lower pressures than rifle primers do.
 
Some pistol primers won't even survive the firing pin strike from some rifles. Just buy SR and save the worry.

SP nom dimensions 0.017"-.020" thickness with a relatively soft composition.
SR nom dimensions 0.021"-0.025" thickness with a significantly harder cup.
 
You're getting into really dangerous territory using small pistol primers in high pressure cartridges like the 223 rem.

I've used pistol primers in rifle cartridges but only for pressures 40k and less.

Depending on which manufacturer's primers you intend to use, will be your warning sign.

I've used pistol primers in 30-30 Win, 30M1 carbine, 44mag/357mag rifle loads etc.

If you're planning on loading high pressure loads, don't do it.

I recently had a primer disintegrate in a Tikka 223 Rem with a load that was close to maximum. I don't know how or if a pistol primer got into the mix but I'm certainly not going to say it didn't happen.

I only used the magnum pistol primers when nothing else was available.

Never had a complete disintegration of a primer before this in over 60 years of shooting. My fault??? maybe. That box of primers is now in the dump.

When I've used small pistol primers for rifle cartridges, I've always used "MAGNUM" primers.

Small Rifle primers are not hard to get these days. Several of the vendors on the banner at the top of the page carry them. Yes, they're more expensive than they used to be.

You live in the Okanagan. PM me.

If you're only looking for 100 don't bother.
 
bearhunter said:
You're getting into really dangerous territory using small pistol primers in high pressure cartridges like the 223 rem.

I've used pistol primers in rifle cartridges but only for pressures 40k and less.

Depending on which manufacturer's primers you intend to use, will be your warning sign.

I've used pistol primers in 30-30 Win, 30M1 carbine, 44mag/357mag rifle loads etc.

If you're planning on loading high pressure loads, don't do it.

I recently had a primer disintegrate in a Tikka 223 Rem with a load that was close to maximum. I don't know how or if a pistol primer got into the mix but I'm certainly not going to say it didn't happen.

I only used the magnum pistol primers when nothing else was available.

Never had a complete disintegration of a primer before this in over 60 years of shooting. My fault??? maybe. That box of primers is now in the dump.

When I've used small pistol primers for rifle cartridges, I've always used "MAGNUM" primers.

Small Rifle primers are not hard to get these days. Several of the vendors on the banner at the top of the page carry them. Yes, they're more expensive than they used to be.

You live in the Okanagan. PM me.

If you're only looking for 100 don't bother.
Click to expand...

PM sent.

I wont be using SP primers in rifle rounds if those are the risks. I still have several thousand SR primers on hands and even more SR magnums so I'm not hurting. 100 primers wouldn't sustain me for very long.
 
I have a box of S & B primers marked Small Pistol and Small Rifle; I have used these in all my pistol caliber and .223; they worked just fine in my .223.
 
Meroh said:
I have a box of S & B primers marked Small Pistol and Small Rifle; I have used these in all my pistol caliber and .223; they worked just fine in my .223.
Click to expand...

Those primers are what set the thought in my head to start trying other SR primers in lower pressure cartridges. There are lots of SR that are too thick or too hard to have an acceptable level of reliability but once I found the ones that work I stopped buying SP since they are just more useful.

My go-to are Winchester SR or Federal 205M. Rem 7.5 and CCI450/BR-4 produce tons of light strikes even with XP springs installed. I have a lot of chronograph data showing very little change to performance, certainly nothing to worry about.
 
B said:
Those primers are what set the thought in my head to start trying other SR primers in lower pressure cartridges. There are lots of SR that are too thick or too hard to have an acceptable level of reliability but once I found the ones that work I stopped buying SP since they are just more useful.

My go-to are Winchester SR or Federal 205M. Rem 7.5 and CCI450/BR-4 produce tons of light strikes even with XP springs installed. I have a lot of chronograph data showing very little change to performance, certainly nothing to worry about.
Click to expand...

Indeed, a few years back I picked up some CCI SP primers (clearly marked on the box) but they were a never ending stream of misfires (probably close to 50%). If you dropped the hammer on them a second time they would generally fire. Pretty sure they were SR primers that ended up in the wrong box from the factory.
 
Didn't CCI say that their small pistol magnum primer was the same as the small rifle primer?
I remember reading that somewhere but can't remember where
 
Small & large rifle primers are designed to be thicker & harder so they can withstand a hard firing pin hit. Hard & thick enough so whatever rifle firing pin hits them they don’t get pierced. There is a reason that quality rifles have a vent hole near the breech.
SPP’s for pistols used in a rifle case will probably blow out & be easily pierced. A pistol SPP in a rifle case will be pierced & vent hot gases back at the face of the shooter including very hot brass particles.
 
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