Large or Small Primer

Powderfinger61

Powderfinger61

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I will be reloading for the .45 ACP. I have found out that this cartridge comes in small and large primer. Is one better than the other??
I would like to have a few hundred casings but I dont want them to be mixed primer sizes.

Is there a big price difference?
What are your suggestions?

All replies appreciated, thanks
 
Powderfinger61 said:
I will be reloading for the .45 ACP. I have found out that this cartridge comes in small and large primer. Is one better than the other??
I would like to have a few hundred casings but I dont want them to be mixed primer sizes.

Is there a big price difference?
What are your suggestions?

All replies appreciated, thanks
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There is no performance difference between the two primers, same cost. Large pistol primer is more common in 45 acp and as such is more popular.
Unless you get an outstanding deal or free 45 acp brass in small pistol primer I would suggest go with the large pistol primer brass.
 
the cartridge in my understanding was originally produced in large pistol primer and small pistol primer versions have been made mostly so guys don't have to have multiple primer sizes and don't have to switch there priming systems. brass in large primer is very easy to find and most factory ammo uses large primer so it is easier to acquire brass for that is really your only difference as far as i am aware
 
For some reason brands that offer a Non Toxic (lead free) priming compound ammo usually use small primers in .45ACP. Other types of ammo I have run into always had the traditional large pocket. I bought some brass without noticing it was small primer. I'll use it, but will be sticking with large primer for all future purchases.
 
My choice of brass is whatever's on the ground. ;) Since large primer cartridges in .45ACP are more popular, I end up reloading these & just toss the small primer brass. Wasteful, I know, but time is more precious to me than a few cases.
 
My reloading manuals all assume large pistol primer for .45 ACP. Data for small is lacking for me which is just one more reason why I don't reload them.

Plus the NT small primers in the .45 ACP Win Mags for example may not have the same ignition profile as regular small pistol primers that one would buy for 9mm. I'm a little hesitant even to try them to be honest. I suppose the worst that would happen is that you'd get less than great powder combustion, meaning some dirt and lower pressure.

I know one other guy who only uses small primer .45 ACP, but I have no idea what he loads though.
 
Use regular load data. I have used every combo of primers in pistol and rifle cartridges with little to no change. Mind you I always load far from max and work my way up, but your small pistol primers will produce less pressure so what's the worry?

My prediction is you don't notice any change.

.
 
With regards to the original question, personally, I keep a separate stash of SP and LP .45ACP cases. IMO brass (especially .45ACP brass) is way too valuable to be picky about it. One of the advantages is that if I run out of SPPs or LPPs (which never happens, haha) I can always load with the other.

Skyhawk said:
My reloading manuals all assume large pistol primer for .45 ACP. Data for small is lacking for me which is just one more reason why I don't reload them.
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I'm a by-the-book type of guy too, within reason, but some of you guys overthink things way too much. "Data for small is lacking"??

I've loaded thousands upon thousands of .45ACP using large-primer and small-primer brass. It never even occurred to me to look for "small primer data" and I've never noticed any discernable difference between the two, even under chrony.

You always hear overly trepidatious handloaders insist that you can't, for example, use small rifle primers in pistol cases or vice-versa, use non-magnum primers in magnum loads or magnum primers in regular loads (pressure spike, OMG!), use data for lead bullets to determine a good strating point for FMJ, etc. etc.

In reality, none of that matters. There are already enough legitimate concerns to address in the art of handloading without adding unnecessary obstacles to the process.
 
Sorry but, by definition, a "stash" is personal and non-transferrable, hehe.

You'll find what you need in the EE though. This guy's got both SP and LP .45ACP brass for sale. That's just the first ad that came up, I'm sure you could find something closer to you.
 
Cerdan said:
You always hear overly trepidatious handloaders insist that you can't, for example, use small rifle primers in pistol cases or vice-versa, use non-magnum primers in magnum loads or magnum primers in regular loads (pressure spike, OMG!), use data for lead bullets to determine a good strating point for FMJ, etc. etc.
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Trepidatious? ... Anyway, I would advise most newbies in reloading to at least follow the instructions provided in mainstream reloading manuals before experimenting with stuff that the same manuals warn against.

BTW, I'm too lazy to look right now... but I'm pretty certain at least one major reloading manual I have states that using a magnum primer where warned against using adds enough extra pressure at maximum +P loads to potentially be a danger. I'll check it out tomorrow.

I should mention that the main reason I don't use small primer .45 ACP cases in particular is because it's not worth my while changing over my primer feed stuff for the 11 cases out of 1000 that I pick up from the range in order to load them. If within the next 10 years I manage to collect enough to make 1000, I'll sell them on EE and you can buy them from me.
 
Trepidatious indeed. Adjective, meaning full of trepidation, overly hesitant or concerned.

I agree with you, though obviously not to the same extent. Reloaders young and old should definitely abstain from dangerous practices, for example blindly substituting one powder for another. But some concerns, even those expressed in reloading manuals, are quite simply unfounded. With experience, you come to realize newer manuals have been watered down and "fool-proofed" in an effort to avoid litigation.

My first reloading manual was the Lee manual, which collects raw data from various sources and doesn't specify any factor other than bullet and powder type. No mention of primers, action type, barrel length, etc. I reloaded many thousand rounds using that manual alone, and don't believe I was ever in any danger because it failed to provide, among other things, "small primer data". Some old timers on these boards, whose vast experience dwarfs mine, insist that magnum primers are but a marketing tool, citing a time when primers came large and small, period. Similarly, I bought a few thousand S&B primers recently; says on the box "small primers for pistol, revolver and rifle loads". Unthinkable, right?

But feel free to keep worrying about things that, in practice, pose no real danger. No need to quote your manual, I have seven of'em so I'm sure I've come across that particular warning in the past.

And thanks for the offer but I have enough brass to last me a long time.
 
Cerdan said:
Trepidatious indeed. Adjective, meaning full of trepidation, overly hesitant or concerned..
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Oh yeah, trepidatious! :bangHead:

Yes, I guess I am anally bound "by the book". But you have to understand that the last time I heard someone say the "word" trepidatious was a guy perhaps 17 years old insulting his girlfriend at a bus stop who was wearing a "hoodie" with the crotch of his pants somewhere around his knees.

While I do experiment now with boolit sizes, BHNs, powders, loads, and brands of primers outside what is or can be specified in reloading manuals, I'd definitely suggest that those new to reloading follow the books rather than do what they warn against because some dude on the internet says it's trepidatious to do otherwise. *shudder*
 
Skyhawk said:
Oh yeah, trepidatious! :bangHead:

Yes, I guess I am anally bound "by the book". But you have to understand that the last time I heard someone say the "word" trepidatious was a guy perhaps 17 years old insulting his girlfriend at a bus stop who was wearing a "hoodie" with the waist of his pants somewhere around his knees.

While I do experiment now with boolit sizes, BHNs, powders, loads, and brands of primers outside what is or can be specified in reloading manuals, I'd definitely suggest that those new to reloading follow the books rather than do what they warn against because some dude on the internet says it's trepidatious to do otherwise. *shudder*
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Go buy another brand of book!

You will find every book has a different opinion, on almost all load data. I gave up. You will get to know what is reasonable, and not.
 
mlehtovaara said:
Go buy another brand of book!

You will find every book has a different opinion, on almost all load data. I gave up. You will get to know what is reasonable, and not.
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No need to give up. Which book suggests that the use of magnum primers for maximum loads in non magnum applications doesn't make any difference? It's obviously one I don't own, so I really want to buy it and learn something new.
 
Skyhawk said:
No need to give up. Which book suggests that the use of magnum primers for maximum loads in non magnum applications doesn't make any difference? It's obviously one I don't own, so I really want to buy it and learn something new.
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Whoa no need to get your panties in a twist.

If you read my first post I clearly stated that I wouldn't do things like this with maximum loads. That said most maximum loads can be exceeded safely in many applications as these books are very lawyer friendly. Some of my most accurate .223 loads are max and slightly higher.

As I said "load data" differs from book to book, and from edition to edition on their minimum and maximum charges quite often, seeming to get more and more conservative as the years go by.

There is also often some that say magnum primers are needed where others don't say so.

Like I said earlier, I have loaded rifles with small pistol, and vice versa when in a pinch, and currently load my 30-30 plinkers with large pistol primers because I have a s**tload.

You continue following the book whichever that is, but I prefer to think outside the box. Someone had to come up with this s**t in the first place, without a book. No?
 
Skyhawk said:
Oh yeah, trepidatious! :bangHead:
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Argumentative, aren't we? The word, which first appeared in the early 20th century but became more widespread in the fourties, can be found in the new editions of the Merriam-Webster and the Oxford English Dictionary.

Seems that, just like reloading manuals, not all dictionaries are created equal. One of the first things I learned as a translator was not to put all my faith in a single publication.
 
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