Large Pistol in place of Large Rifle primers???
- Thread starter Meroh
- Start date
i believe a fellow on this site mentioned this the other day in another thread..... perhaps in the atrs primer thread?
I think he was talking about using Large Magnum Pistol Primers in "some" rifle loads but don't quote me on that.
perhaps the fellow will see the thread and chime in.
I am curious as well.
I could use 4 or 500 large rifle primers myself.
I think he was talking about using Large Magnum Pistol Primers in "some" rifle loads but don't quote me on that.
perhaps the fellow will see the thread and chime in.
I am curious as well.
I could use 4 or 500 large rifle primers myself.
This, I've purposely used CCI Magnum Large Pistol primers, to see what would result.
I used a rifle chambered for the 308Win and some Federal cases, which had been fired in the rifle before and had just been reannealed.
I used a start load from the Lyman #49 manual, with Hndy 150grb SP bullets, over 45.0 grains of Win 748.
The result was a reasonably accurate load, with velocities around 2700fps.
The primer was pushed flush with the back of the case and was slightly flattened.
I stepped up the next load to appx halfway between min/max with the same components but 47.0grn of powder.
Velocities were higher, indicating higher pressures at just over 2800fps.
Primers were visibly flattened and starting to crater.
I only loaded one round to maximum, 50.0grn W748, out of curiosity.
The primer was not only cratered/flattend but had leaked hot gasses through the crater and into the bolt. The primer/pocket seal held and there wasn't any blow past.
I didn't check the velocity on the max load.
What I found surprising was that the Magnum Large Pistol primers were giving similar velocities/pressures as their thicker jacket Magnum Large Rifle counterparts.
This test was safe in my rifle, with tight tolerances and brass that had been fire formed to it's chamber.
If I had to use the pistol primers, because I didn't have any of the Magnum Large Rifle primers, I wouldn't be reluctant to do so, as long as the load was kept in the mid range listed in the manual.
I don't do Magnum rifle cartridges and because pressures are usually higher as well as having a longer pressure curve, I would be reluctant to use the Pistol primers, even for the start loads.
If you dont mind large rifle magnum primers, you come to me and ill give you 400 lrmp if 400 is all you need.
Loading 7 grs. Titegroup with 300 gr. Campro bullets and using large pistol primers for a plinking load 45-70 and it works fine.People are shooting mild rifle loads with pistol primers and everything is working.Full house magnum loads I wouldn't go there.The pistol primers do sit a bit deeper in the pocket but no problem with getting them to go bang.Using small rifle primers in 9mm and unless you have modified your pistol to have a lighter firing pin (cup material a bit thicker with rifle primer) strike everything works good also.Gota do what ya gota do!
saskgunowner101
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- near Prince Albert
I had a whole bunch of large pistol primers that needed to be used up, so I ran them through the 43 Mauser, no problems at all. Mind you, these are cast loads and ballpark 18-20k psi. To the naked eye you will notice they sit slightly deeper, so in the perfect storm of stacking tolerances they "may" cause misfires (too much headspace with a short firing pin with out of spec deep primer pockets!), but how likely is that tbh? As always, proceed with caution, but primers are rated to a pressure, not a cartridge. If you look up 44 mag data or such, you'll see that pistol primers are used in loads all the way up to 35-40k psi.
I have seen large pistol primers leak when used in full power rifle loads, they aren't designed for the pressure. I even had Remington 6-1/2 primers leak when used in my 17 hornet, yet they worked fine in my 22hornet.
I'm certainly not suggesting that anyone substitute pistol primers for rifle primers, I'm just stating my experience. The loads I made were "starting" level, not full house loads. In my experiment, there were no indications of leakage or flattening. The primers were Winchester, large pistol for standard or magnum loads.
Disclaimer: Anyone trying this must accept the attendant risks.
