Substituting rifle primers for pistol primers

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Azarmory
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Substituting rifle primers for pistol primers

#1

Post by Azarmory »

Can you substitute small rifle primers for small pistol primers? I have a boat load of CCI 41’s but ran short on small pistol primers. I will be loading 9mm 147g for subsonic using Win 231 powder.


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tim3gun
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Re: Substituting rifle primers for pistol primers

#2

Post by tim3gun »

You can, the cups are a little harder so make sure your firing pin will set them off
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Azarmory
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Re: Substituting rifle primers for pistol primers

#3

Post by Azarmory »

Do I have to dumb down the powder and start from scratch in load development?
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Re: Substituting rifle primers for pistol primers

#4

Post by tim3gun »

no
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Re: Substituting rifle primers for pistol primers

#5

Post by mtuck »

I've done it in the past without noticing any issues. I don't dumb down the load but I'm not running max loads either. YMMV
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Re: Substituting rifle primers for pistol primers

#6

Post by Lobo2087 »

Azarmory message me what you need. If i have any I will let you use some
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Re: Substituting rifle primers for pistol primers

#7

Post by 792mauser »

I normally only stock SR primers.
You dont need to do anything different until you get close to max loads.
And yes some handguns won't set them off reliably (my charter arms bulldog).
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Re: Substituting rifle primers for pistol primers

#8

Post by Azarmory »

Lobo2087 wrote: April 2nd, 2020, 10:56 pm Azarmory message me what you need. If i have any I will let you use some

PM’ed, thanks
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Re: Substituting rifle primers for pistol primers

#9

Post by Clickoops »

this is a timely thread thanks.
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Re: Substituting rifle primers for pistol primers

#10

Post by Harrier »

I typically use SR primers for pistols unless the pistol has a light trigger job then I use Federal for their light strike ignition. SR primers will be like using SPMag primers and as long as you can light them off they will be fine... makes supply logistics a lot simpler and cost savings buying just one type in quantity.
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Re: Substituting rifle primers for pistol primers

#11

Post by storage_man »

Yeah - it really depends on the gun your going to shoot the loads thru.
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Re: Substituting rifle primers for pistol primers

#12

Post by Jack Dupp »

What about the issue a lot of competitive shooters complain about: breechface erosion?
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Re: Substituting rifle primers for pistol primers

#13

Post by Harrier »

Competitive shooting is a special situation in that they are racing against a clock so they tend to down-load as much as possible for a softer recoil and quicker target picture. Have you ever tried the multi-tap speed shooting like you may see in IDPA or cowboy action videos- these guys do it enough they got it down but how many good hits does the average joe make when he tries it with oem ammo... (don't answer that). Often competitors have lightened triggers too which put their loads in the category using a soft primer cup such as Federal is known for.

Point is, low power loads don't always develop the required pressure to seal and under some conditions gas can leak around the mouth and primer. IMO that gas cutting is what causes most of the erosion. You don't see that on guns that shoot a steady diet of full power loads do you?
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Re: Substituting rifle primers for pistol primers

#14

Post by firearmsunlimited »

I don't think I would substitute small magnum primers.
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Re: Substituting rifle primers for pistol primers

#15

Post by Old Jeff H »

Interesting topic. I don't have any Large Pistol Magnum primers and I'm getting ready to start loading 44 Mag. Think I'm okay using Large Rifle, and if so, should I use Magnum or regular?
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