Reloading slip up. How bad is it?

[adanymous]

I know this doesn't belong here, but Im not sure where it does and figure a mod will move it if necessary.

I was loading some 357 mag today. They are loaded with 5.8gr unique behind a 150 gr pb hp boolit. So heres the story. I bought 2 boxes of federal small pistol magnum match primers the other day. $25 a box seemed a bargain. I popped out two of the 100 count boxes (one at a time) and primed my brass with my hand primer. Loaded my ammo and was cleaning up before switching to 9mm. While throwing away my trash I noticed that one of the 100ct primer boxes said small RIFLE magnum match...then I checked the other, same thing. Then I checked the main box.... it says pistol.

I guess its my own damned fault. But my question is should I shoot em or pull em? Its a very light load, barely over .38spc, will the rifle primer add that much bang to them? They will go through a ruger gp100 but it has wolf springs in it and it quite a bit lighter sprung than factory. Will the hammer set the primers off.

Thanks in advance

[Bzcraig]

Pull them down

[txsnowman2k2]

PULL THEM...tx

[CHeatermk3]

Personally I would try one to see if the pistol would hit hard enough to ignite the primer--you could prime an empty case with one and try that too.

If the load is mild the primer shouldn't be an issue unless they're too hard.

I don't know if your load is really that light since I haven't loaded any pistol ammo in years.

[WILCO]

But my question is should I shoot em or pull em?



Better safe than sorry. Pull them down and start fresh.

[badbob454]

this is a real light load magnum primers ignite better and usually dont increase pressures too much , i would shoot 1 and if it seems too hot ,pull them the gp100 is a fairly strong gun , some loads for heavier boolits are in the 7 gr. area so i believe this to be a safe load , if it was my gun i would shoot it

[leeggen]

according to some of the primer mfg.the rifle primer has a harder case than pistol. Little dif. in ignition. The mag primer will be a little hotter, you shouldn't notice any dif. with the lite load. Try one in a empty case and then compare with the standard primer. I would compare a live round of each then if you think the hotter primer makes a big dif. tare the rest down. I usually shoot small rifle mag. primers in my 40cal loads, specially sense primers are hard to come by. The factor that will be of concern will be if your hammer will fall hard enough to activate the primer.
CD

[DrCaveman]

Darn, pulling 200 rounds sucks

If you can salvage the primer & powder, not so painful

Did the primers seat flush? I always throught the rifle were a tad thicker, not too sure though

That is a pretty modest load...my bet is you are OK, and if it were me, i would try a few.

Hey, at least you figured out why they were a bargain!

[1johnlb]

I know of at least one local competition shooter in my area that collects and loads sp 45 acp with sr primers just so he doesn't have to change when he loads

[triggerhappy243]

I would be more concerned if the revolver can even ignite the primer.

[Magana559]

I use small rifle primers in my GP100 when using h110 loads. Seems to ignite better and get me almost dead even fps. But mine has stock springs.

[Cmm_3940]

I load SP .45ACP brass with SR primers exclusively, and have never had a problem. If you contact the manufacturer, you may be told that the only difference between the two is the packaging. At most the only difference should be the hardness of the primer cup. If they go bang, you should be fine.

I would be more concerned about using magnum vs. standard primers. It should be OK in a light load, but you definitely do not want to do this in a hot load. Unique doesn't require a magnum primer.

[IraqVet1982]

The rifle primers aren't going to add enough, especially to a light load, to cause any concern. As others have mentioned, your only concern is whether or not there's enough force to ignite the primer. That being said, when I first started reloading I used magnum primers for 9mm because that's all I could get my hands on.

[bobthenailer]

At least with Federal primers , i have used small pistol magnum and small rifle in handgun rounds with the same accuracy and velocity .
I have also used Federal large pistol mag in place of large pistol in the 45 acp with excellent results with less than max loads.

[Dan Cash]

Shoot them.

[Blanco]

Because this is a public forum I will give you 2 answers.
In all likelihood the rifle primers will slightly increase the pressure above the stated loading data. If you are extremely safety minded you should break the loads down.
2nd answer
Every pistol load I make up I use magnum primers. I personally have never had an issue with ANY of my firearms. My guns are all modern and manufactured within the past 15 years. I have no reservations on using my ammunition in my guns.
If your revolver is fairly modern and in good shape, and you are sure the rest of the load is safe..... AND this is ME ... I would have no reservations on shooting them.
I being me and you being you, I first suggest breaking them down
If YOU are feeling froggy, try a few and look closely for signs of overpressure. I personally don't believe you will have any issues.

[dragon813gt]

If the load is on the light side I would shoot them as long as the gun can reliably set them off. If the load is on the high side I would pull them.

[bedbugbilly]

This is just a good example of why we all should check what is in the box at the time we buy primers in spite of what the outside box says. Hey . . don't feel bad . . . this can happen to anyone. I usually get my primers from the same LGS - CCI SP primers. A while back, I asked for a box of 1K and the girl just reached up and handed me a box. Thankfully, I checked it as it had a combination of SP and LP in it. The store sells the primers by the 100 or the 1,000. Someone "consolidate" what was on the shelf without looking at what they were.

I know this is probably a "repeat" warning - but the other day, I was at the same store looking for powder. A gal waited on me who had no idea or knowledge of re-loading. I asked for a pound of Red Dot - she handed me a pound of Blue Dot = "aren't they all the same?". I d on't know what the particular problem is with this particular LGS but the service and attitude seems to be going down hill. Lesson - check what you're buying. It's easier for me to do it then than driving 20 miles home and back again to correct something that even the clerk should have checked as well as myself.

[jakec]

id shoot them.

[dondiego]

How do you even know what you have? I would expect the outer main box to be the correct product for what is inside. With that aside, I have shot many thousands of small rifle primers in pistol cartridges over the years. CCI 400 SR primers are the exact same primer as their CCI 550 SP mag primer according to CCI.

Don

[Psypher]

Thanks for confirming what I already practice. I had this happen, but with the wrong pistol primer mixed into a lot that I had purchased from someone. I didn't check the entire lot because HE was sure it was all the pistol primers I used. Nope! Pulled the bullets and powder on 35 and made hot glue gun bullets for those that were pulled. We had some fun with those on a cardboard box.

[John Boy]

The difference for brisance & cup hardness between SR & SP is not extreme.
Easiest way to see the difference for the brisance is - load a case with each - turn the lights down low and shoot each case with just the primer. You'll see the difference in the length of the flame

As for hardness, the cup is a tad higher for the SR but in a revolver - no big shakes - they will ignite

Shoot em and don't make the same mistake twice! :D

Brisance: Federal 205 SR ...
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd220/Meadowmucker/Primers/GASFed205mSR.jpg (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/Meadowmucker/media/Primers/GASFed205mSR.jpg.html)

[DeanWinchester]

In a Ruger??
I would shoot them and wouldn't think twice about it.

[adanymous]

I shot about 90 rds of them. No real issues. Recoil was much much lower than some reloads I bought from a commercial loader for the brass.

Most of them had no initiation issues, though about 1 in each load needed hit twice. One or two took 3 hits, and one FTF and I hit it til it was WAY obvious it was a bad primer. I actually noticed no difference in the load from my normal plinkers, and accuracy was about the same as well.

[QIDPlb]

I would shoot them.
Done it a bunch of times on my S&W 19

[paul edward]

Now you have an excuse to get a carbine in .357 Magnum.

[Menner]

I have not bought sp primes in over a year I run sr primers in my autos and revolvers and have not had any problem and I don't have to worry about seating a sp primer in a rifle case and over pressuring it the only thing I can think of that would cause a problem is if you had a race gun with a light spring it may not hit hard enough but a stock gun should be no problem

[DrCaveman]

I shot about 90 rds of them. No real issues. Recoil was much much lower than some reloads I bought from a commercial loader for the brass.

Most of them had no initiation issues, though about 1 in each load needed hit twice. One or two took 3 hits, and one FTF and I hit it til it was WAY obvious it was a bad primer. I actually noticed no difference in the load from my normal plinkers, and accuracy was about the same as well.

Glad to hear that you tried it, and it worked out ok. I wonder why the one totally bad primer, while the other light strikes arent too surprising with the light springs and all.

Federals are the best for light hammers, in my opinion. Not that one has the luxury of choosing them right now, but for future reference

[texaswoodworker]

The safest thing to do would be to pull them, BUT since you are using a light load in a very strong revolver, I'd try a few. If they seemed too hot, I'd pull em. The pressure should increase some, but not to dangerous levels.

[1johnlb]

He did pull them :Fire: with his ruger boolit puller

[jonp]

If you are sure of your powder charge I would try one and see if it went bang considering your using a gp100.

[1johnlb]

I shot about 90 rds of them. No real issues. Recoil was much much lower than some reloads I bought from a commercial loader for the brass.

Most of them had no initiation issues, though about 1 in each load needed hit twice. One or two took 3 hits, and one FTF and I hit it til it was WAY obvious it was a bad primer. I actually noticed no difference in the load from my normal plinkers, and accuracy was about the same as well.

Ruger boolits extractor BANG BANG DA BANG:Fire:

[zuke]

Shoot a couple of'em and look the spent case's over carefully. If their OK,shoot the rest.

[adanymous]

There were no signs of pressure, it was 100% fine. Absolutely no issues other than my spring kit causing light hits but we all knew that would happen. Theres only one way to get a good trigger in a ruger and its springs and polish. And I HATE a crappy trigger. So its a little ammo finicky now, who cares, I reload!

[MtGun44]

You can possibly get a slight increase in pressure with the rifle primers, but they are
primarily harder to ignite and the cup is able to withstand higher pressures. If the load
is mild, and it is, and the gun will ignite them - and you have found that this is
problematic - then there is no real problem.

If the load was a hot one, near max, I would pull them down.

My advice was going to be "shoot one and inspect the case, if all is well, enjoy
and avoid this in the future." but you are already there.

Bill

[gpidaho]

Not something I would worry about. GP

[Elkins45]

He already shot them--and that would have been my advice anyway.

[1johnlb]

This would be a good place for a neon sign that reads

closed