Large rifle primers in .45 auto, YIKES!!!

[Depreacher]

Can't believe I did it. First time ever. Primed 100 of my best .45 auto brass with CCI large rifle primers accidentely. :sad:Could have sworn that box said large pistol, but thankfully noticed the error before I charged and loaded all 100. They seemed to seat pretty well, mostly level with the base since the rcbs hand tool managed to do so. I shot 5 of the primed cases just to see if the old ww2 spring would fire the LR primers. All 5 fired and the indention looked pretty good.
NOW, what to do. Do I carefully deprime all 95, wearing googles and muffs (what a drag), or do I load them light and use for practice rounds. Would a light load of fast burning powder, like 3 gr. of clays be best, or a light load of a slower powder like HS-6 with maybe only 5 gr. or so be best. What do, what do!!! Never done this before so need advice. I'm shooting 230 gr. RN lead. I'm thinking the light load of slower best, maybe??? My old 1911 is a parts gun, El cheapo AMT aluminum frame and WW2 parts an old farmer friend accidentely :razz:brought back from Belgium where he was in an armory unit at the FN plant toward the end of war. Shoots great! All help appreciated gents

[2ndAmendmentNut]

I should tell you to carefully deprime all of them, and I still believe that is the best and safest advice.

That being said… Light loads probably are not going to hurt anything. Load and fire one with the lowest pressure or c.u.p. load you can find and check for signs of pressure. If all appears to be safe then go ahead and load and fire the remaining 94.

[Walt]

A friend of a friend loaded WLRs in his first 45 Auto ammo. He didn't know it until most of them had been fired. He found out when he wanted to load, for the first time also, some 308s (he was short on rifle primers and heavy on the pistol primers, the Winchester boxes looked the same at a glance). My friend, his friend, fired some of the reloads in his 45 with no trouble. When I questioned him he said the primers looked to be seated OK too.

[Frank]

What it means is you aren't paying good enough attention to what you are doing.

It does take a little time to decap them and put them in oil. Don't make loads now! What is more important? Having 100 good rounds, or saving a half hour?

[462]

Why take a chance? Deprime them.

[Reload3006]

if your not at max load I would go ahead and shoot them the biggest difference in rifle primers and Pistol is the thickness of the cup rifle is a little thicker intended to take higher pressures. I have made the same mistake. It wasnt a problem But I dont hardly ever load to Max.

[Dan Cash]

Your greatest danger is a slam fire. Should this occur, the breech will not be locked which will let the cartridge blow out which blows the magazine innards and cartridges out the bottom and breaks the grips. It is a most enlightening event. Just run the cases back through your sizing die and deprime.

[pergoman]

Gotta say, fellas, I have used up thousands of small and large rifle primers in mild pistol loads.
I just finished off several hundred Alcan small rifle primers in 38 wadcutter loads.
I buy all I can for less than $10 per thousand when I find them and have never had an issue.
I load a few, test fire in a stout firearm and chrono before stuffing them all up. Usually I am using powder which is 15-25 years old that I got for less than $5 per pound and hasn't begun deteriorating. The bad stuff goes in the flower bed.

[9.3X62AL]

Dan Cash points out a credible concern, if any of the seated primers are above "deck height" of the casing.

The proper answer is "decap those cases carefully". Would I follow that advice? My own view is that decapping live primers is at least as hazardous as loading lower-end powder amounts and firing the ammo.

This is one reason to NEVER reload while distracted. Kids, pets, spouse--STAY THE H--L OUT. Divide one's attention and ugly things start occurring.

[Depreacher]

OK, I'm convinced that I could load light and have safe pressures, BUT, the slamfire possibility worries me. Well tomorrow I'll drag out the goggles and ear muffs and "git'er done. THANKS for the help. Mack

[50-170-700 sharps]

I know others may say other wise, but I would just go ahead and make some light loads out of them. I agree with Reload3006 that the main difference between large rifle and large pistol is the thickness of the cup. Meaning that since you fired the 5 primed cases, and they all went off OK you should have no issues.

[44man]

if your not at max load I would go ahead and shoot them the biggest difference in rifle primers and Pistol is the thickness of the cup rifle is a little thicker intended to take higher pressures. I have made the same mistake. It wasnt a problem But I dont hardly ever load to Max.
Rifle primers are .010" higher and a slam fire can happen. If you get them level in a LP pocket you are using too much pressure and can ruin them anyway.

[btroj]

And if you have never had a slam fire I can tell you this- it makes you a believer in good muzzle control. Gets your attention too.
I learned the hard way what a high primer in a 1911 does. Round impacted the ground about 20 feet downrange. Got my attention. The attention of the 2 guys I was shooting with too.

And 44man is right, large rifle primers are a bit taller than a large pistol primer. Makes the chance of a slam fire way too real.

If they are primed cases I would find a way to fire off the primers in the empty cases and start over.

[Reload3006]

The absolute safest route for you to go would be to don a bullet proof vest heavy leather gloves full face shield put the offending brass in a vise and heat the end with a propane torch make sure not to stand behind or in front of the offending brass. when it cooks off you can then resize and use as normal.
Or you can just carefully run through your size die again I doubt very seriously one will go off but it could happen so wear safety glasses. and go slow primers are more shock sensitive than pressure sensitive. But that doesn't mean that one cant go off on you. OR you could run your finger across the bottom and if they are below flush use them. as is OR you could defecate down both legs of your britches and put them on the shelf and admire them for many years to come. Or you could soak the brass in Oil which will render the offending primers inert and then deprime again. The course of action really is yours to use your best judgment and come up with a plan you feel safe with and can live with.

[Depreacher]

Gents,

Let me settle everything right now. I always understood that LR primers are taller than LP primers. Went back and looked again. Some of them, not all, do stick out a tiny bit, Soooo, I am going to sit in a comfortable chair on the front porch and carefully chamber and fire all 95 of the primed hulls. It can't hurt the pistol, and if I do get a slamfire, no harm. This seems the easiest way out , BUT, I do appreciate the advice. Great bunch of people. BTW, there was no distraction when I got the box out. I was alone in the house, just didn't look close enough. When you only have 16 brain cells left, sometimes words seem to look alike.:razz: GOT to be more careful. THANKS, Mack

[44man]

I have removed thousands of live primers. I have pushed them out by hand with a special punch I made by putting the brass in a shell holder on my seat. I have used sizing dies and every other way to remove them and in around 58 years, I have never had a primer pop.
They are just not that dangerous. Just use a little caution.
To heat a primer to pop will ruin the brass. To dress in bullet proof stuff is silly. Just push them out with the size die.
Impact is what fires them but if you throw primers against a wall and get one to go off, I will buy you dinner. [smilie=l:

[scattershot]

I buy all I can for less than $10 per thousand when I find them and have never had an issue.


pergoman, where do you find primers that cheap??

[cabezaverde]

I have done many live primers using a decapping die and taking things slowly. I have even reused those primers in plinking ammo.

[MtGun44]

I have CAREFULLY and GENTLY decapped misprimed cases many times, and if you don't
think you can avoid being rough, then don't do it. If you can be careful, it works just fine.

Another approach would be to load a starting load of something like Unique that is not too
extremely fast burning and just shoot them. You MIGHT get a bit higher pressure than the
normal starting load with Unique, but so what? Lots of room in the performance of that
powder.

The danger would be in loading a absolute max load of something really fast like Red Dot,
Bullseye or Titegroup. That might produce excessive pressures.

Of course, they will take a harder hit to ignite, and that may challenge the ignition
system of the pistol.

Bill

[Reload3006]

I have removed thousands of live primers. I have pushed them out by hand with a special punch I made by putting the brass in a shell holder on my seat. I have used sizing dies and every other way to remove them and in around 58 years, I have never had a primer pop.
They are just not that dangerous. Just use a little caution.
To heat a primer to pop will ruin the brass. To dress in bullet proof stuff is silly. Just push them out with the size die.
Impact is what fires them but if you throw primers against a wall and get one to go off, I will buy you dinner. [smilie=l:

You don't quite grasp sarcasm do you?

[454PB]

I just finished off several hundred Alcan small rifle primers in 38 wadcutter loads.
I buy all I can for less than $10 per thousand when I find them and have never had an issue.

Small rifle primers are the same height as small pistol primers. Large rifle primers are taller than large pistol primers.

Years ago, I bought a Ruger .44 carbine, and it came with a few hundred primed cases. The previous owner assumed that since it was a rifle, it used rifle primers. It was obvious by looking at them that they all had high primers, so I punched them all out and reused them in REAL rifle loads. A slam fire in a .44 magnum rifle might be exciting!

[ole 5 hole group]

You don't quite grasp sarcasm do you?

At his tender age it's called "senior moments".

[garym1a2]

If you are worried about it just put on safety glasses and decap them. I would not waste a 1911 over $3 in primers.

[BossHoss]

Slam fire on 1911 , while a rare event for sure, will shake you up.

Just dry primer fire them, or punch them out....and keep the LRP's away and separate from the LP's...

I use SRP's in small pistol all the time.. Got many thous' for 20bucks a K, a sale at Cabelas, my 38Super +P , 9mm +P , 38spec +P , 357mag , 454cas/45colt cutdowns, 45acp-sp, all get them....

Heck, I wish I could get 44mag, 41mag, brass that take small primers....I bought 25k at 20bucks a K.....lol.

[44man]

Slam fire on 1911 , while a rare event for sure, will shake you up.

Just dry primer fire them, or punch them out....and keep the LRP's away and separate from the LP's...

I use SRP's in small pistol all the time.. Got many thous' for 20bucks a K, a sale at Cabelas, my 38Super +P , 9mm +P , 38spec +P , 357mag , 454cas/45colt cutdowns, 45acp-sp, all get them....

Heck, I wish I could get 44mag, 41mag, brass that take small primers....I bought 25k at 20bucks a K.....lol.
Some have not read my tests with the 45 ACP revolvers. Miserable accuracy, then I looked at the LP primer and said it is too much. We went to brass for a SP primer and cut groups better then 2/3's. They were also better in the 1911.
The .44 mag and .45 Colt work better with standard LP primers with ANY powder. But a SR primer is not the way to go and will cause the problems I found with the .454. The .454 works better with a LP mag primer when using a slow ball powder.
Just going "BANG" is not the answer and I wish more fellas would consider the affects of primers.
Nobody puts the wrong spark plugs in their cars! :groner:

[Rafe Covington]

When the primer shortage was in effect I started using LR primers in 41, 44 and 45 colt. I reamed the primer pocket out so I could use rifle primers and started loading from scratch because of the new type primer. I shoot all 3 of these calibers in revolvers and encore barrels, haven't had any problems in any way and are just as accurate as before. It is JMHO but I don't see a damn thing wrong with using rifle primers, its kind of funny, I caught a whole lot of **** on another sight for even mentioning using rifle primers in pistol cases. Its your life and your gun, do what you think is right.

Rafe:redneck:

[leadman]

I've deprimed probably a thosand cases using the press and a sizing die. Never had a primer go off. Just lower the handle slowly and you will be fine.

The build up from firing that many primers with no powder will make you want to use the press next time. It is really nasty and gritty.

I have a pellet conversion for 223 that uses a shotgun primer for power. After 4 or 5 shots the bore has to be brushed from the crud, not from leading.

[Four Fingers of Death]

I have reloaded squillions of cases with live primers (cases that were fls, primed and for whatever reason, taken from the loading cycle. Just placing them in the first station of the press and reloading them ois an easier option than anything else. I was once given 2000 primed 38 cases to reload. The guy wanted the primers removed as they had been in a barrel in his uncle's gunshop for 30+ years. I wear eye protection all the time when reloading. They worked through the press without a hitch. After doing 1000, I had to stop to cast more booolits. When I restarted, I loaded 10 using the old primers, they worked fine. I then loaded 100, thinking 'I'm gonna regret this when I have to pull these.' They worked fine as well. I reloaded them and the remaining 890 cases but dropped the primers by running them through the fls die, just like I would have treated fired cases. Narry a hickup. They don't suffer fools lightly, but are harder to ignite than you would think.

I used these old 'removed' primers for the kids on New Years Eve for several years after that. I would give them 10 at a time, and they would lay them oout in rows on the driveway. After they had 10 rows or so each, I would inspect their safety glasses and issue hammers a few minutes before midnight on the 31st! The boys would squeal with delight as they belted the primers as quick as they could at midnight. When we were moving out, a neighbour came over and said that she was glad we were moving on as our machine gun that we shot at New Year's unnerved her. I pulled out a few primers, laid them on the driveway and got one of my sons to let rip with a demonstration. She was hugely relieved, apologised for thinking that I had bough a gun home from work and wished us well. It was a 120mile drive to our new place and I was smiling all the way.