Primers

[Wolftracker]

I'm sure this has probably been discussed here somewhere but I'll be lazy and bring it up. A friend gave me an old box of 1000 Alcan small pistol primers years ago. I don't presently have any firearms that require them so there they sat until I got to thinking (dangerous thing, that can be!). Will these work in something that uses small rifle primers, like a 223? So I loaded up 20 with some of my 62 gr swaged bullets with rimfire jackets over 24 grains of CFE 223. They shot fine, no loose primers, no pressure signs and very good accuracy. Has anyone tried this with negative results? I can't tell any difference myself so I'll load up another small batch. I used a Lee priming tool, by the way, instead of priming on my progressive loader, better feel, for me.

[dragon813gt]

The main issue is cup hardness. I will not use pistol primers in place of rifle primers. I don't want any pierced primers.

[bangerjim]

Normally it is not recommended to use pistol primers in rifles. The rifle firing pin strikes much harder and can pierce the much thinner pistol primer case.

It has been done before, I just avoid doing it. The correct styles of primers are readily available most everywhere today and are not that costly.

Find a local buddy that you can trade for what you want. Or just go ahead and use them as you described. Watch out for any punctures!

If you are like me................you WILL have a gun that needs them very soon!!!!!!!!!!!! :drinks:

banger-j

[Love Life]

Pressure and hardness. That being said...load em' up!!!

[Animal]

Somewhere, there is a little handgun just waiting for someone to feed it a steady diet of small pistol primers. Do the right thing, find this gun and buy it.

[1Shirt]

The only rifle ctgs that I load with SP primers are hornet and K-hornet. Accuracy improves, and no increased signs of pressure.
1Shirt!

[skeet1]

Some semi auto rifles have floating type firing pins and can come forward when the bolt closes. This sometimes leaves a small dent in the primer before the trigger is pulled and is why we have the military grade type primers that CCI sells with the thicker or harder cup. With a soft primer, the thinking is that it could detonate before the rifle action is fully locked up. If you are using a bolt action rifle this is not the case and you may not have a problem but you still could have with a firing pin that is a little rough or long piercing the primer and releasing gasses into the action. Because of all this it is not a good idea to use pistol primers when a rifle primer is called for. Let's just be safe!

Ken

[Wolftracker]

Thanks all! I guess I'll stick to rifle primers to be safe and look for an excuse to buy something for the wife that uses small pistol primers. Heh, heh!

[bangerjim]

There 'ya go, pardner!

banger