Is This Um... Safe..?

[Josh Smith]

Hello,

Primers have become a rare commodity around here. Pistol primers more than rifle.

Some folks have taken to using rifle primers in pistol cases, with charges reduced by about a grain. I'm talking .45acp and 9mm here, not .44mag or .454.

I am not one of these people who do this.

My question is, is this safe at all, or is there a safe way to go about it that I'm not aware of? I load .45acp and can get plenty of large rifle primers, but I load fast powders and am kinda' leery about doing this.

Ain't gonna try it unless I'm told it's 100% safe when done correctly, and told how to do it correctly.

Thanks,

Josh <><

[59sharps]

not a safe thing to do. rifle primers are longer. therefore the will stick out beyond the base. not a good thing:Fire:
THE INMATES ARE RUNNING THE ASYLUM "
WASHINGTON, D.C. 2009

[AlaskaMike]

I agree that the potentially unsafe condition is if they stick out too far, however I wouldn't automatically assume that they would. I'd try to seat one in the brass I had and see what it looks like. If they seat well I wouldn't hesitate to use them. If they don't (ie, they seat above the case head), I would definitely not use them--that would be begging for an out-of-battery ignition.

I wouldn't be worried about excessive pressures, but I still might drop the powder charge a couple tenths on the first test load just for safety's sake, especially if the load is near max to begin with.

Mike

[Doc Highwall]

Another thing, rifle primers have a thicker cup and need a harder blow from the firing pin to go off and with the blow from a pistol will give you eradicate ignition. Same thing happens in a rifle when the spring is shortened to make a lighter trigger pull.

[BruceB]

I wish that our SEARCH function got more use.

This topic comes up with great regularity, every few weeks or months. It has been discussed over and over again.

SEARCH for "primer substitution". The second title that comes up is "Rifle in Pistol". In that thread I test-fired .45 ACP loads with BOTH rifle and pistol primers, with a very fast powder, and posted the results.

One very useful suggestion that came from that thread, was that IF we feel the need to use rifle primers in pistol cases, uniforming the primer pockets to the correct degree would be a good idea. I agree, even though I've used rifle primers in handgun brass without trouble OR uniforming the pockets.

Ignition troubles are non-existent, as determined by CONSISTENT chronograph results. Even the double-action hammer fall of S&W revolvers (lighter impact than the single-action fall) reliably ignites rifle primers. The same applies to the double-action function in autoloaders....they work just fine, thanks.

[454PB]

Small rifle and small pistol primers are the same size, it's large rifle primers that are taller and won't seat fully in a handgun cartridge primer pocket.

[oldhickory]

Small rifle and small pistol primers are the same size, it's large rifle primers that are taller and won't seat fully in a handgun cartridge primer pocket.

Yes, I've subbed small rifle in .38spl. without a problem.

[pdawg_shooter]

I have all my 44mag brass cut to take LR primers. I use H110 and LR primers give me more uniform velocity than LP Mag primers do.

[acemedic13]

Thanks Bruce. ..........I kicked this one off some time ago. It got a lot of controversy.

As Bruce stated above....it does work. I fired them from primer pockets that were uniformed and standard non altered brass. As far as powder goes,I only had any real difference with bullseye. I had to reduce the load half a gr. Not because I had any serious thing happen, I just felt that my slide was working a little harder with that. Be safe. Good luck

[Josh Smith]

Thanks folks.

I did try the search feature, and I guess maybe I didn't use the correct terms.

I'll just continue to go out of town for my primers, and get the right ones. I have a source for MagTech, which I like as much as CCI, and he's only about 30 miles away. No biggie.

Thanks again,

Josh <><

[Freightman]

The only problem I had was with a 45 colt that wouldn't clear the receiver face on my Uberty or my Taurus Gaucho. They did feed in my Puma m92. no difference I saw in it still shoots better than I do.