large rifle and pistol primers

[hangman1]

Hi all my first post can a large rifle primer be used in place of a large pistol primer in a 44 mag. Winchester 94 . thanks

[Ed_Shot]

Large rifle primers and large pistol primers are not interchangeable. They are the same diameter BUT large rifle primers are taller than large pistol primers. Large rifle primers are dangerous to use in pistol brass because the primer will protrude above the case head making it vulnerable to slam fire or ignition from simply dropping the round on a hard surface.

By the way, welcome to the forum. Be safe.

[oley55]

hangman1 welcome to the forum. The long and short answer is NO, as Ed clearly explained. Aren't these reloading components shortages dammed annoying?

[john.k]

Id check the primer pocket depth first......Incidentally,Ive used large pistol primers in a marlin 45/70 for years,to cure light hammer strike..........a coupla three years ago,large pistol primers were often on special clearance at $160 OZ per 5000 carton........I actually bought too many of them ,and my safe is still crammed with cartons.Unfortunately I have no small rifle primers,which is what I should have bought.

[megasupermagnum]

Yes and no. Technically LR primers are taller than LP primers. This isn't always an issue, but you would have to seat some and measure to see. Ideally you want a primer about .004" below flush with the case head. There is nothing stoppping you from running your 44 mag cases through a large rifle primer pocket uniforming reamer either. Lastly is pressure. LR primers will probably, but not guarantee'ed raise your chamber pressures. Is it enough to matter? Not really. Just start low, and work up as usual.

[15meter]

Yes and no. Technically LR primers are taller than LP primers. This isn't always an issue, but you would have to seat some and measure to see. Ideally you want a primer about .004" below flush with the case head. There is nothing stoppping you from running your 44 mag cases through a large rifle primer pocket uniforming reamer either. Lastly is pressure. LR primers will probably, but not guarantee'ed raise your chamber pressures. Is it enough to matter? Not really. Just start low, and work up as usual.

What he said, I'd try a couple in each type(headstamp) and see if you are lucky enough to have some that are deep enough.

If none are deep enough I'd try the primer pocket uniformer. With cast boolit loads, I'd think pressure would not be an issue. Just start low and work your way up.

[Martin Luber]

Ran ww gold finished LRP in two 45 autos today with no problem but they weren't max loads.
Don't do it with full house jkt loads.
Had one light hit that subsequently fired. Other gun was 100%.
Cups are harder. No slam fires, can't be a problem in a lever gun. Wanted to compare velocity but forgot chronograph. May do for slowfire loads to preserve sustained ammo

[BLAHUT]

I have used lrp in my .45 acp just for practice> it has a strong hammer spring> i would not use these for any carry or anyplace dependapility is critical? Just make sure they are seated low enough and start with light loads> if you do not have a strong hammer strike you will have problem lrp are stronger thicker so need a strong fireing pin strike>> >

[rjmelehan]

John,

I'm long on small rifle primers and short on large pistol or large rifle.
Now if we could just find a big carrier pigeon to get past the postage restrictions from AUS to Florida we could do a trade.

[mdi]

For a newer reloader that needs to ask this question, it is highly recommended to not use large pistol or large rifle primers interchangibly. I have been reloading since about 1970 and have done a lot of experimenting (waaaay pre web/internet wisdom). Two main problems with this primer swap; first the large rifle primers are .008" taller than large pistol primers. Pistol primers in rifle pockets often result in FTF from deep seating. And the cups differ, with large rifle primers being harder as to contain higher pressure and also may lead to FTF. I have squished some Winchester large rife primers into 45 ACP cases and fired them inn my1911, but occasionally the slide would not close completely. And not recommended to chamber rounds with primers .008" proud. I have tried large pistol primers in some 30-30 handloads and got consistent blown/pierced primers.

So, (no offence intended) if ya gotta ask, just don't do it...

[Baltimoreed]

No you can’t for the reasons others have stated but see if you can do some horse trading at your local rifle range, gun or pawn shops or carry a brick to a decent gunshow. Ive swapped 3 bricks of cci spp for cci lpp since the shortage started. Traded 2 bricks with my local bank manager who’s a reloader and the other at a local show. I plan on using srp in place of the spp. They are interchangeable with certain caveats.

[rjmelehan]

I've used large pistol instead of Large rifle in some black powder applications.

Seating flush, Testing first, primer only, to see if I get a pierced primer, then seated all the way to see if they push back against the breech block after firing.

Even if I have large rifle primers I use a disk of newspaper over the primer before loading BP to reduce the brisance.
For some reason this improves BP burning propagation and standard deviations.

This observation from someone else.

"Another thing that is not in this test, but I have noted, is using a newsprint wad over the primer. This keeps grains of powder out of the flash hole. It seems to even out the ignition by eliminating a variable (sometimes with grains in and sometimes without grains in, or a variety of combinations)."

As others have said, the Large pistol primers are shorter and softer.

Interesting test.
http://castingstuff.com/primer_testing_reference.htm

=================================

For a newer reloader that needs to ask this question, it is highly recommended to not use large pistol or large rifle primers interchangibly. I have been reloading since about 1970 and have done a lot of experimenting (waaaay pre web/internet wisdom). Two main problems with this primer swap; first the large rifle primers are .008" taller than large pistol primers. Pistol primers in rifle pockets often result in FTF from deep seating. And the cups differ, with large rifle primers being harder as to contain higher pressure and also may lead to FTF. I have squished some Winchester large rife primers into 45 ACP cases and fired them inn my1911, but occasionally the slide would not close completely. And not recommended to chamber rounds with primers .008" proud. I have tried large pistol primers in some 30-30 handloads and got consistent blown/pierced primers.

So, (no offence intended) if ya gotta ask, just don't do it...

[Ed_Shot]

For a newer reloader that needs to ask this question, it is highly recommended to not use large pistol or large rifle primers interchangibly. I have been reloading since about 1970 and have done a lot of experimenting (waaaay pre web/internet wisdom). Two main problems with this primer swap; first the large rifle primers are .008" taller than large pistol primers. Pistol primers in rifle pockets often result in FTF from deep seating. And the cups differ, with large rifle primers being harder as to contain higher pressure and also may lead to FTF. I have squished some Winchester large rife primers into 45 ACP cases and fired them inn my1911, but occasionally the slide would not close completely. And not recommended to chamber rounds with primers .008" proud. I have tried large pistol primers in some 30-30 handloads and got consistent blown/pierced primers.

So, (no offence intended) if ya gotta ask, just don't do it...

My sentiments exactly. In addition, the danger associated with a "high" primer is exacerbated here by the intended use in a tubular magazine. I agree with Baltimoreed, trade the large rifle primers for some large pistol primers.

[Electrod47]

Hi all my first post can a large rifle primer be used in place of a large pistol primer in a 44 mag. Winchester 94 . thanks

Hangman you have received a lot of wisdom for that question. AND you showed a lot of Wisdom for asking it. Keep it up and enjoy.

[Hanzy4200]

No, not within reason. Is t physically possible? Yes, but it is not wise or advisable. Like aforementioned, they are different heights. This can cause either protruding primers, or primers to deeply seated.

[fredj338]

I would generally agree & say no. Although I have run some lrp in some 45acp loads just to see if they would work. The primers sit well below the case head but are really hot, like hotter than lpmag. The cups should also be thicker.