HELP: MAGNUM PRIMERS

[paltik]

i found out that i have plenty of magnum small primers and i have to reload for my colt 9mm, my powders are bullseye and Viht. N310, 124gr. LRN. pls. help me..thanks

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REY MARIANO

[Rob Pincus]

Hodgdon data manual #26 lists 3.8 grns of Hercules Bullseye powder as a starting load and 4.2 grns as the max for 124 grn bullets. I don't know of any problem in using magnum primers instead of the recommended small pistol. for that bit of info I am sure that Walt or someone else is a better source of advice.

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-Essayons

[dundee]

mag primers can be used in this small case.
The extra pressure will try to push the bullet out sooner than good combustion can take place SO insure to taper crimp solidly.
Reduce the powder charge approx. 1/2 grain because of the tight crimp and extra power of the primer. This should get you a safe and reasonable load.
If you have a caliper set your taper crimp
.001 or .002 tighter than the sized but unexpanded case mouth.

[Walt Welch]

Ah, youth. This thread takes me back to the halcyon days of yore, when I, a mere stripling, decided that the best thing for a target load would be 2.7 gr. of Bullseye, in a .357 case, with a large primer (yes, kiddies, .357's initially used large primers, and some .38Spl.s did as well). The bullet was a hand cast 148 gr. wadcutter.

This choice of bullet may well have saved my bacon. By virtue of its' deep seating depth, it reduced the space in the cartridge case to somewhat near what the people at Hercules had in mind when they developed the load.
This would have been an ideal set up for detonation otherwise; a tiny amount of powder, a big space, and the powder gets burning rapidly. Boy, was I lucky.

Now, concerning your 9x19 loads, I would not recommend a magnum primer. In this tiny case they offer nothing to gain, and a lot to lose. Mag primers can markedly increase pressure. Unless you are using a ball powder, and a mag primer is specifically recommended, something I have not seen in my brief perusal of the Lyman Pistol and Revolver Reloading Handbook, and the Hodgdon Reloading manual, 26th Edition, DON'T DO IT.

You are also using an extremely fast burning powder in Bullseye. With a rather heavy cast bullet. This is a peculiar thing to do, except for target loads or 'reduced velocity' loads, both in revolvers (such as loading the .44 Mag down to .44 Spl. velocity).

I have used well over 15 lbs of Hodgdon HS-6, and find it a perfect 9mm. powder. It fills the case nearly to the base of the bullet, and, despite being a spherical powder, ignites quite well with regular primers. I have used this with jacketed bullets of several weights.

I recall loading some 124 gr. lead bullets several years ago, but do not recall powder used, although it was probably W-231.

If you insist on using magnum primers, be aware that there is sometimes a great difference in the hardness of the primer itself. I recall doing some .357 shooting, using a tried and true load of H-110, with my regular Rem 5 1/2 small pistol (magnum) primers, having actualy reduced the load slightly, as I was trying out the then fairly new Win small pistol magnum primer as well.

The Rem primed loads worked well, and the primers showed no signs of excess pressure. The Win primed loads, while exhibiting the same recoil, and ease of case extraction, showed signs of overpressure: flattening and cratering. Had I been using the Rem primers trying to develop a hot load, I would have been quite misled.

My advice is to go to the VV web site, and see if they recommend a load. If they do not specify a primer type, use regular ones.

Hope this helps, Walt Welch NRA Life Member

OH, PS; the VV powders have a reputation for extreme temperature sensitivity. One person a few years back had been developing 9mm loads, and all was fine, until he took out some reloads that had been inside his shed, where a window allowed sunlight to shine on them. The first shot cracked the bolt of his UZI. So keep all ammo out of the sun. WW

[Walt Welch]

Check out the following website:

http://www.vihtavuori.fi/vihtavuori/index.html

This will take you to the reloading data area for VV. I did not see any recommended loads for your powder with 124gr. lead bullets, but please check for yourself. Walt

[Walt Welch]

I shall use this unfortunate double post to add that VV compiled their data using Remington cases and Winchester Small Pistol primers. Also they use a pressure system different from that used by SAAMI.

Hope this helps. Walt

[This message has been edited by Walt Welch (edited 12-08-98).]

[christian]

Magnum primers and fast powder are a bad combination. Couldn't you trade them for standard primers. Ok here goes; use only minimum loads at maximum length. Make sure to have adequate crimp. And adequate hammer spring; these can be hard babies to light.
Good luck.

[Walt Welch]

Christian; if Paltik follows your advice, then good luck is most definitely what he will need. Your message, refined to its' basic message is 'It is dangerous, but here is how to do it.'

WRONG!!! The 9 x 19 is one of the most sensitive cartridges due to the very small case capacity. Handloading is NOT a procedure to be done by guess and by gosh.

I sent an e-mail to V V, asking them for their opinion. This seems, to me, to be the best solution. Walt Welch