some primer confusion ?

[rebs]

Winchester makes a large pistol primer that is for both magnum and standard loads. I don't really understand how one primer can be both standard and magnum. But with that being the case what I would like to know is can a CCI large pistol magnum primer be used in 45ACP loads ?

[jepp2]

I view it more as Winchester makes a LP standard primer, not a magnum LP primer.

Hodgdon lists the Federal 150 primer was used to develop all of their loads. I would not use a magnum primer with the powders normally used in the 45 ACP. They just aren't that hard to ignite.

[steve4102]

Use what ever primer you have or can find.

Just start low and work up as always.

[Nick_C_S]

Can a CCI large pistol magnum primer be used in 45ACP loads ?

Yes.

Mag primers are something like 26% more potent than a standard primer. I have a lot of 45ACP load recipes, and none of them call for magnum primers however. That said, I wouldn't hesitate simply using magnum primers in place of standard primers, should such a need arise - in all but my hottest recipes. And in the hot recipes, I'd just back 'em down a couple 10ths of powder.

I once ran an experiment with 38 special, using standard and magnum primers with the otherwise same load. Loading every other charge hole in the revolver cylinder with each load. Shooting back and forth between rounds with a standard and magnum primer, I could tell no difference whatsoever. (Didn't have a chronograph with me at the time.) Keep in mind 38's use small primers, and 45's use large primers. But still, the point remains that it's unlikely to be all that critical.

I had some large std and mag primers that were 26 years old (long story as to why I had primers that old). Anyway, there were an odd number of each - like 23 of one, and 31 of the other - something like that; and I wanted to get them out of my inventory. So I just loaded my "pet load" I told you about in a post the other day (200g LSWC; 5.0g W231). I just threw both types in the priming tool and loaded them up. So I have a batch with random std and mag primers (that also happen to be a quarter-century old lol). Gonna shoot them tomorrow, in fact. Point is, with an everyday shooting round (not a high-end power round) it just doesn't matter. And they're going to shoot just fine. Guarantee it.

(All primers discussed in this post were CCI's.)

[JustSomeGuy]

Like Nick said, it is unlikely at mid level that it will make much difference. Should you be loading a 10mm at full power it would be a different story. The thing about magnum primers is that using them might seem like shooting a bit faster powder, as more of the powder will be exposed to the primer flame at the same time and igniting the whole column faster, so when going more towards max loadings backing down a few tenths would seem in order.

[Nick_C_S]

Range report: The 26-year-old primers (mentioned above) went off without a hitch today. Shot the hell out of my .45 ACP today. Put it to work real good.

[Salmoneye]

Winchester makes a large pistol primer that is for both magnum and standard loads. I don't really understand how one primer can be both standard and magnum.

You think that is confusing, they used to market their WLR (Large Rifle) primers the same way...They now have a WLRM that they sell as 'Magnum', but for years all they sold was the WLR...

Below is a thread that I started a while back asking about the difference between the 'old' WLR, and the new ones...

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=499750

[Nick_C_S]

I try to keep it as simple as possible. First I use only CCI primers. I use magnums for HS-6 (in revolver cartridges) and W296. I use the standard units for everything else.

During the shortages, I picked up some Federal 150's (large), and Winchester WSP (small) - breaking my 30-year uninterrupted use of CCI. They seem to work great, but I only used them for target and general purpose rounds (which is 80% of what I load). Defense/full-power rounds still got the CCI treatment (for pressure consistency). So for me, any load recipe that calls for a magnum primer, I use CCI's without exception.