Large rifle primers in 45acp

Fuzzymaster · April 10, 2009, 04:53 PM

I was thinking about trying this. I read where small rifle primers will work in 9mm. Has anyone tried this? I am not quite out of large pistol primers yet, but I have alot of large rifle.

Jim Watson · April 10, 2009, 04:56 PM

Large rifle primers are taller than large pistol. Using them in .45 ACP may give you high primers with risk of slam fires.

I will try a couple when I go back to the press in a few minutes, just to be sure.

Edit to add: My old W.H. English Pak-Tool will seat a CCI LR primer just flush in a R-P .45 ACP case. I doubt the usual on-press priming arm or primer feed would do it. I did not see if it would pop or if I had fractured the pellet and inerted it.

If you wanted to hit some cases with a rifle size primer pocket uniformer and deepen the pockets by that much, you could dedicate some brass to rifle primers. Reduce the powder charges, of course.

Wayne_E · April 10, 2009, 05:01 PM

I believe the large rifle primers are longer, as the rifle primer pockets are deeper. So the rifle primer may protrude from the bottom of a pistol case. I don't have any handguns that take large primers so I'm not positive about this, but I thought I had read about it.

Shoney · April 10, 2009, 05:04 PM

Jim is correct

Primer Pocket Depths ("in thousands" SAAMI Specs)

LR 0.128" to 0.132"
LP 0.118" to 0.122"

**Unclenick** · April 10, 2009, 06:19 PM

There are some high pressure pistol cases that are made for rifle primers, but otherwise you would want to have a casehead that had a thick enough web that you could cut it deeper without thinning it to the point the flashhole blew open. Not much chance of that, but still a consideration.

Shoney,

Saw your quotation marks. Does SAAMI actually say "thousands" when they mean "thousandths"? Do they then give it in inches rather than in the stated thousandths (i.e, 0.128" rather than 128 thousandths)? Just curious if you got it from them or were quoting someone else?

Jim Watson · April 10, 2009, 07:04 PM

I was really having to lean hard on the handle of a Dillon SDB to seat regular pistol primers in .45 ACP. I wondered if it were the press or the components. So I applied my rifle primer pocket uniformer and deepened the primer pockets on some .45s. The SDB would then seat a pistol primer well below flush with little effort.

I was concerned about case thickness, so I cross sectioned one. Its primer pocket floor was about as thick as the 9mms and .38s I had cut before, so I did not worry about it.

Fuzzymaster · April 10, 2009, 09:38 PM

Well I guess I will wait and see what happens with the primer availability issue, but useful information to tuck away all the same.

Shoney · April 11, 2009, 06:41 PM

Unclenick:

Good catch! I blindly coppied and pasted that, but you are correct, it should say thousandths.

Teuthis · April 11, 2009, 10:30 PM

A large rifle primer could create excessive pressures if you were ever able to load it into a pistol cartridge. Why would any responsible person want to do something to obtuse? And why mention it here where some other unthinking tyro might be tempted to try it?

James R. Burke · April 12, 2009, 01:34 PM

I agree 100% with Teuthis. Dont do it even if it will fit. There no doubt made differnt or they all would be the same. Get some good manuals and go by what they say. I believe supplys will come back when everyone gets what they feel they need or go broke doing it. So be patient, and get the correct primers, and some manuals. Have fun, but keep it safe! If you do have alot of large rifle primers I would think someone would trade you, because the large rifle are hard to get right now.

Alleykat · April 13, 2009, 09:46 AM

Nix on lrp in lieu of lpp; however, nothing wrong with using srp in lieu of spp. I use nothing but srp for loading 9mm.

April 10, 2009, 04:53 PM	#1
Fuzzymaster Member Join Date: January 6, 2009 Posts: 89	Large rifle primers in 45acp I was thinking about trying this. I read where small rifle primers will work in 9mm. Has anyone tried this? I am not quite out of large pistol primers yet, but I have alot of large rifle.

April 10, 2009, 04:56 PM	#2
Jim Watson Senior Member Join Date: October 25, 2001 Location: Alabama Posts: 19,168	Large rifle primers are taller than large pistol. Using them in .45 ACP may give you high primers with risk of slam fires. I will try a couple when I go back to the press in a few minutes, just to be sure. Edit to add: My old W.H. English Pak-Tool will seat a CCI LR primer just flush in a R-P .45 ACP case. I doubt the usual on-press priming arm or primer feed would do it. I did not see if it would pop or if I had fractured the pellet and inerted it. If you wanted to hit some cases with a rifle size primer pocket uniformer and deepen the pockets by that much, you could dedicate some brass to rifle primers. Reduce the powder charges, of course. Last edited by Jim Watson; April 10, 2009 at 06:07 PM.

April 10, 2009, 06:19 PM	#5
Unclenick Staff Join Date: March 4, 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 21,733	There are some high pressure pistol cases that are made for rifle primers, but otherwise you would want to have a casehead that had a thick enough web that you could cut it deeper without thinning it to the point the flashhole blew open. Not much chance of that, but still a consideration. Shoney, Saw your quotation marks. Does SAAMI actually say "thousands" when they mean "thousandths"? Do they then give it in inches rather than in the stated thousandths (i.e, 0.128" rather than 128 thousandths)? Just curious if you got it from them or were quoting someone else? __________________ Gunsite Orange Hat Family Member CMP Certified GSM Master Instructor NRA Certified Rifle Instructor NRA Benefactor Member and Golden Eagle Last edited by Unclenick; April 10, 2009 at 08:19 PM.

April 12, 2009, 01:34 PM	#10
James R. Burke Senior Member Join Date: January 3, 2009 Location: U.P. of Mich/Quinnesec Posts: 1,897	I agree 100% with Teuthis. Dont do it even if it will fit. There no doubt made differnt or they all would be the same. Get some good manuals and go by what they say. I believe supplys will come back when everyone gets what they feel they need or go broke doing it. So be patient, and get the correct primers, and some manuals. Have fun, but keep it safe! If you do have alot of large rifle primers I would think someone would trade you, because the large rifle are hard to get right now. Last edited by James R. Burke; April 12, 2009 at 01:36 PM. Reason: Add:

April 10, 2009, 05:01 PM	#3
Wayne_E Member Join Date: January 14, 2009 Location: Washington (the state) Posts: 29	I believe the large rifle primers are longer, as the rifle primer pockets are deeper. So the rifle primer may protrude from the bottom of a pistol case. I don't have any handguns that take large primers so I'm not positive about this, but I thought I had read about it.

April 10, 2009, 05:04 PM	#4
Shoney Senior Member Join Date: February 21, 2002 Location: Transplanted from Montana Posts: 2,311	Jim is correct Primer Pocket Depths ("in thousands" SAAMI Specs) LR 0.128" to 0.132" LP 0.118" to 0.122"

April 10, 2009, 07:04 PM	#6
Jim Watson Senior Member Join Date: October 25, 2001 Location: Alabama Posts: 19,168	I was really having to lean hard on the handle of a Dillon SDB to seat regular pistol primers in .45 ACP. I wondered if it were the press or the components. So I applied my rifle primer pocket uniformer and deepened the primer pockets on some .45s. The SDB would then seat a pistol primer well below flush with little effort. I was concerned about case thickness, so I cross sectioned one. Its primer pocket floor was about as thick as the 9mms and .38s I had cut before, so I did not worry about it.

April 10, 2009, 09:38 PM	#7
Fuzzymaster Member Join Date: January 6, 2009 Posts: 89	Well I guess I will wait and see what happens with the primer availability issue, but useful information to tuck away all the same.

April 11, 2009, 06:41 PM	#8
Shoney Senior Member Join Date: February 21, 2002 Location: Transplanted from Montana Posts: 2,311	Unclenick: Good catch! I blindly coppied and pasted that, but you are correct, it should say thousandths.

April 11, 2009, 10:30 PM	#9
Teuthis Senior Member Join Date: April 9, 2008 Location: Southern Arizona Posts: 537	A large rifle primer could create excessive pressures if you were ever able to load it into a pistol cartridge. Why would any responsible person want to do something to obtuse? And why mention it here where some other unthinking tyro might be tempted to try it?

April 13, 2009, 09:46 AM	#11
Alleykat Junior member Join Date: July 26, 2007 Posts: 3,668	Nix on lrp in lieu of lpp; however, nothing wrong with using srp in lieu of spp. I use nothing but srp for loading 9mm.