Small Pistol primers have become pretty much unavailable in my area right now and I am running very low. As long as my loads are moderate would it be safe to substitute Magnum primers instead. My favorite plinking load for my 9mm is 3.9 grains of Universal behind a 124gr plated Berry's FP bullet.

There are a few threads about this. Someone chrono'd the same rounds with regular and then magnum primers and came to the conclusion that as long as you're in the mid range for a load, you're okay. Just keep an eye on the spent cartridges for signs of over pressure.

If you find yourself in Ohio, SP regular primers are plentiful - so far. Unfortunately in some States fear of a primer shortage has become a self-fulfilling prophecy as folks are hoarding for no good reason.

Honestly I can't decide if I want to join the frenzy or trust that common sense will somehow prevail...

Common sense? hahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahaha!

ROFL!

To the OP: What firearm are you shooting them out of? Before I make any suggestions on anything, I want to know that. Also, do you have a chronograph? If not, drive to a place that sells standard primers or buy from the Internet. Get some shooting buddies to go with you and share the Hazmat.

If you just want plinking loads, Wolf primers are cheap, less than $19/1000, so, add the hazmat to 5000 and you are still in pretty good shape.

There is an election in November. There will be primer, powder, and bullet shortages from now to June 2013.

Pending final results it could be more severe and last longer. With proper planning I just used up my last case of Clinton primers and started on my Bush primers. Obama primers are on the bottom of the pile. Always use old stock first. What is this primer shortage you are concerned about?

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S&WHF 366

Reduce the charge and work back up. I was forced during the Clinton years to do that very same thing. I've since just standardized on SP magnums even for mid-range loads of flake powders and no longer even stock non-magnums.

I may be shorting myself in the accuracy department, but my eyes are no longer good enough to tell without a scope.

Engineer.......................exactly! I saw the way things were going early in 2008. There was NO WAY that the country was going to elect another Republican, regardless if a conservative was the choice for VP or not. March 2008 I started buying primers. 10,000 then another and another. Now, to my defense, I was shooting competition at the time so......I did have a reason. Most of them are still downstairs because of the recession though. Competition broke up shortly after the economy crashed so....at least I have primers.

magnum primers instead of standard primers - Yahoo! Search Results

Google, or in this case Yahoo, is your friend...

Like I said in another thread, I'm getting concerned because I'm almost down to 10,000 CCI SPP but luckily I have another 5,000 Win SPP too. I think I need more though, at least another 5,000...

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Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

87 K primers, but who is counting. Back yard probably won't move with the 600# lead stock pile.

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S&WHF 366

This subject has been discussed many times before. If you chronograph
your loads with small charges of fast burning powders at moderate
pressure levels you will see an average velocity increase of about 10fps
with magnum primers vs standard primers. In other words, less than the normal variation between individual shots.