mag. small pistol primers

[MITCHB]

the difficulty in finding reg small pistol primers forced me to start using small pistol (mag.) they seem to work great im loding them in 9mm and 40cal using powerpistol, anyone else doing this, it seems perfectly safe,im staying on the low end of my load range.

[shield]

My son has used magnum small pistol primers with no problems for 9mm with HP38.

[BLUEDOT37]

Magnum primer do make more pressure (than regular) so if you assemble a max. load from the manual (likely tested with regular primers) you may go over the pressure they measured. Personally, I'd back off max. powder loads in 9mm/40S&W if all I had was magnum primers. These short/low capacity cases are more subject to high/over pressure with changes to a load. If you're only loading light/moderate loads they aren't as much of an issue but you still might want to adjust the powder down a few tenth to maintain the desired power.

In the new issue, #285, of Handloader, From the Hip, Brian Pearce goes so far as to say "Don't do it!" as pressures can be 5K to 15K psi more with magnum primers vs. standard.

Use your best judgement.

[alwslate]

This question comes up often and I have chronographed a number of
loads to test for primer effect. If there is one general statement to
make regarding this issue it would seem to be; the faster the powder
and the lower the charge weight the less the magnum primer effect.

[RussellD]

just stay a couple tenths of a grain under max and you will never know the difference. Lots of people use magnum primers in the .38 special due to the large case size.

[Nevada Ed]

Magnum primers are "Hotter" burning than standard primers
and are usually used for "Ball" powders that may be harder to ignite...........
or for super slow powders that need a kick start like IMR 4227.

You can back off your powder.2 grs or more and still get good loads and
also save a little powder with those magnum primers and yes, they do produce a little more pressure.

All primers are a little different........in 12 Ga. loading the F209A is a lot hotter than the W209 primer.
Same with pistol primers.You just have to follow the loading data and all will be ok.
I know a lot of shotgun reloaders that use the F209A primer, just to save powder.

[MichiganScott]

All my pistol loads that use small primers are loaded up with the magnum. All I could find during the Clinton Ban were CCI-550 primers. I always started low and worked my way up.

It's worked for almost 20 years.