I expect a CMP 1911 within the next month or so so it will be time to reload for .45. I know the brass comes in large primer and small. I’d prefer to stay with small primer since I use those for the auto calibers I load, but if there’s an advantage to large primer I can use those too. What’s a good source for once fired .45 brass and should I stick with large or small?

I went to Xtreme bullets and see the small primer brass is much cheaper. But they’re out of stock.

Blazer brass is small primer if you have access to it. I have also RWS brass, I believe made in Germany which I use. I have a Redding turret press and hand prime so it makes sense to stay with small and not change out when I reload 38 spl. Just be sure you pick up your brass at the range. It drives people nuts when small primed brass is mixed with their large primed brass in progressive reloaders.

"It drives people nuts when small primed brass is mixed with their large primed brass in progressive reloaders."

You can say that again!

Regarding Blazer .45 brass, I don't know if the cases alone are available, but of course you can always buy Blazer ammo and use the fired cases. I don't know if Starline makes small primer pocket .45 brass, but you can check on their website. From a reloader's perspective, the main problem is getting small primer cases mixed in with large primer cases, so you must segregate cases.

Why is the small primer brass so much cheaper at Xtreme? They sell them as primed and unprimed. How can they ship primed brass?

Other than buying factory ammo and saving brass, where is a good source for small primer brass? I’d prefer to stick with small just to make things easier. I’ve never looked at .45 brass before. Is there an obvious difference between small and large primed brass?

I have loaded many hundreds of SP .45 cases with no trouble. They work just fine. Obviously you have to sort them from the large primer brass at some point, but that is hardly overbearing. In addition if you have to buy brass the used SP is significantly cheaper than the used LP brass.

Thank. Where do you get them? Starline only carries LP and its over 100 bucks for 500 pieces. Xtreme has them for half that.

In my "Golden years"..........
Primed cases ready to load is a very nice thing to receive in the mail.

When younger, I just wanted brass in any shape or form.

Since I do 9mm, I would like the small primer cases, if possible
but it depends on what is available but changing dies is part of loading.

If you prefer SP .45 ACP brass, then shoot Blazer and reload the brass. I believe Winchester also makes SP .45 ACP ammunition. Many reloaders are using LP with .45 ACP simply because that was the original design. The .45 ACP cartridge will work just fine with either primer in the appropriate case. Problems occur when the correct primer isn't used with the appropriate case especially in progressive reloaders where cases are auto fed.

I did a "just for my info" test on large vs. small primed 45 ACP brass reloads. I reloaded 50 with small primed cases using 230 gr, FMJ over Bullseye. Same with 50 large primed cases. Also tried 50 loads each with 200 LSWC. In my testing in 2 pistols, shot over a chrony, there was an indication (not enough to be definitive) of a slight difference in velocity with small primed loads being very slightly slower (maybe 25 fps max.). Accuracy was the same. Not enough differences to be of any concern...

Just my test of my reloads in my guns...

once fired brass small primed 45 acp - Google Search Used small primed 45 ACP brass.

ask on some of the other gun forums...you might be deluged with people wanting to give you all that they have.
Randy

As I recover and reload el-foundo-groundos, mixed primer pockets are a nuisance but I would welcome a wholesale changeover to small primer .45 ACP, to avoid switching the primer feed systems between the two sizes.

ARMSLIST - For Sale: Pistol and Rifle brass for sale
The above link is a guy in Nashville. He sells brass. Has some small primer
45s. I recently bought some 30-30 from him. Says he’ll ship.
Good luck,
David.

Yep. ALL the small primed acp cases I come across goes in the scrap bin.

__________________
S&W Accumulator

Why not give it to someone that is looking for some small primer .45 brass and brighten their day instead of scrapping it?

Randy

This. And I don't even use a progressive press.

Heck, go to the WANTED section of the classifieds here
http://smith-wessonforum.com/wanted-buy/
and start a thread with an offer to pay postage for anyone who wants to ship you some, and you'll probably get plenty of folks who'll send you their SP 45 brass rather than throw it away.

kbm, you might try Once Fired Brass | oncefiredbrass or Everglades Ammunition and Reloading Just google "once fired brass" and you should find all you need. If there are local gun shows, gun ranges or LGS, try them also. I save/use small primer 45 brass and there is little/no difference in performance/accuracy.

Heck, I solved the small/large primer problem years ago. I bought two Dillon square deals and set one up in large primer and one in small.
SWCA 892

The only problem with small primed 45 ACP brass is for those that do not inspect their brass...

I use SP 45 brass all the time. I find fresh Blazer SP brass just about every time I go. Thanks whoever you are.
With my 185 JHP load recently (it was very cold), 4.5 grains Bullseye cycled the gun 100% with large WLP primers, with the SP brass an WSP primers the gun failed to eject a few times.
Sure, I'm right on the edge of reliability with the low load, but it does show there is a slight loss of performance with the smaller primers. I'll bump it up bit.

I've found large primers tend to feed better in my press than small. Most of my brass saved from factory ammo I bought, which at the time was all large primer, so that is what I use. It would be annoying to end up with small primer brass mixed in.

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Common sense isn't so common.

I handload only large primer stuff...............throw the small stuff away. Too much of a pain in the butt!

According to the few tests I've read about the subject,the difference in velocity wasn't anything to worry about.A few fps was all to it.
I keep my sp brass for revolver shooting and,you guessed it the lp for my autos.That way,I know right off the bat which was developped for which guns.

I have heard some of the foulest languages ever from reloaders with Dillon progressives who end up with a small primer case mixed in with the large while reloading!
Jim

I keep them separated so no confusion. I really can't tell any difference in performance with either. One bucket for large one for small, only load one size at a time.