Brass designed for blanks question Update Post 12

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Eddietruett

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I wound up with some Starline 45 Colt Brass made for blanks. The flash hole is noticeably larger. Starline recommends not using for live ammo. Anyone ever tried to load regular ammo with this brass. What problems would a larger flash hole cause?
 
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Check the primer pockets and see if they have been inlarged if so they are for wax bullets for fast draw, should be able to push a primer in buy hand. If so don't use for regular reloading.

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I inadvertantly loaded some 45 Colt that had the flash holes enlarged for blanks. The only problem I encountered was the primers seemed to set back somewhat making the cylinder drag. And my loads were pretty much light plinking loads. Still got some of that brass...most of it in fact. But the boxes it isa in is now marked blanks
 
If Starline advised against its use for making regular ammo, that would be reason enough. Some cast bullet shooters enlarge primer pockets (I don't know why and it may not even be necessary) but they often mention these altered cases are not to be used with anything but light loads.
 
I recently ran across one Winchester .45 Colt case that required a small pistol primer.

I toss aside every small primer ACP case and know to look for them. This .45 Colt one was a surprise.

Just to see, I reamed it out to accept a large primer. I'm not anxious to test it in my Colt S A A.

I haven't seen anyone else mention seeing these.
 
In my humble opinion, perhaps the flash hole size is NOT why Starline is recommending to NOT use them for regular loads. MAYBE it's because the casing is weaker/shorter/ or some other reason known to the manufacturer. Thus they warn you so you don't blow yourself up.
p.s. As you well know, manufacturers of .45ACP brass have produced cases with BOTH small and large pistol primers/holes....either works perfectly fine.
J.
 
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Back in the 1970s I picked up a few thousand .38TOOL brass. They were using then to install ceiling grids in the 4 agency buildings at the NYS Empire state plaza. (AKA South Mall)

I was just getting into pistol shooting and saw these all over the place. Took a few home and examined them and ran them by the more experienced re loaders at the club. They were good quality nickel cases, just marked .38TOOL. Shooting target loads I got over 20 reloads out of most of them. A good chance if I look around I still have some of those cases.
 
The flash hole is generally the same size in both large & small primer cases. As has been noted, the larger flash hole allows more pressure on the primer, and therefore more pressure on the recoil shield, especially around the firing pin hole. Not a good thing.
 
The flash holes are enlarged in blank and 'wax' bullet loads to avoid the primer set back and cylinder lock-up problems.

I would guess that the warning not to use these cases with the oversize flash-hole for normal bulleted loads is simply from todays businesses being extra CYA about things.
The flash-holes being different size from what is normally punched into cartridge brass, they are just trying to protect themselves should anything happen.
'We Told You Not To..'

I used to have a few boxes of 38spc that I drilled the flash holes out for wax bullets.
After the novelty wore off, I dumped the altered cases back in with the rest of my meager supply at the time and continued to load and shoot them.
They worked fine. I loaded just light B/E match type loads. Never had a problem.
But I don't know what effect the altered flashhole would have with heavier loads.
 
Can somebody post an explanation based in physics and engineering explaining why an enlarged primer flash hole puts more pressure on the primer? This engineer believes there is some other physical phenomenon at work to make an enlarged flash hole behave differently, if indeed it does. Anyone with a rudimentary understanding of compressible fluid (gas) flow understands that a small orifice generates more pressure drop than a large one, and vice versa, but the volume of gas flowing backwards into the primer's cavity is nil. So why the difference? Is there a difference? It makes some sense to desire a larger flash hole for blank rounds to create less pressure drop from incandescent primer gas flowing forward into the case volume. This flow volume is significant, otherwise there is nothing to make a bang or propel wax bullets. Could it possibly be that the larger hole weakens the annular web, making the case more prone to loose primer pockets? Is there a reflected pressure wave? IDK. Does anybody?
 
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Skeet 028 said:
I inadvertantly loaded some 45 Colt that had the flash holes enlarged for blanks. The only problem I encountered was the primers seemed to set back somewhat making the cylinder drag. And my loads were pretty much light plinking loads. Still got some of that brass...most of it in fact. But the boxes it isa in is now marked blanks
Click to expand...

The lighter the load the worst the primer set back. Which is an ilusion.:D All primers in all loads set back. But on "proper loads", and under full recoil, the brass is forced back against the breech and the primers get "reset" into the case.;)
 
After reading the responses and talking to several seasoned loaders, we decided to test a few. BYW, the case dimensions for the Blank Brass and Standard Brass are exactly the same except the flash hole is larger on the Blank Cases. One Gentleman I talked to was very familiar with blank cases and said he had experience working with movie sets and theme parks such as Ghost Town etc. The earliest blank cases were designed with slightly larger primer pockets so reloading could be done by hand. On movie sets, apparently the primer was knocked out with a punch and a new primer could be seated with with a lot of handmade tools even with strong fingers. Then a dipper of black powder was poured in and was sealed up with wax or glue to keep the powder in. Later when hand priming tools became common, the holes were made closer to standard to eliminate the backing out problem. Sounded like he knew what he was talking about. I decided to try a few with light loads to start. Using around 5.5gr of Trail Boss with a 240gr lead bullet. Primers fit snug, but maybe just enough less resistance in seating to notice. Loads shot fine with zero problems with primers backing out. Shot 50 rounds in 3 different revolvers and saw no difference in any of the guns. Moved up to a load of 6.5gr of 231 which is my normal target 45 Colt load and as of yet, have seen no difference at all compared to standard cases. I've loaded several cases 5 times with several different brands of primers. I have not run any through a chronograph but don't intend to. These are everyday target loads and I expect they are running around 800fps out of a 4" barrel. No change in POI in either case, so I'm planning on loading up the cases I have since once fired 45 Colt brass is bringing $1.00 or more per case on the big auction site. Not scientific testing by any means but just my experience. Thanks to all that chimed in and welcome all comments
 
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