While reloading .45acp brass I discovered Federal .45acp brass with small pistol primers ?
Is this fairly new brass ?
Thanks,
Jimmy
Is this fairly new brass ?
Thanks,
Jimmy
.45acp Small Primers
- Thread starter jimmyj
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Yes, it's fairly new. Blazer brass .45 ACP also has small primers.
I have a hard time eyeballing the difference in primer size. For me, the easiest way to sort the brass is to deprime and hit each piece with a large RCBS primer pocket scraper/cleaner.
I have a hard time eyeballing the difference in primer size. For me, the easiest way to sort the brass is to deprime and hit each piece with a large RCBS primer pocket scraper/cleaner.
Wee Hooker
Member
Yes, new federal uses small primers. Ther are a few other companies using it as well. It can be a real PITA when it gets mixed in with my large primer brass during production runs.
I'm about 30 years and 10,000 pieces too late now but if I was just starting out, I think I would load up on nothing but small primer 45 ACP. It would be great to have to stock only small primers to load, 380acp,9mm,38spl,357mag AND 45 ACP.
I'm about 30 years and 10,000 pieces too late now but if I was just starting out, I think I would load up on nothing but small primer 45 ACP. It would be great to have to stock only small primers to load, 380acp,9mm,38spl,357mag AND 45 ACP.
The small primer 45ACP brass is only about 10 or 12 years old.
It came about from the primers used in the lead free ammunition all being small
It is becoming more and more prevalent. I'm a brass scrounger at heart, and I've noticed quite a bit of it in the last few years. I seperate it out and toss it into a 5 gallon bucket as I reload. Picked up an entire .50 cal ammo can of them at my last trip to the range
Every once in a while I load up a big batch of them. They shoot just as well as the "regular" brass.
Every once in a while I load up a big batch of them. They shoot just as well as the "regular" brass.
joeintexas
US Veteran
Funny this thread came up, I was loading a few 45s yesterday and hit on a small primer pocket with a large pistol primer with the bench primer, talk about a boom, wowsers! I couldn't hear for 10 minutes and I'm sure I whizzed down both legs!! I try to separate them but this one got through. It will get your undivided attention.
bigggbbruce
Member
I get some now and again. Never popped a primer, just no go.
J. R. WEEMS
Member
Primers-
Well at some point down the road you can look forward to large primers being discontinued all together. I have literally buckets of once fired brass with 'LARGE PRIMERS' required. However, I doubt it will occur in my lifetime.
Someone always wants to reinvent the wheel-- 
Well at some point down the road you can look forward to large primers being discontinued all together. I have literally buckets of once fired brass with 'LARGE PRIMERS' required. However, I doubt it will occur in my lifetime.
Someone always wants to reinvent the wheel--
joeintexas
US Veteran
First time for me to pop one, usually they just won't go in, Federal Primers and I must have hit it just right.
Marshal Kane
Member
Have a little more than two boxes of Blazer .45 ACP small pistol primer brass which I picked up once-fired from my local range. Intend to reload and fire it someday and just leave the brass on the ground for someone else. Nothing wrong with this brass with the exception of not getting it mixed up with large primer brass while reloading on a progressive press.
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kbm6893
Member
I just started loading .45 and want nothing but small primer to make primer stocking up easy since everything else I reload uses small primers. I bought about 3000 once fired pieces of small primer brass so I should be set. I do pick up range brass and sort it. I have about three hundred large primer brass.
A few have gotten by me, but since I'm reloading small primers they just go right in and out without seating so no fear of forcing a big one into a small hole and a boom.
A few have gotten by me, but since I'm reloading small primers they just go right in and out without seating so no fear of forcing a big one into a small hole and a boom.
bmcgilvray
Member
I segregate them and haven't started using .45 ACP brass having small primers for my reloading needs yet.
Of course the geezer in me says they should have left well enough alone.
Of course the geezer in me says they should have left well enough alone.
Jboutfishn
Member
Have to agree. But then I am really an "old guy".
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When at the Range I make a concerted effort to look closely at every case of .45 acp I pick up. I ONLY use the large primer versions and just toss any small ones I find. Way to easy to mix up in the reloading press.
Ivan the Butcher
Member
I started loading in 1979 with a Lee Loader in 303 British. You use a hammer to drive the brass down onto the primer. There you are sitting on the basement floor with the loading kit between you legs and the first primer (large rifle) to go off makes you think that you might be in the eunuch business! I think it took 2 hours before my heart got back to normal!
I just save the small primered 45 case in a coffee can for when that becomes more practical. (and 4 to 5 thousand large primed brass.) 357 Magnum was originally made with large pistol primers. They are so rare now you just never see them!
Ivan
So when does 44 spl/mag and 45 LC become small primer? My hoard of 45 ACP is 14+ years old so small primers were non-existent. A year ago I bought a 5 gallon bucket of small primer 45 acp for $20.
Small primer brass is no big deal on a Dillon 450/550 press but on a Dillon 650 with a case feeder it is a real PITA. 45 ACP brass has to be carefully sorted to eliminate small primers or your production rate can fall to 400 rounds per hour. Large primers that have been "crushed" by a small primer pocket, may not slide smoothly down the primer tube, but will fit into a large primer pocket case.
Also, it is possible to detonate the entire "primer magazine" and primer feed disk on a Dillon 650. I did it once -- it was really loud. I had just refilled the primers and had about 115 primers in the primer system. Blown primers were scattered on the bench and floor.
Small primer brass is no big deal on a Dillon 450/550 press but on a Dillon 650 with a case feeder it is a real PITA. 45 ACP brass has to be carefully sorted to eliminate small primers or your production rate can fall to 400 rounds per hour. Large primers that have been "crushed" by a small primer pocket, may not slide smoothly down the primer tube, but will fit into a large primer pocket case.
Also, it is possible to detonate the entire "primer magazine" and primer feed disk on a Dillon 650. I did it once -- it was really loud. I had just refilled the primers and had about 115 primers in the primer system. Blown primers were scattered on the bench and floor.
Wee Hooker
Member
I use Federal Primers exclusively in my handun loads. In my last batch of 45's, I found a dozen or so SP federal cases that found their way into the mix. "I found" meaning that my Lee Classic Turret press just comes to a forced stop on the priming stroke when the large primer encounters the small pocket. That's the nice thing about using the LCT. The case is swapped out in seconds and even if the primer poped (and none have to date), the primers in the Safety Feed system are well away from the one being loaded. I set off a full tray of primers in my old progressive press once. I think there is still a stain on the floor where I stood
Large primers feed better in my machine.
Adds one more step in sorting through cheap hand-me-down range brass. I don't want to look this gift horse in the mouth though. Some Fiocchi and Winchester NT are a few head stamps to add to the 45 ACP small pistol primer list too.
45 ACP small primered brass is a major pain. I have 10,000+ 45ACP once fired cases that I bought and ended up with about 2,500 that take small primers. I have them all cleaned and ready to go in 300 count ziplock bags in a box tucked away if the need for them ever comes to be. But I stocked up on Small pistol primers for 9mm, Large pistol primers for 45acp, Small rifle primers for .223/5.56 and Large rifle primers for 30-06 and .308
