Small rifle primers in place of small pistol primers ?

[DWalt]

Back when Winchester was loading the 9x23 Winchester cartridge (as I remember the peak chamber pressure was around 50 KPSI), they were using small rifle primers. They sent me 250 primed cases to test. I still have some of them. I was getting MVs in the upper 1400 ft/sec range with 124 grain FMJ bullets from a 5" M1911 barrel.

I just thought of another related war story. Back in the mid-1960s I bought a new Spanish Llama .38 Special revolver. For some reason, I was getting a high percentage of primer punctures, almost certainly somehow related to the firing pin. The Llama had the firing pin in the frame, not on the hammer. I switched to using SR primers, no more pierced primers after that.

 

[Paul in Nevada]

I've done a fair amount of research about this. There are multiple reports, with pictures, of breech face erosion when using rifle primers in milder pressure handgun loads (inlcuding up to a bit above 9mm minor). IIRC, the most detailed info about this I found was in the brianenos forums.

No offense but this is nonsense. An SRP is just an SPM with a different label on the box.

 

[flyingbrass]

The responses here mostly deal with using small rifle primers in warm to very hot (9mm major) loads. Does anyone have firsthand experience using them in lower pressure loads, say .38 Special target loads or even wimpy 9mm (<125 PF)?

Searching online will turn up posts of some people having issues with breech face erosion using rifle primers in lighter handgun loads. This doesn't mean that everyone will, but it's something to realize has happened and you might want to keep an eye out for problems. That's what I was trying to convey. The question of rifle primers in handgun loads does not necessarily have a simple yes or no answer. The answer is likely conditional.

If I were to load 9mm major I'd use magnum pistol or standard rifle primers due to the thicker cups that are ideal for that kind of situation. They aren't necessarily so great for someone loading light plinking loads, and in fact could cause problems from not enough pressure.

Other things can cause breech face erosion. As one example, batches of Winchester LP primers over the years have been prone to cracking. I'll refrain from providing any details here, lest I rile up Winchester fans.

Here is a video by Bolt Action Reloader testing some pistol primers in 6.5 Creedmoor loads:

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZV6Pe1eRY4[/ame]

 

[Paul in Nevada]

I think I see your issue here. It would be safe to use SRP's as a substitute for SRM's. Using SPP for rifle loads is a different issue. Standard SPP's are not designed to contain rifle level pressures.

 

[DWalt]

I think I see your issue here. It would be safe to use SRP's as a substitute for SRM's. Using SPP for rifle loads is a different issue. Standard SPP's are not designed to c9ntain rifle level pressures.

SPPs can be used in light cast bullet rifle loads safely. But only SRPs should be used in heavier loads. While LPPs can be used in very light rifle loads I would not do it. Dimensionally, they are a little shorter than LRPs

 

[BLUEDOT37]

With charge weights of CFE and Autocomp way in excess of what's listed as max
(no, I won't list them here, and I won't give them out through pm)
with 124 gr. bullets reaching velocities between 1450 and 1500 fps out of a 5" barrel...

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OMG, we're all Big Boys now & it's easily found by doing a search, but I previously read the article.

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Making Major with Hodgdon CFE Pistol Powder - Handguns

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[len917]

I use them for 9mm & .38 spec--no problem at all.

 

[wrkerr]

I've only tried them in 357 magnum. The Federal, Winchester, and CCI worked just fine. I DID have problems with Wolf brand (Russian). They are much harder and I had several rounds misfire. A second strike usually worked, but no more Wolf srp in handguns.

 

[mmb617]

My personal experience with SRP in my M&P 9mm pistols was that Federal #205M and CCI #400 both worked with no problems but both CCI #41 and CCI BR4 did not fire reliably for me.

Things like this are why I keep records of all my loads. If I need to substitute in the future I don't have to remember what worked or didn't, I can look it up.

 

[Luke Duke]

I have 2K Remington 6 1/2 that I've been questioning using for 357 Mag loads. So I find this quite an informative topic. After some research these primers they are designed for 40 CUP cartridges. So I'm using them.

 

[Green Frog]

I'd be afraid to depend on them in my old Fred Schmidt PPC gun with the super reduced main spring for light DA use, other than that, I'd expect them to be fine in everything else from I frame 32s to various K frames and semi autos. I wouldn't depend on them for EDC/SD, but they generally carry factory loads anyway. Fine for range use and even light competition since I don't get serious these days.

Froggie