Mag primers in 45acp bad idea??

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Detritus

Detritus

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Ok possibly stupid question, but i figure it'd be stupid to continue without asking. so here goes

the only centerfire pistol round I reload is 45acp, for reasons that don't need going into here I have on hand 1k Magnum Large Pistol primers and they are now the only pistol primers i have on hand.

that I am needing to know is.. Is it a bad idea to use these?? I know they burn hotter so as to set off the larger powder charges found in the likes of .44 magnum, but what i don't know is if using a mag primer in the 45auto case would cause pressure problems.

thought i'd throw this out there for some advice before loading anything, so i know whether i need to make a trip to houston (or midway order depending)for primers in the next week.
 
You can use them. Start low, work up, and stop a hair short of published data showing standard primers.

That said, the WLP by Winchester is to be used for standard or magnum loads per Winchester. They work just fine for me in .45 ACP.

Unless you are very good, you may never see a difference in accuracy. Then again, you certainly might.
 
There are no good reasons to use magnum primers in the ACP and lots of bad ones. It is already a fairly high intensity cartridge (for large bore autos, and I'm assuming you are shooting a 1911) and magnum primers could push the pressures too high. If you are intent on doing so, I'd urge you to back off the loads and see what happens...or contact the powder supplier whose powder you plan to use and get their advice.
 
I've used magnum primers in .45 ACP without problems. Chronographing my go-to load consisting of a 200-grain cast LSWC and 6 grains of Unique actually showed slightly lower velocity when using the hotter primers. Your results may vary, so always back off a half-grain and start over.
 
Shoot'm if you got'm.

Lots of people did a couple three years ago during the last primer hording shortage.

Like others said, no problem if you stay below MAX data 0.2 grain or so.

rc
 
It is already a fairly high intensity cartridge
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The .45 ACP is a low pressure round. That is one of its good points IMHO, and one reason it is a good one to start on.
 
no problem if you stay below MAX data 0.2 grain or so.
Click to expand...

shouldn't be a problem, I'm only using two powders, W231 and 700X. With the 231 I'm using 4.9gr (max listed with 230gr fmj is 5.3) and the 700x I just started with so going back to start grain isn't that big a deal anyway,
 
Last edited:
rcmodel said:
Shoot'm if you got'm.

Lots of people did a couple three years ago during the last primer hording shortage.

Like others said, no problem if you stay below MAX data 0.2 grain or so.

rc
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That is so true. Even though I didn't personally run out of LP primers a bunch of my friends did and there were a lot of Magnum primers loaded in .45 ACP brass and everything else too.

Detritus said:
shouldn't be a problem, I only using two powders, W231 and 700X. With the 231 I'm using 4.9gr (max listed with 230gr fmj is 5.3) and the 700x I just started with so going back to start grain isn't that big a deal anyway,
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You will have no problem at all with that charge weight of W231 and a magnum primer. Like Walkalong said above, you probably won't even notice the difference.

Just to set the minds of those who worry at ease please come back to this thread and tell everyone how the range trip went...
 
Just to set the minds of those who worry at ease please come back to this thread and tell everyone how the range trip went...
Click to expand...

I will, though it probably won't be until next wednesday. my work schedule rarely gives me a day off between friday and tuesday.
 
I had 2000 Fed mag Small Pistol primers that I needed to use up and I have mostly the SPP 45 brass so I used them in those loads.Most of my loads acually shot better groups and were a little cleaner.Now I buy the mag primers on purpose for those loads.I had backed of .7gr but ended up back to the same charge as when I was using the standard primers.
 
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