Is it ok to use a small magnum primer in 9mm? I am currently using a very mild load of 3.9 grains of HP38 with a 125 grain lead bullet. I ask because I have two thousand magnum primers and do not load any magnum cartridges.
Magnum Primer in 9mm?
- Thread starter thor745
- Start date
- Status
Many folks with that problem these days. It's hard to find primers lately. The one fellow at the gun show yesterday with primers sold out in less than an hour except for 3000 small pistol mag primers, which were all the mag primers he had to start with. With that light load they should be OK.
To use or to scrap
I did some testing a few weeks ago using 125gn cast boolits on top of 3.7gn of HP38 and primed with CCI550 and CCI500. Test guns were BHP and CZ75BD. Shot over a Master Chrony F1 velocities were averaging 950ft/s using CCI550 and 930ft/s using CCI500.
Other than the slight increase in velocity no other signs were apparent that there was any difference in pressures. There may be danger when a heavier charge is used, or a different propellant is used or when charges are compressed. I don't know so be very careful when experimenting.
I did these tests because I was not paying attention during a cleanup in my reloading room at some time. I somehow placed a tray of 550's into a 500 brick. I noticed this only after having completed loading about 1000 rounds of 9mm and saw the empty 550 tray in the trash can.
I needed to decide to either scrap the whole batch as unsafe or shoot them hence the testing described above. I don't recommend the use of 550's but I would use them if it was all I could get.
BTW - What I now do to prevent future mix ups of this kind is to stick one of those round day-glo orange target stickers on all the 550 trays.
I did some testing a few weeks ago using 125gn cast boolits on top of 3.7gn of HP38 and primed with CCI550 and CCI500. Test guns were BHP and CZ75BD. Shot over a Master Chrony F1 velocities were averaging 950ft/s using CCI550 and 930ft/s using CCI500.
Other than the slight increase in velocity no other signs were apparent that there was any difference in pressures. There may be danger when a heavier charge is used, or a different propellant is used or when charges are compressed. I don't know so be very careful when experimenting.
I did these tests because I was not paying attention during a cleanup in my reloading room at some time. I somehow placed a tray of 550's into a 500 brick. I noticed this only after having completed loading about 1000 rounds of 9mm and saw the empty 550 tray in the trash can.
I needed to decide to either scrap the whole batch as unsafe or shoot them hence the testing described above. I don't recommend the use of 550's but I would use them if it was all I could get.
BTW - What I now do to prevent future mix ups of this kind is to stick one of those round day-glo orange target stickers on all the 550 trays.
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
