Dave A
Member
I have only a limited supply of small rifle primers but a plentiful supply of small pistol primers. Would there be any real objection to using the pistol primers for reloading .223 Remington ammunition?
YES!!Would there be any real objection
But don't take my advice. LOLI believe you can, do a search in the reloading section, I know it's been brought up there.
Pretty much.Bad Juju all the way around.
Again, DO NOT do it!!
I always appreciate eveyone's input here on the forums. That said, when someone asks a question such as the one here, could people PLEASE limit their answers to actual first-hand experience OR make it clear that their answer is a GUESS? Sometimes the BS gets so deep in here, I have to tuck my virtual pants in the top of my virtual boots. Case in point:Large pistol primers have softer cups which can pierce under rifle pressures.
They are not as tall and you can get misfires.
They are not generally as strong as rifle primers and may not ignite the powders well.
There is no good reason to use them and a couple of really good ones not to.
Don't do it, no matter how many people may have "gotten away" with it.
Buy the right primers.
Pretty much.
35 Whelen,I always appreciate eveyone's input here on the forums. That said, when someone asks a question such as the one here, could people PLEASE limit their answers to actual first-hand experience OR make it clear that their answer is a GUESS? Sometimes the BS gets so deep in here, I have to tuck my virtual pants in the top of my virtual boots. Case in point:
Large pistol primers have softer cups which can pierce under rifle pressures.
Really? You mean pressures like those generated by the .475 Linebaugh or the 475 Maximum? Both of which are handgun cartridges, both which use large pistol primers, and both of which generate right at 50K psi? How do you know large pistol primers have softer cups?
They are not as tall and you can get misfires.
This subject came up in a post a few months ago. Having personally fired (conservative estimate) around 2,700 large pistol primers in various .30 caliber rifles for cast bullet loads, without a single misfire, I felt the difference in the height of a large rifle primer and a large pistol primer was likely negligible at best. But for the sake of openmindedness, I measured what primers I had on hand and came up with the following:
Pistol:
Fed. 150 & 155- .120"
CCI-300- .122"
CCI-350- .118"
WLP- .120"
Rifle:
WLR- .127"
CCI-200 & 250- .124"
Real world difference in the average heights is about .005" or about the thickness of a piece of printer paper. If your rifle misfires because the primer is .005" too short, the problem is the rifle, not the primer.
I'm not suggesting the everyday use of small pistol primers in rifles. Since I have no firsthand experience using SP's in SR's, I GUESS that the handloader will experience erratic ignition. Note this is a guess and I'm not trying to BS anyone into believing that my answer is the beginning and the end.
35W