yes, it pays to read.

As far as the small primer 45 ACP brass I save mine to use if I should run out of LPP as I have 20X the amount of SRP and they will work. I have worked up loads with them previously just for that reason.

It was frustrating enough when they started doing it in 45acp but when i ordered some once fired 10mm and found about 10% of them were small primer i lost all faith in humanity!

.357 Magnum used a LPP when it came out and was later converted to SPP.

.454 Casull started out using LPP and then changed to SRP. I was around for that one and can't recall any of the angst and outrage I see folks expressing over changes in .45 ACP primer size. We just inspected our cases and segregated 'em by primer size.

I've read numerous posts where people complain about a single SPP case screwing up their whole reloading process, but I've never felt much sympathy.

If your case inspection process is so cursory or nonexistent that you can't spot the difference between a large and small primer pocket, you're gonna eventually have way worse problems than a tied up press.

I can't see any particular advantage or disadvantage of LPP in .45 ACP unless you've got a pistol with an off center firing pin hole where a large primer might offer a bigger "sweet spot".

I agree, Swampman

But, the angst may come from the volumes shot and loaded. I don't figure many Casull shooters expend 100-200 rounds in one session.

I inspect and separate, no problem. The only SPP I get are ones picked up off range.
I save the SPP to use at matches where picking up brass is not allowed.

I am a casual shooter I guess, I might not shoot much over a box not counting rimfire, but I'm likely to shoot 2-3 times a week. There was a time I shot every day. Not as much anymore.

Bazoo said:

I am a casual shooter I guess, I might not shoot much over a box not counting rimfire, but I'm likely to shoot 2-3 times a week. There was a time I shot every day. Not as much anymore.

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I think spellcheck may have changed the meaning of Seedy Character's post.
I think he meant to say: "I don't figure many Casull shooters expend 100-200 rounds in one session."
Which makes an excellent point in response to my first post.

Swampman said:

.357 Magnum used a LPP when it came out and was later converted to SPP.

.454 Casull started out using LPP and then changed to SRP. I was around for that one and can't recall any of the angst and outrage I see folks expressing over changes in .45 ACP primer size. We just inspected our cases and segregated 'em by primer size.

I've read numerous posts where people complain about a single SPP case screwing up their whole reloading process, but I've never felt much sympathy.

If your case inspection process is so cursory or nonexistent that you can't spot the difference between a large and small primer pocket, you're gonna eventually have way worse problems than a tied up press.

I can't see any particular advantage or disadvantage of LPP in .45 ACP unless you've got a pistol with an off center firing pin hole where a large primer might offer a bigger "sweet spot".

Click to expand...

Seems like maybe large pistol primers are anachronistic. Remnants from the past which no longer serve a useful purpose. Is that what you’re really saying?

Slamfire said:

I remember Ackley addressed a similar theory about rimmed cartridges supposed to be stronger than rimless. He concluded it was not true. Case strength is more complicated, sidewall strength and case support is far more important than primer sizE.

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The advantage of the superior rimmed cartridge is that it chambers right up to that rim. An extractor cut need not be deeper than the thickness of the head.
Look at all the brass hanging out in the breeze in a Mauser rifle or automatic pistol.

Small primers where they ought to be large is nothing recent.
Hansen sold European made .45s with small primers in the 1980s.
Even stranger, Frankford Arsenal - the Goverment installation, not the present consumer brand - made GI .45 ACP with a dedicated .204" primer to prevent mixing of rifle and pistol primers. You wouldn't want to load your machine gun with a belt loaded with LPs.
You could get .204" primers from DCM-NRA for a good while.

Swampman said:

I think spellcheck may have changed the meaning of Seedy Character's post.
I think he meant to say: "I don't figure many Casull shooters expend 100-200 rounds in one session."
Which makes an excellent point in response to my first post.

Click to expand...

I'm fatted on Christmas roast and 3 cokes to the wind, mind is not working tonight. Merry Christmas!

GeoDudeFlorida said:

Seems like maybe large pistol primers are anachronistic. Remnants from the past which no longer serve a useful purpose. Is that what you’re really saying?

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HELL NO!

I've got umpteen thousand .44 and .45 cases with LPP pockets. To me large pistol primers are a vital necessity!

I just doubt that big ammunition manufacturers have the same outlook and priorities that I do.

If they decide that they'll make more money by using only small primers in all pistol/revolver brass, what do you think will happen?

Id love to have a mess of large pocket 357, and small pocket 44 special, so I could use whichever primers I could find.

I’ve posted this before, but it’s been awhile since we rehashed this subject, so I’ll post it again.

I like to “break in” new pistols with factory ammo. A couple of years ago I needed a box of 45ACP, so trucked on down to my local Academy store and picked up a zip-top box of 100 rounds of American Eagle 230gr FMJ. I asked the clerk if they were LP or SP and he assured me they were LP. So I said, let’s open them and if they’re LP I’ll take them. He agreed and sure enough they were LP, so I bought them. Sometime later I needed more factory 45, so went back and bought another box of AE 230gr FMJ, just like the first box. Opened them up a few days later to discover they were SP. The two boxes were identical. I called Federal and asked if there was any way to tell LP from SP by looking at the box and was told no, there isn’t.
Just a heads up to those who haven’t already discovered this and are keeping track.

Swampman said:

I think spellcheck may have changed the meaning of Seedy Character's post.
I think he meant to say: "I don't figure many Casull shooters expend 100-200 rounds in one session."
Which makes an excellent point in response to my first post.

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It "pays to proofread"

Auto correct is double edged sword

I save and use both LP and SP 45acp cases. I do keep them segregated, but I use them both. Same with LR and SR in 7.62x39.
It's pretty easy to differentiate them when they pass through my hands for inspection.
But that's just me.

I even bother with decrimping pockets on nato 9mm

SP 45ACP is only the second worst bane to high volume reloaders/shooters. .380 or 9mm Makarov cases left laying around the range to get mixed in with 9mm Parabellum is the worst for us old guys with eyes that are not so clear. Yes, I know I should meticulously inspect each individual case during the cleaning/prep process but when working batches of hundreds or a thousand and more of straight wall pistol brass at a time my focus is upon checking case rims & sidewalls for Glock bulge, fatigue and cracking; not reading individual headstamps.

GeoDudeFlorida said:

I load both, in different batches

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Same here, I know I have about 100 Fed SPP, My others are all LPP

Hondo 60 said:

Same here, I know I have about 100 Fed SPP, My others are all LPP

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I have a box of around ~1000, mixed head stamp. One day I’ll load up a few boxes with FFg and 255gr HBRN to put in moonclips for the old Webley. That’s always a good use for oddball cases.

plodder said:

...my focus is upon checking case rims & sidewalls for Glock bulge, fatigue and cracking; not reading individual headstamps.

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Probably just as well.

The majority of brass 9mm Mak cases I find are reformed from 9mm Luger.

Sometimes I don't notice what they are until they've been cleaned, resized, primed and placed in a case tray for charging.

When they're upright and surrounded by normal length Luger cases, they stick out like a sore thumb.

Walkalong said:

Folks my age will remember "Reading is fundamental"

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Hadn't thought of that in decades. As I recall, it was written FUNdamental.

I know. That was 40 posts ago. But I did mention decades, right? Actually, not bad considering I can't remember what I had for breakfast yesterday..

Swampman said:

The majority of brass 9mm Mak cases I find are reformed from 9mm Luger.

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Somebody was shooting Hornady Makarov here at one time. A Boxer primed Makarov case will run right through a 9mm Dillon with nothing to give it away until you see the loaded round with a lot of bullet sticking out. Shoots normally.

Jim Watson said:

Somebody was shooting Hornady Makarov here at one time. A Boxer primed Makarov case will run right through a 9mm Dillon with nothing to give it away until you see the loaded round with a lot of bullet sticking out. Shoots normally.

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So much for trimming to within half-a-thousandth.

Well, I only shot a couple out of curiosity. They fed, fired, and functioned. Why not? OAL and diameter were the same as 9mm P. Apparently headspacing off the extractor, which is a chancy thing; Maj. Geo. C. Nonte scared me out of doing that as a routine practice.