45 ACP Primer Pocket

Uh yeah.

The large pistol primers won't fit into a small primer pocket.

And the small ones just fall out in the big ones

Its a disaster.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=649476

I think falls under my third example

Small pistol primer diameter = 0.175"

Small pistol primer pocket diameter = 0.173" to 0.1745"

Large pistol primer diameter = 0.212"

Large pistol pocket diameter = 0.2085" to 0.210"

The primer is supposed to be 0.0005" to 0.002" larger than the pocket.

The difference in large and small is 0.037" - which is more than the thickness of a credit card.

john

Obviously you need to separate them. I would think the only issues between the two is you need be careful working up loads due to the different primers.

Good luck,

I heard the small primer 45 acp uses special primers that have something to do with controlling lead. Not sure the story, but definitely a pain to deal with when buying once fired brass.

Google "small vs large primers in 45 ACP", a much discussed topic for the last 10-12 months. No difference in load data, small vs large primers. Standard small pistol primers, of any manyfacture are used.

They make picking up range brass a pain--you have to separate the LPP from the SPP.

If you are just starting to reload, and also load .380/9mm/.40/.38 etc., then collecting (or trading for) the SPP .45acp brass can be an advantage in that you don't have to change your primer set-up, and you only need to buy one type of primer.

If you already have thousands of .45 acp brass, and you try to pick up your own brass, and get some others mixed in...well, I cuss Federal and others out regularly. It is possible to see the difference with the naked eye, but takes a bit of practice, and my eyes aren't as young as they used to be.

orionengnr said:

They make picking up range brass a pain--you have to separate the LPP from the SPP.

Click to expand...

I've always sorted by headstamp so the SPP aren't particularly bothersome. With the component shortage I like that I could use SPP or SRP for .45.

The latest problem I've come across is that the silver colored SPP "look" bigger so are hard to tell from LPP sometimes depending on the brass...:banghead:

I recently learned that some of the earlier SPP were actually crimped. It's always something...

I just de-prime 'em and dump them in the tumbler. I then sort by headstamp and primer size. If I have a bunch of small primers on hand, I'll load those up and vice-versa. Since the beginning of time 45acp has been manufactured in both.

Just take your primer pocket tool and use the large-primer side, and quickly go through all the brass just sticking it in. If it doesn't go in, you've got small primer pockets. Sort them out that way. Eventually you will be able to tell just by looking, but that is not as foolproof.

I sort out my SPP .45 cases, and store them away in big Folgers containers. I had about 2500 saved for emergency times, but ended up trading away 1500 of them for 1500 LPP .45 cases. I meet a reloader at a IDPA match that has switched to SPP cases to reduce the # of different primers he keeps on hand. I figured I would hang on to some for a just in case situation. Besides I usually bring home a couple hundred .45, and 9mm cases along with my .40's I shoot at matches.

As a reloader I have learned to not leave brass on the ground. I picked up brass of all calibers. It makes good trading fodder. I just made a trade with a good friend in January: I had about 4,000 9mm cases cleaned that I traded him for 3,500 .223/.556, and 1,200 .40s&w cases. He's retired, and goes out to the range at his gun club to collect brass after pistol, and carbine training classes.

Yep. Save them and prime them with the 9mms. Actually, I've gotten to the point I just glance at them as I feed them to the hand primer and throw the small-pocket ones in a pile.

I prefer them!! The 45 is one of the only high count calibers I reload that uses large primers, so I end up with keeping a quantity of those on hand also.
Several loads I've played with have shot better using small primers than any of the large ones. They have a bit larger flash hole, I think that has something to do with it.

Any cases that have NT in the h/s will usually be crimped ones.

45ACP Small Primers Are Winchester Winclean Brass.

Think you're dealing with brass from Winchester Winclean ammo, which has smaller primers than the ones usually found with 45ACP brass. I shot my Winclean to get rid of it, and didn't save the brass to reload. This was after I tried priming with standard large pistol primers and found they didn't work on brasss I had kept.

My concern was that I couldn't find any load data in the manuals in my library showing the use of small pistol primers for 45ACP.

You may find data that you can use for reloading, however.

You use the same data as with LP, no differences. Drop charge a bit to test first, but all of mine are identical.

gerrym526 said:

Think you're dealing with brass from Winchester Winclean ammo, which has smaller primers than the ones usually found with 45ACP brass. I shot my Winclean to get rid of it, and didn't save the brass to reload. This was after I tried priming with standard large pistol primers and found they didn't work on brasss I had kept.

My concern was that I couldn't find any load data in the manuals in my library showing the use of small pistol primers for 45ACP.

You may find data that you can use for reloading, however.

Click to expand...

Ditto jjjjjitters. Use the same data unless you're fooling around on the ragged edge of maximums, then load up.

Hate to tell ya this, but Federal, CCI, Blazer & others also have SPP ammo out.

Jitters is right

I find a lot of 45 Spp and I sort it and keep it in separate boxes labeled small pistol.
As far as loading with the small pistol primers, I loaded a few up a little lighter and worked back up to my normal charge. using a chrono I found that the velocity didn't vary by more than 25 to 40 fps between the large pistol and small pistol, so I use the one loading and just keep the brass separated.
Pretty easy to do really. When I am going to shoot 45 acp I take all of one primer size. I use a brass catcher so getting range brass mixed in isn't an issue.
Work up a load and use them.
Have Fun
Roger

Except for the obvious difference in primers used in each there is absolutely no difference in charge weights or accuracy from what I see. I have SPP .45 ACP brass from Federal and Winchester and I use both. All I do is load them and keep them together so on one day all the brass I shoot is SPP brass.

SPP 45 ACP has to be the worst idea I've ever heard of.

Can it be shot with SPP? Sure.

Does it cause endless frustration sorting brass, and stoppages on progressive presses when you miss one?

Absolutely.

Is there a big difference in the small pistol size primer pocket and the large primer pockets on 45 ACP brass?

Click to expand...

Hmm... one is a small primer pocket, for small pistol primers, and one is a large primer pocket, for large pistol primers?

SPP 45 ACP has to be the worst idea I've ever heard of.

Click to expand...

SPP 45 ACP has to be one of the best ideas I've ever heard of. Send them all to me!

The key to using small pistol primers in 45 ACP is visual inspection. Use yer eyeballs. I inspect each case I reload, sometimes it takes a while, but I feel it is a necessary part of reloading. There are other defects tha show up, with a visual inspection than primer pocket sizes (I even found a spider nest with bug debries/carcasses in a .45 ACP case). If you are in too much of a hurry, or want ammo "untouched by human hands" and just want to dump a bunch in your auto-progrossive machine, then expect trouble...

All the same to me. I clean sort and reload....no big deal.

There is something to post #23. Shouldn't we be inspecting cases AT LEAST that thoroughly?