I know the exact opposite of this has been discussed ad nauseum, but would using regular primers to load .357 Mag loads have any ill effect. I load for 9mm, .40, and .38Spl, but want to dabble with the .357s. I don't, however, want to buy 1k magnum primers for something that might be ~200 rounds a year out of the 6-7k a year otherwise. Richard Lee's Modern Reloading lists a starting load of 8.1gr of Accurate #5 with a 158gr lead bullet. Being a relatively fast powder, I'm thing getting full ignition shouldn't be too much of an issue. Any thoughts?
.357 using regular primers?
- Thread starter J.R.W.
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Regular primers are fine except for W-296/H110. Just about anything else doesn't need them. Can't think of any more anyway. All of my reduced load .357 stuff uses regular primers with mid burn rate type powders, including AA #5.
jfh
Member.
My 357 shooting has never included 296 / H110, except for one test box. Other than that, I've never used Magnum primers for reloading--and one of my favorite loads for the 357 Magnum is a reduced-charge of AA#5 under a 158 LSWC. With WLPs, it's shot fine.
So, like Walkalong says....VBG.
Jim H.
So, like Walkalong says....VBG.
Jim H.
CSA 357
Member
sandard primers will be fine i use winchester spp as they are good for magnum or standerd but they are hard to find around here
ArchAngelCD
Member.
I agree with the others. Unless you are loading a hard to ignite Ball Powder like W296/H110 or HS-6 you have no reason to use a Magnum primer.
Other powders besides AA#5 that can be used for mid-range .357 Magnum ammo without the use of Magnum primers are:
AA#7, Unique, Power Pistol, Universal, Longshot, True Blue and probably a few others I missed. Unfortunately my favorite powder for mid-range .357 Magnum ammo is HS-6 but that powder requires a magnum primer for best results.
Other powders besides AA#5 that can be used for mid-range .357 Magnum ammo without the use of Magnum primers are:
AA#7, Unique, Power Pistol, Universal, Longshot, True Blue and probably a few others I missed. Unfortunately my favorite powder for mid-range .357 Magnum ammo is HS-6 but that powder requires a magnum primer for best results.
ArchAngelCD
Member.
CSA 357,
That is incorrect. While Winchester only has 1 LPP which covers both standard and magnum applications their small primer line has both standard and magnum primers in it. A SPP from Winchester is not magnum strength like the Large Pistol primers are.
Sport45
Member
Alliant 2400 and Ramshot Enforcer are a couple more powders that work for magnum loads and light with standard primers.
Jesse Heywood
Member
I'll add 4227 and 800-X to the list for magnum primers. No chrono data, but there is less residue.
I have an Alliant manual here in front of me and all the .357 magnum loads use CCI 500 (small pistol) primers. Bullseye, Unique, Power Pistol, Blue Dot, and 2400 listed, all loads use standard primers, from 110 gr. all the way up to 170 gr. Speer bullets
ljnowell
Member
Alliant 2400 and stanfard primers, thats my favorite 357 combo.
GP100man
Member
357 primers
Std. primers will perform satisfactory until it gets cold !!!
Some powders will perform better & burn cleaner with hotter primers , but for general loading std. will be fine .
Std. primers will perform satisfactory until it gets cold !!!
Some powders will perform better & burn cleaner with hotter primers , but for general loading std. will be fine .
zxcvbob
Member
My opinions:
- You can use any small primer in .357, except with a few hard-to-light powders that need a magnum primer or a rifle primer.
- You should back-off the powder load and work it up again when you change primers.
- If a standard pistol primer is hot enough, it often gives better accuracy than a hotter primer.
- If you use a rifle primer you may get misfires if your gun has a weak hammer-spring, and the harder primer cup may mask high pressure signs.
ArchAngelCD
Member.
I'm not going to argue this because it's slightly OT but HS-6 does shoot better with a Magnum primer. While I do get good accuracy and fairly good SD numbers with a standard primer the SD numbers shrink to single digits and accuracy does improve with a Magnum primer. If you check any of the old load manuals you will see all the HS-x powders were listed with magnum primers. These days all Magnum loads get magnum primers and all none magnum load don't so a manual will recommend a magnum primer with HS-6 in a .357 Magnum round but not with a .38 Special +P. (makes no sense)
Everything ArchAngelCD posted makes perfect sense to me. HS-6 is a little finicky about burning well until the pressure gets up there, so using a mag primer at the lower levels makes sense, although I have not tried it. Maybe I should.
tom357mag
Member
Unique and small pistol primers work for me 
crimsoncomet
Member
You should be fine with anything but slow burning ball powders. Speer actually suggest in there book only using magnums with certain powders. Like n110. They suggest standards even though it is a slow burning extruded powder.
crimsoncomet
Member
You should be fine with anything but slow burning ball powders. Speer actually suggest in there book only using magnums with certain powders. Like n110. They suggest standards even though it is a slow burning extruded powder.
lwknight
Member
I just noticed that Winchester still does not differintiate large pistol primers in magnum or standard. Also I have read in several places that Winchester, Wolf, and Remington primers are exactly the same except for the cup hardness. ( Verification would be useful)
I can't find out anything about Mag-tech primers
CCI and Federal definately have differences between Magnum and standard.
It was in the old days common knowledge that Winchester primers were hotter than most. Nowdays , who knows?
Something to consider anyway.
I can't find out anything about Mag-tech primers
CCI and Federal definately have differences between Magnum and standard.
It was in the old days common knowledge that Winchester primers were hotter than most. Nowdays , who knows?
Something to consider anyway.
My favorite load for .357 magnum is 158 gr jacketed bullets using Accurate Arms #9 powder with standard CCI 500 primers. I've tested AA#9 with both standard CCI and Magnum CCI primers and I got better extreme spread velocity numbers with standard primers. Accurate Arms data manual #1 tested using CCI 500 standard primers with all loads. Some later AA data tested with magnum primers. I've had no issues using standard primers with AA#9 and they should work fine for AA#5 loads. Use magnum primers for Win 296/H110 powder and don't substitute mag primers without reducing powder charges and working back up.
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