45 ACP Primer Question

[Poppaj78]

I have only been reloading for about a year. I am reloading for my High Standard 1911 Compact. I came across some 45 brass with a small primer pocket. I don't have a large stock of primers or powder.With everything going on i found some small mag. primers thats all i can find. IS IT OK TO LOAD 45 ACP WITH SMALL PISTOL MAGNUM PRIMERS.

I am loading a 200 gr. rainier bullet with 5gr. of titegroup

 

[rcmodel]

Yes, lots of people doing it lately it seems.

Your 5.0 load is just under Max, so back off a little and work back up.

rc

 

[tcanthonyii]

I'll tell you tonight if my gun doesn't blow up. I'm shooting some hornady 200gr HP with I think 5.5 gr of tg. I have to look at my book. A mid load in the hornady manual for the bullet I'm using. And federal spmp

 

[kerreckt]

I have loaded 45acp using magnum spp many times. The velocity was the same as the ones loaded with spp using the same charge and charge weight. So from my experience there is no difference. I have no way of measuring pressure so I can"t speak to that.

 

[mljdeckard]

I set small-pocket cases aside and wait until I am priming 9mm, and I just add them onto the end of the project.

 

[mljdeckard]

Am I correct in assuming that small-pocket .45 cases are a result of manufacturers not wanting to use different primers than more common cases like 9mm in places like Europe?

 

[tcanthonyii]

Well I can tell you all things being equal compared to my no magnum loads, they worked better and more accurate. My standard Hornady 200 gr hp load is 5.3g TG. I loaded them up with with a small pistol mag primer instead of a standard small pistol and they rocked. Dead accurate. Cleaner burning and no pressure signs. They worked great!

 

[Hondo 60]

I use about 4.7 gr of tite group.

With a magnum primer I'd probably start there.
If it works, there's no need to go higher.

4.7 cycles my slide & chronos to:
HI - 910
Low - 792
AVG - 862
ES - 118
SD - 29

That's with a standard 5" 1911

 

[joneb]

I use about 4.7 gr of tite group.

Hondo, what weight bullet are you using?

 

[JSmith]

I found some small-pocket .45ACP in my brass the other day. I'm going to start loading that caliber soon, using ~5.0 gr of W231 with Berry's 230 gr plated round nose bullets. Hodgdon's load data uses 4.2 - 5.3 gr of 231 with a 230-gr bullet but those loads were probably developed with large pistol primers. (Hodgdon doesn't say.)

Will I want to use small pistol or small pistol magnum primers in those? Or will it matter?

 

[buck460XVR]

Am I correct in assuming that small-pocket .45 cases are a result of manufacturers not wanting to use different primers than more common cases like 9mm in places like Europe?

I thought it had to do originally with the use of lead-free primers in "clean" type ammo, and that they were only available in SP.

 

[shinyroks]

I load the small primer mags interchangably with the LR. I have chronied the loads and it makes up for 5 fps at max load, so I consider them equivalent (as far as the 45 Auto goes, anyway)

 

[ArchAngelCD]

IS IT OK TO LOAD 45 ACP WITH SMALL PISTOL MAGNUM PRIMERS.

I am loading a 200 gr. rainier bullet with 5gr. of titegroup

Put it this way, Winchester large primers come in only 1 flavor, suitable for both standard and magnum loads. Most reloaders who change over from other LPP to Winchester LPP don't usually know they are magnum primers and make no adjustments to their load but they also don't notice the difference.

When using Magnum primers over standard primers the most you will have to drop the powder charges to achieve the same velocities will be .1gr or possibly .2gr at the most.

Rainier bullets are plated bullets and are recommend to be loaded with lead bullet data. Hodgdon states a starting charge of 4.8gr to a max of 5.4gr Titegroup under a 200gr LSWC bullet. Your charge of 5.0gr TG should be just fine with a magnum primer as is with no changes since you are already near the minimum charge.

 

[Trent]

SPP primed 45 is the bane of the progressive reloader.

Reasonably tough to spot when sorting a big pile, and if you miss one, your press makes a wonderful CLUNK sound when you find them.

 

[rdhood]

I actually prefer the small primer 45ACP. As soon as my supply of LPP run out, I am going to sell off all of my large primer 45ACP brass and move exclusively to small primers so that I only have to stock one size.

Reasonably tough to spot when sorting a big pile

Not really. Take a drill bit that just barely fits the small primer pocket (or one that fits snug in the large primer pocket), and you can sit in front of the tube and check them without even looking. Use the NON-cutting end of the drill bit. The smaller drill bit will rattle around in a large primer pocket, or the larger bit will not fit the small primer pocket. It is very easy to do.

 

[Trent]

If you take the time to punch the primer out before sorting, sure it'd be much easier.

I tumble with spent primers in, dump them in the hopper, and load. Any corn cob stuck in the flash hole gets pushed out with the spent primer. Keeps my dies cleaner as I'm only sizing freshly cleaned brass.

Sometimes I don't even bother tumbling. I put all of the cases on the bench mouth up and look over them to A) make sure they're the same height and diameter, B) make sure the are Boxer primed, C) Make sure there's no rock or mud in the cases.

(EDIT: just recently I've also started sweeping a magnet over them to pull out steel cased)

Then I dump in the hopper and load.

Funny thing is I can't even tell the difference when I shoot, if pistol brass has been cleaned or not.