pistol vs. rifle primers

[Dr.Doug]

I find myself short on small rifle primers (and everyone's sold out), but have a good supply of small pistol primers. Can small pistol (standard or magnum) safely be substituted for small rifle primers in .223?

Thanks,
Doug

 

[rcmodel]

Heck NO!

Pistol primers have thinner / softer cups.

They are not as strong as rifle primers and won't hold as much pressure.

They are also more sensitive, and would greatly increase the risk of slam-fire doubling in an AR-15, if that's what you are loading .223 for.

rc

 

[Mal H]

What rcmodel said, but add an extra '!'.

You can go the other way, i.e., sub small rifle for small pistol, in an emergency (like when they no longer sell any SP primers), but be sure to drop back the load and work up again.

The working pressures in the nominal .223 Rem is close to double the working pressure found in the average handgun caliber using SP primers.

 

[Dr.Doug]

Thanks for the rapid responses. I'll stick with the proper components.

Doug