Hello all. I have been shooting Federal NT (non-toxic) .45 ACP for a while and a fellow shooter has been trying to reload the brass. The trouble is the primer pocket has a little extra brass there that the standard primer reamer does not clean out. As a result, the new primer will not seat. Anyone reloaded these before or have any idea how to seat the primer? I must add, I do not reload yet, but with the shooting I do and my wife will do, it is fastly becoming a necessity. Thanks.
Reloading Federal NT .45 ACP
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Jim Watson
Member
The .45 NT brass uses small primers whereas standard .45 ACP brass takes large pistol primers.
I have loaded a few Winchester NT cases with small pistol primers, just to show it could be done, but when I saw the crimp on Federal NT cases, I just trashed them. The next I find, I will do some work on because this will obviously get to be more and more important to handloaders. Federal will not likely support reloading them, at least Winchester does not.
You could buy Winchester NT to shoot and save or you could get new or once fired .45 ACP brass to load with large pistol primers like John Browning, Colt's Pt. F.A. Mfg. Co. Inc., and the US Army (with the exception of Frankford Arsenal) intended.
Or you could wait until somebody figures out how to fix the Federal NTs.
I have loaded a few Winchester NT cases with small pistol primers, just to show it could be done, but when I saw the crimp on Federal NT cases, I just trashed them. The next I find, I will do some work on because this will obviously get to be more and more important to handloaders. Federal will not likely support reloading them, at least Winchester does not.
You could buy Winchester NT to shoot and save or you could get new or once fired .45 ACP brass to load with large pistol primers like John Browning, Colt's Pt. F.A. Mfg. Co. Inc., and the US Army (with the exception of Frankford Arsenal) intended.
Or you could wait until somebody figures out how to fix the Federal NTs.
Vitamin G
Member
I personally only reload brass that takes large primers. Nothing against small primers, it just happened that way. In fact, the VERY SMALL inconvienience of a 15second swap on my lee hand prime is the only thing that stops me from bothering to reload .223
30-06
10mm
45acp
44mag.
30-06
10mm
45acp
44mag.
ReloaderFred
Member
The early Federal NT brass used a large pistol primer and an enlarged flashhole to accomodate the increased pressure of the NT primer compound. They later found out that they could use a small pistol primer and get the same results, so switched to those.
The NT primers are crimped in, both large and small primers. I load them both, after running an RCBS primer pocket swager into the primer pockets to remove the crimp, the same as military primed brass. The larger flashhole makes no discernable difference, other than looking different. Speer, Winchester and Federal have all gone to the larger flashhole for their NT loadings.
Other than sorting the brass for large and small primer pockets, they load the same and give the same results, a bullet on target to the same point of aim.
Hope this helps.
Fred
The NT primers are crimped in, both large and small primers. I load them both, after running an RCBS primer pocket swager into the primer pockets to remove the crimp, the same as military primed brass. The larger flashhole makes no discernable difference, other than looking different. Speer, Winchester and Federal have all gone to the larger flashhole for their NT loadings.
Other than sorting the brass for large and small primer pockets, they load the same and give the same results, a bullet on target to the same point of aim.
Hope this helps.
Fred
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