SPP vs SRP prime

[Jackiesman]

With the shortage of primers I have been searching for creative ways to use what I have. In the process I reviewed the specs on CCI small pistol magnum primers vs the CCI small rifle primers and found that the specs (sizes, material and quantity) were identical, and therefore interchangeable from rifle to pistol. That being

 

[captain awesome]

yep. wish i had purchased more small rifle while I could have.

 

[illinoisburt]

Perfectly fine to use SRP in pistol loads. Generally not the other way around. Pistol primers aren't designed to take rifle pressures.

 

[JEBruns]

See this thread, and the video I linked to in it:
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/pistol-mag-primers-9mm.896865/

 

[fxvr5]

With the shortage of primers I have been searching for creative ways to use what I have. In the process I reviewed the specs on CCI small pistol magnum primers vs the CCI small rifle primers and found that the specs (sizes, material and quantity) were identical, and therefore interchangeable from rifle to pistol.

What specs have you reviewed, and where did you find these specs?

They are not the same according to CCI.

 

[fxvr5]

See this thread, and the video I linked to in it:
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/pistol-mag-primers-9mm.896865/

Keep in mind the video shows one load in a 9mm, with no indication of the powder or charge weight. So, for that 9mm load with the bullet and powder used, there was no diff in pressure. But it does not mean the results will be the same with other powders.

 

[sequins]

Work up new loads or reduce by 5% would be my advice. I just bought 1,000 srp from midways and im using them in 357 magnum hand loads once they arrive. I haven't been able to load 357 magnum in over a year and I plan to work up to max with h110 again. Should work great.

 

[Howland937]

I've read before that the CCI SRP and SP Mag primers were identical in construction. I'm not going to bother trying to find the link, since the whole article was kind of "heard it from a friend who heard it from a friend, who talked to someone somewhere that worked for CCI", none of which was I able to find any corroborating info for.

Can you use small rifle or small pistol Magnum primers in small pistol applications? Yes, following the recommendation that you start low and work back up. That doesn't mean they're the same and are just a simple interchangeable component.

 

[Reloadron]

We saw this line of questions following Sandy Hook and every component shortage I can recall going back to the Clinton Administration. When you want good factual information it ie wise to go to the primer manufacturer. Here are a few examples I used to settle some arguments or discussions:

-----Original Message-----

Sent: Thursday, February 04, 2016 5:55 AM

To: cciexpert <[email protected]>

Subject: CCI Ammo - Ask the Expert Form

Are CCI 400 small rifle and CCI 550 small pistol magnum actually one in the

same primer with identical thickness and charge?

Thank You


This was to finally resolve a discussion and here is my response:

-----Original Message-----

From: cciexpert [mailto:[email protected]]

Sent: Monday, February 8, 2016 11:33 AM

To: [email protected]

Subject: RE: CCI Ammo - Ask the Expert Form


Ronald, these are not the same exact primer and you should never mix reloading components.

I expected that but now I had some good concrete dope to ross out.






Make Every Shot Count!

Justin M.

2299 Snake River Ave.

Lewiston, ID 83501

CCI/Speer

(800)379-1732



Here is another example:
-----Original Message-----

Sent: Monday, September 12, 2016 3:09 PM

To: cciexpert <[email protected]>

Subject: CCI Ammo - Ask the Expert Form



Ron Blain

Bedford Heights Ohio 44146 USA



Regarding CCI #34 primers. The question has come up or it has been stated that CCI #34 primers are the same thing as CCI 250 Large Rifle Magnum primers. While I know the CCI #34 is a magnum primer I believe it is not the same as other large rifle magnum primers in that it has further reduced sensitivity. Would that be correct and is the priming mix different than standard large rifle magnum primers.


Thank You

Ron Blain

The Response:

Ron, here are the differences in the 2 primers. So the anvil angle change is the difference, this keeps the free floating firing pins from causing slam-fires in AR style platforms. This does make it so that a light strike will have a less of a change of going off.


CCI-250............................ Magnum primer, Mag primer mix, thick cup, standard anvil.

#34/7.62MM................... Mil. Spec. primer, thick cup, magnum primer charge, angle of anvil change.





Justin M./Technical Service Rep.

2299 Snake River Ave.

Lewiston, ID 83501

Alliant/Blazer/CCI/Speer

(800)379-1732



Every time we face a component shortage all sort of questions come up. My best advice is go to the real experts and get some good dope. typical reply is a say or Two. You can also call but I like email.

Ron

 

[Jackiesman]

See this thread, and the video I linked to in it:
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/pistol-mag-primers-9mm.896865/

That's a darn fine video. I enjoyed it. Kinda makes it a little easier for folks to feel comfortable with primer selection. What I didn't have a chance to make clear is that my loading is using SPM in place of SRP for my 300 AAC rounds. I always load to mid range and thus far (using a pin gauge mic) the firing pin strikes in the primer pockets are nearly identical for both types of primers, and no sign of pressure issues. To be honest I have only used the CCI primers, but loaded some Federal SPM and some Win SPM for testing (if it ever stops raining so that I can use the chronograph). I will attempt to report results on it soon, along with the load data.

 

[forrest r]

At the end of the day it comes down to 2 things:

Can the firearm have consistent ignition/hard enough fp hit.
How complete the powder burns.

If you have a revolver that's tuned with reduced springs/lightened trigger pull you might not want to use sr primes in them.
If the load your using has a +/- 75% burn you might not want to use the hotter sr primer.

The video posted above is a good example of what happens when you pair a fast burning powder with a firearm that capable of consistent fp hits. On another website a guy that does a lot of pressure testing with a contender found that 9mm loads with bullseye and other fast burning powders didn't care what primer the reload used (sp VS sr). There were increases in pressure. But with the slower burning powder that had a lesser % of burn, the pressures increased.

Awhile back there was a guy on this website posts about VV powder and 70% burn of that powder. This would of been a good canidate for increased pressure if a hotter sr primer was used.

Myself I use sr primers all the time in my 9mm reloads with fast burning powders. I also use sr primers in all my 357mag reloads for my revolvers and contenders.

 

[JEBruns]

Ron, here are the differences in the 2 primers. So the anvil angle change is the difference, this keeps the free floating firing pins from causing slam-fires in AR style platforms. This does make it so that a light strike will have a less of a change of going off.

Yeah, that's one thing I've heard too, that you need the harder primers for AR's, like the #41's. I don't think I'd mess around much with substituting primers if I loaded rounds for AR's.

 

[Walkalong]

A lot of people tried it during the hard times we have faced a couple of times lately, successfully, YMMV, use common sense, be careful.

Since that was happening, and the question kept coming up, I did a small test with different primers in 9MM.

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/9mm-primer-test.840256/page-3#post-10905312


One of the pics from that thread.

 

[JEBruns]

A lot of people tried it during the hard times we have faced a couple of times lately, successfully, YMMV, use common sense, be careful.

Since that was happening, and the question kept coming up, I did a small test with different primers in 9MM.

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/9mm-primer-test.840256/page-3#post-10905312


One of the pics from that thread.

I'm surprised you got the #41's to work in a 9mm. I bought a brick of Win #41's and could not get them to go bang very often. I even bought an extended firing pin for my Shadow 2, but still only had about 40% ignite. Sold the rest of the brick to a buddy who loads AR ammo. Worked great for him.

 

[Walkalong]

Perhaps they weren't seated fully, or maybe your pistol just didn't have enough ooomph, which is always a possibility with SR primers in pistols.

 

[AgPilot]

My Sig 9mm shoots just fine with SRP.

 

[AJC1]

A point was brought up about burn charastics that intrigues me. If you use a srp in an attempt to get better burn how much better burn will you get and how far over max will that get you. 4227 and accurate #9 may both benifit from srp. Will that drive you deep in the danger zone.

 

[Jackiesman]

My Sig 9mm shoots just fine with SRP.

My 9mm also works just fine with SRP's, that's why I am out of SRP's now, and why I had to settle for SPM's for my 300 AAC loads, and why I have made the comments that I have in this post. That being said I sure would like to know where all the new primers are going because I would like to get back to things that I know work without testing everything.

 

[Skgreen]

So which brand of SRP is the softest/require's the least amount of hammer strike?

 

[Howland937]

My 9mm also works just fine with SRP's, that's why I am out of SRP's now, and why I had to settle for SPM's for my 300 AAC loads, and why I have made the comments that I have in this post. That being said I sure would like to know where all the new primers are going because I would like to get back to things that I know work without testing everything.

I dunno, but I had a brick of Fed Small Pistol Match primers in my hand yesterday, and put them back on the shelf. Called a guy who said he needed some, but he didn't need them at $79.99 and I didn't need them at all... so someone else got them.

 

[Howland937]

So which brand of SRP is the softest/require's the least amount of hammer strike?

I think the general consensus is Federal.

 

[JEBruns]

Perhaps they weren't seated fully, or maybe your pistol just didn't have enough ooomph, which is always a possibility with SR primers in pistols.

I checked that. The primers were fully seated.

I'm not talking about normal SRP's. All my pistols will 100% reliably work with those. I'm talking about the AR specific Win #41's. They say right on the box "for 5.56".

 

[JEBruns]

So which brand of SRP is the softest/require's the least amount of hammer strike?

No idea, but I can tell you I've used a lot of CCI and Fed (match and regular) SRP's and have had no issues with light strikes or any of them not going bang. That's with striker and hammer fired guns.

 

[Walkalong]

I checked that. The primers were fully seated.

I'm not talking about normal SRP's. All my pistols will 100% reliably work with those. I'm talking about the AR specific Win #41's. They say right on the box "for 5.56".

Well, you'll notice I had the most failures to fire with them in the test, 6 out of 10 failed with that pistol (XDm OSP).

 

[JEBruns]

Well, you'll notice I had the most failures to fire with them in the test, 6 out of 10 failed with that pistol (XDm OSP).

No, I did not see that. I was only going by what you posted in this thread. But that makes sense, thanks for the additional information.