Primer question.....

Mikej · Feb 10, 2014

I mistakenly bought Remington 5 1/2 pistol primers....This during the time ANY primer was a good thing. I didn't realize how Remington labeled their primers. Like my WTT/WTB ad says, "Shouldn't it say small pistol magnum" on the box? What say you guys about using small pistol magnum primers in place of standard? Anybody done any pressure testing? Reducing charge is the obvious, though a pain in the butt considering I have my set loads for, say, 9mm and .40. I'd be a bit concerned perhaps, in high pressure rounds such as 9 and. 40 too. Maybe .45 ACP or .38 would be better candidates for the mag primer? Everything I load, I load on the lower end of the scale.

What applications ARE there for "Small pistol magnum" primers anyway? I 'spose I should, but haven't looked at my books yet for applications.

Mike

jhirte · Feb 10, 2014

Do a little googling on the remington 5.5's.. they have a thicker cup to handle more pressure for hot 9mm, 40SW. I've been using them in 45acp.. had a bunch of Blazer small primer brass. been loading them with 6.2gr Unique with the Rem 5.5 for 230gr FMJ.. no issues at all.

I'd have to do some digging again and post the links I found a while back, but you should be able to find the same info with ease.

Mikej · Feb 10, 2014

Thanks....If a thicker cup is the ONLY difference there would be no issues using them for whatever. Unless, I suppose, you have a gun with a firing pin that hits softer than others.

JohnH · Feb 10, 2014

Let me google that for you

JohnH · Feb 10, 2014

Start reading, it has been my understanding a 'magnum' primer adds approximately .1 grain worth of powder charge.
If you are loading at the lower end of the range of the powder you are using you should be fine.
If you are loading a 'hot' load I wouldn't use a magnum on top of that.

Also, let me know if you want to trade, I think I have some standard Tula primers if you want

jhirte · Feb 11, 2014

I'll have to try to locate the info I found a while back on them. Basically I had found a thread somewhere where someone had contacted Remington about them. thicker cup designed for higher pressure loads was the only difference. If you are worried about blowing something up, just start at the lowest load data, and work you way up checking for pressure signs. I would use them (and do) w/o second thought - of course working up the load, checking for pressure signs.

Mikej · Feb 11, 2014

JohnH said:
Let me google that for you

Okay smartie-pants! Tell me how you do THAT ^^, always thought it was funny.

Just as I expected, after reading for 20 minutes....A lot of, mostly qualified I'd say, opinions. That is what I expected to get from the good members here, and I'm not disappointed. I appreciate the offer for the trade John and may take you up on that. I'm not really in the mood to change my set loads, and besides I've been using Tula primers for the better part of a year with no issues, so the trade would be fine for me. I may be PMing you at some point, we've done biz before.

jhirte said:
I'll have to try to locate the info I found a while back on them. Basically I had found a thread somewhere where someone had contacted Remington about them. thicker cup designed for higher pressure loads was the only difference. If you are worried about blowing something up, just start at the lowest load data, and work you way up checking for pressure signs. I would use them (and do) w/o second thought - of course working up the load, checking for pressure signs.

Like I'd said above, everything I'm loading is in the low to mid range, according to at least TWO sources' so I'm not really worried about blowing up a gun. I'm just not wanting to mess with anything extra at this point. If I'd accidentally picked up large pistol mag primers I'd be keeping them because I'm set up to load .357 and .44mag, even though I haven't yet.

Thanks guys.

Mike

jhirte · Feb 11, 2014

I'd say just use them in your .40 and not worry about it.

WillametteWill · Feb 12, 2014

I'm not sure specifically about the Remington primers (regarding if they have the same charge but with a thicker cup) but I have read about other issues using mag primers, especially with lower powder loads. My understanding is the mag primers that are hotter can ignite loads with low powder levels all at once, causing much higher pressure so just reducing the load may not be the answer. I know as I look through various loading manuals I see that for rounds like 357 mag and 44 mag many of the loads with light but magnum charges use standard primers. It's the hot loads with lots of powder to ignite that use the mag primers.

Winchester seems to have gone to just one type of primers (one for each small and large) without a standard or magnum description. I have used these in both standard and magnum loads.
Just adding some thoughts...

erudne · Feb 12, 2014

Buy it at any price, once it's gone you'll never se it again
Don't believe me?
OK
sell me all you got at MSRP

jhirte · Feb 12, 2014

Heres that link I mentioned..

Remington's response to primer questions. [Archive] - Cast Boolits

AMProducts · Feb 13, 2014

If you're on the lighter end, load up a few and test, generally you can interchange things to a point without any real headaches, the time I start getting nervous is when you're pushing a max load and then do a primer switch. Sometimes for light loads that have a low case volume I will use a mag primer to make sure I got the powder lit.