Small Pistol Magnum Primer substitute

[Creedmoor]

Great to hear about your success loading 357's & 44's with Standard Primers (I also load 44 Mags) & I'll certainly try some Test lds-using Standard Primers.
Here are pics from my Lyman Manual (49th Edition):
View attachment 194003

View attachment 194004

Thanks for the Input!

I believe they used mag primers because thats whatcwas available at the time.
In better than a dozen manuals going back to the early sixtys do I see anything with using mag primers in 357 mag loads.

 

[Creedmoor]

....

 

[92FSTech]

H110/296 recommend magnum primers. I screwed up one time and accidentally loaded a batch with regular small pistol, and they all went bang, but I wouldn't make a habit of it. None of my books call for magnum primers under 2400. Interestingly, Winchester primers say that they are for both standard and magnum pistol loads right on the box, so I can't imagine there's much difference.

Last year while desperate for primers I scored some small rifle magnum primers at Dunham's, and bought a few boxes. I put them in light .38 loads as i didnt want to take chances with pressure, and I had no pressure problems, but my handguns (even factory spring DA revolvers) wouldn't ignite them reliably. I ended up using them in range fodder .223 loads and they worked ok for that, and my marlin levergun ate up the rest of the .38s without complaint.

The above isn't intended as advice for what you SHOULD do, as it could very well yield unsafe results....just sharing observation based on my personal experience in the midst of panic-induced shortages. As always, be smart, work any new load up, and understand that your mileage may vary.

 

[John Trap]

So can you safely substitute small rifle primers for small pistol primers? I finally got a reloader for all these 38 special empties, that I've been saving, and now can't find any primers...

 

[VERT]

So can you safely substitute small rifle primers for small pistol primers? I finally got a reloader for all these 38 special empties, that I've been saving, and now can't find any primers...

Yes. But as mentioned above small rifle magnum primers or even the foreign rifle primers will be hard to ignite. I would use those only for loading Ammo for the AR. I wouldn’t hesitate to use Small Pistol Magnum which seems to be showing up with the most regularity. I would think/guess standard small rifle from CCI or Federal would be fine. Other brands ?????

 

[DadSmith]

Small Rifle Primer or the magnum version of the same.

 

[John Trap]

Do you think I would have a problem, with small rifle primers, in a Smith & Wesson revolver?

 

[billybob44]

Do you think I would have a problem, with small rifle primers, in a Smith & Wesson revolver?

in a Smith & Wesson revolver?
^^^^
In a "Tuned" S&W Revolver=Probably yes???...

 

[VERT]

Do you think I would have a problem, with small rifle primers, in a Smith & Wesson revolver?

Maybe

 

[tackdriver]

I've used CCI #400 SRP in .357 Mag loads instead of #500 SPP, and never had any issues. YMMV, and I've only got one .357 (Ruger GP100).

Looking at reliability and NOT safety - Not all SRP are created equal.
Some have harder cups, and light hammers/strikers may not do their job.
Some are designed with the anvil deeper in the primer to avoid slam-fires in rifles like the AR. Even if your hammer is strong enough, the firing pin may not go deep enough to ignite the rifle primer. This seems compounded if the pin is a little off center.

I tested with 3 SRP: CCI #400, Win SRP, and Fed Match AR. These were fired through 5 pistols: BHP, Beretta 92, 2x Sig P365, and a Sig P226 (slightly lighter hammer spring than factory).

On one end - The BHP ate everything and went Bang just fine.
On the other end - a P365 failed with many of the Win SRP, and failed with 100% of the Fed Match AR.
The other combo's were in somewhere in between.
So far, the CCI#400 has worked 100% in all pistols, but I'm still watching this before I'm confident this will remain true. I'm rationing my SPP for only the rounds that need total reliability (competition? ).

I'd recommend loading a small batch and testing them in your gun for reliability before cranking out too many.

Good luck, and may they all safely go BANG!

 

[DadSmith]

in a Smith & Wesson revolver?
^^^^
In a "Tuned" S&W Revolver=Probably yes???...

I would think a revolver it should be fine. I have no problems with striker fired pistols. I use CCI mostly.

 

[VERT]

I've used CCI #400 SRP in .357 Mag loads instead of #500 SPP, and never had any issues. YMMV, and I've only got one .357 (Ruger GP100).

Looking at reliability and NOT safety - Not all SRP are created equal.
Some have harder cups, and light hammers/strikers may not do their job.
Some are designed with the anvil deeper in the primer to avoid slam-fires in rifles like the AR. Even if your hammer is strong enough, the firing pin may not go deep enough to ignite the rifle primer. This seems compounded if the pin is a little off center.

I tested with 3 SRP: CCI #400, Win SRP, and Fed Match AR. These were fired through 5 pistols: BHP, Beretta 92, 2x Sig P365, and a Sig P226 (slightly lighter hammer spring than factory).

On one end - The BHP ate everything and went Bang just fine.
On the other end - a P365 failed with many of the Win SRP, and failed with 100% of the Fed Match AR.
The other combo's were in somewhere in between.
So far, the CCI#400 has worked 100% in all pistols, but I'm still watching this before I'm confident this will remain true. I'm rationing my SPP for only the rounds that need total reliability (competition? ).

I'd recommend loading a small batch and testing them in your gun for reliability before cranking out too many.

Good luck, and may they all safely go BANG!

CCI 400 SRP are internet rumored to be exactly the same as CCI SPM. I can’t confirm that.

On that note the CCI SR magnum are supposed to be the same as the CCI 41. Again internet rumor. But makes sense.