.45 ACP, Large or Small primers ??

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CPLofMARINES

CPLofMARINES

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Forgive me if this has been covered. I read over the weekend a member on
here recommends choosing .45 ACP brass with large primers over small.
Why is that ? Unreliable ignition ? Accuracy issues ? Couldn't you use a
small pistol magnum primer ? Not close to loading .45, I was just curious.
Thanks everyone !

Semper FI
 
You'll find varied opinions on this. Personally, I load both with standard pistol primers and I don't notice a difference other than they're a PIA to sort.
 
It's not so much a reliability issue so far that I have seen, more of a sorting issue. I keep separate bins for both large and small and whenever one of the bins gets full is when I do a batch. I use the same loads (all relevant data actually) in both and have no problems or change in POI.
 
It makes no difference other than a PITA when you are set up for one or the other. No need to use a mag primer. The small primer version of the 45 are the new and improved green, safe no lead primer.:rolleyes:

Many moons ago the 357 Mag was large primers then it went to small.
 
I use both but have much more LP than SP, load the same with either. Back when Win NT was the only SPP 45 brass I had lower SD's with SPP cases than LPP. That said by sorting by primer size one was also sorting by head stamp and the LPP brass was mixed.

I have a device on my high volume 45 acp press that will detect and cull SPP cases before they reach the priming station.
 
CPLofMARINES said:
Forgive me if this has been covered. I read over the weekend a member on
here recommends choosing .45 ACP brass with large primers over small.
Why is that ? Unreliable ignition ? Accuracy issues ? Couldn't you use a
small pistol magnum primer ? Not close to loading .45, I was just curious.
Thanks everyone !

Semper FI
Click to expand...
I believe the overall consensus is in 45 ACP the size of the primer pocket matters not. If you search this forum there are several threads on the subject and the conclusions are generally the same, matters not. Additionally, I have seen some 45 ACP cartridges using large primer pockets and having huge flash holes. I guess if we don't want to get OCD about shooting the things we should sort, load and shoot.
While I will not say the data exist I have yet to see any loading data specific (different loads) for large or small primer pockets.

Just My Take
Ron
 
Because finding you have a small primer piece of brass in a batch of large primer you're running on a progressive kind of sucks...push too hard and you can cause all kinds of problems.
 
jmorris, I read your post before I looked at your name and instantly wondered if you were jmorris from pirate. Lol, yep you made a machine to separate .45 brass too!

You are awesome.
 
I'll put it this way. Tradition says use LP primers, That's What John Moses Browning designed his gun for. But I have reloaded both kinds, and never really noticed any kind of difference whatsoever.
 
When I hand primed in large batches I'd store the primed LPP and SPP brass together in the same bin, from there treated them all the same as far as loading was concerned.
 
A pox on the idiot that thought using small pistol primers in .45ACP brass was a good idea. Large pistol has been the standard for .45ACP since day one, until now :(

If you want to be non-standard use Berdan primers.
 
Performance wise I doubt there could be nay detectable difference.

PITA for sorting. Use them both and do the SPP batch when you're setup for SPP.
 
"...That's what John Moses Browning designed his gun for..." JM did no such thing. The pistol doesn't care what size the primer is. And neither did JM.
However, the only time it'll matter is if you have both and mix 'em.
"...A pox on the idiot..." Well said. It was Winchester and their NT ammo.
 
If you inspect your brass before any processing (like every reloader should), there is no problem. I read an article several years ago about large vs. small primed 45 ACP reloads. The only difference (identical reloads except for primer sizes) was in some loads, the small primer produce an average of 20-25 fps lower velocities. Many loads were as identical in performance as any lot of reloads. In about 7 years of reading about large vs. small primers the only problem is when someone tries to stuff a large primer in a small pocket (usually a progressive press user).
 
I hate the SPP brass because of the sorting issues but I actually have a small stash on hand and add to it when I pick them up at the range. My stance is that it never hurts to keep your options open when it comes to reloading. There were times in the past 4 years where I just couldn't find large pistol primers. It was nice to have the small pistol primer brass when that came up.
 
Hush your mouth. Someone might hear you.
Click to expand...

Actually some of the recent Wolf/Tula .45ACP has been Berdan primed, but the "original" back when it was really cheap (~$120/1000 or less) was boxer primed.

Its easy to sort Berdan from Boxer in a large mouth case like .45ACP when checking for splits, but culling small primer from large requires looking at bottom of the case, something you don't usually need to do. If you've got the time to sort by headstamps I guess it won't matter, but for the volume I shoot a pox on the guy who came up with this!
 
I have picked up about 500 of the small primer 45 brass
They shoot fine & now I don't need to buy large pistol primers anymore
 
Same with me. I reload both, on a progressive press, & the only issue i have is sorting. I now sort them after each range session. & try to use only one size, to make sorting easier. I still examine them, both to check the brass, & sort by primer. Every now & then i'll pick up another primer size at the range, so i don't assume them to be all one size.

But as far as reliability, i see no difference. I probably have ~ 1k of each, & shoot the 45acp often, so if there was a slight difference, i would think it would be evident.
 
Beside the pain in sorting them I know of one gun (LB Stinger) that will pierce a SP size. The FP center is so far off it hits on the edge causing issues. It's not my gun, would not own it after seeing how it was built. I did have to work on it to make it reliable to shoot. With that said this is not normal with most 45's I seen. Just keep in mind that the SP can bring up problems that do not exist with the LP. As a rule the SP will deliver about 25-30fps slower than a LP. Other than that there is no issues.
 
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