Primer ID

[JCSC]

I found a big pill bottle full of primers that I did not label.

Is there any way to discern between small pistol and small rifle?

maybe just load them up for 5.56 blasting ammo?

 

[243winxb]

Safer to load them as small pistol. Less pressure with pistols. If they are for rifle, may have misfires, so only load small batches.
I fired some small rifle primers in pistols, no issues.

 

[JCSC]

Good call. Thanks!

 

[Blue68f100]

May be able to sort by the color of the primer pillow. Some mfg had different colors for identification. And if you have a way to measure cup thickness, rifle primers will be ~ 0.005" thicker. Like said when in dought load them in pistol due to lower pressure.

Why in the world would you put loose primers be in a jar? If that jar got dropped it would be a nightmare with primers self igniting.

 

[jmorris]

Is there any way to discern between small pistol and small rifle?

It’s a possibility. I can visually tell the difference between all of these, if they became mixed. The color of the priming compound as well as plating on the cup would allow 100% recognition from one another.



Of course I would never do that as I don’t remove them from original packaging until needed.

If I had found a random bottle of primers I just “found” somewhere, I would consider them trash.

Would probably use them for no powder loads, like the Speer plastic, primer propelled, rounds.

 

[JCSC]

I have never seen primer only loads before. That’s interesting.

 

[jmorris]

Some people make their own, drilling out the flash hole but these are the Speer ones.

https://www.speer.com/bullets/plastic_training_bullet_cases/19-8515.html

 

[Grayrock]

I was gifted a box full of reloading stuff and there was about a half sleeve of small primers in it. No box, just the tray they were in. Is there any easy way to tell what they are? Would pictures help? Measurement? I'm hoping they are small rifle primers, but if they are small pistol would they still be useful for rifle cartridges?

 

[Show Me]

May be able to sort by the color of the primer pillow. Some mfg had different colors for identification. And if you have a way to measure cup thickness, rifle primers will be ~ 0.005" thicker. Like said when in dought load them in pistol due to lower pressure.

Why in the world would you put loose primers be in a jar? If that jar got dropped it would be a nightmare with primers self igniting.

Self igniting ? Thats a little dramatic. If you suck them up in the Kerby. The fan will pop one every now and then. Not a hand grenade.
But ya. Wonder why manufacturers warn to keep powder and primers in original packaging.

 

[Show Me]

I

It’s a possibility. I can visually tell the difference between all of these, if they became mixed. The color of the priming compound as well as plating on the cup would allow 100% recognition from one another.

View attachment 1153191

Of course I would never do that as I don’t remove them from original packaging until needed.

If I had found a random bottle of primers I just “found” somewhere, I would consider them trash.

Would probably use them for no powder loads, like the Speer plastic, primer propelled, rounds.

View attachment 1153192

Wanted to mess with those but couldn't find the cases just plastic bullets

 

[jmorris]

I

Wanted to mess with those but couldn't find the cases just plastic bullets

You can use a brass case, just need to open up the flash hole.

The plastic ones just allow you to deprime them with a nail, by hand. The larger flash hole is so they don't back out of the pocket when fired with the super light bullet and no powder.

 

[CQB45ACP]

Self igniting ? Thats a little dramatic. If you suck them up in the Kerby. The fan will pop one every now and then. Not a hand grenade.
But ya. Wonder why manufacturers warn to keep powder and primers in original packaging.

Here's dramatic for you--this picture from this thread

A series of unfortunate events ( WARNING : GRAPHIC, VERY )

first note : im going to be posting and editing this one in bursts, as my internet sucks right now, my hand hurts (still attached, albeit unbelievably perforated), and i dont want to lose all of the typing in one go due to a tech failure. So, I had a catastrophic failure involving a...

www.thehighroad.org

 

[Show Me]

Here's dramatic for you--this picture from this thread

A series of unfortunate events ( WARNING : GRAPHIC, VERY )

first note : im going to be posting and editing this one in bursts, as my internet sucks right now, my hand hurts (still attached, albeit unbelievably perforated), and i dont want to lose all of the typing in one go due to a tech failure. So, I had a catastrophic failure involving a...

www.thehighroad.org

View attachment 1207881

Good lord. Saw a gun shop setup with holes in the ceiling from stacked in a tube primer set up. Lee hand primers are better. I use a ram prime. Some times one will get away on the carpet from old fingers . The lee arm primes is another cause of them getting away and mixing with the spents that jump out. A shop vac works fine but the Kerby all dirt goes threw the fan.
People remove primers and use them again as talked about on here. You can throw one against the concrete and nothing happens. Line them up in a tube and you have a weapon.
So being scared of dropping some isn't a thing

 

[CQB45ACP]

Good lord. Saw a gun shop setup with holes in the ceiling from stacked in a tube primer set up. Lee hand primers are better. I use a ram prime. Some times one will get away on the carpet from old fingers . The lee arm primes is another cause of them getting away and mixing with the spents that jump out. A shop vac works fine but the Kerby all dirt goes threw the fan.
People remove primers and use them again as talked about on here. You can throw one against the concrete and nothing happens. Line them up in a tube and you have a weapon.
So being scared of dropping some isn't a thing

I'm not worried about one going off either...unless it's in a pile of others.

 

[Jim Watson]

My pistols will fire small rifle primers with no change in velocity of my loads.
Therefore I would use up mystery small primers in 9mm with no concern.

 

[DustyRusty]

I haven't seen glass medicine bottles in many moons.
I'd bet it was plastic. OP didn't say.

 

[Jim Watson]

A commercial reloader set up a demo at the range. His machine had a primer feed collator, which he loaded from a quart Mason jar. So far, so good, but not for me. The only time I handled any loose bulk primers was when I messed up loading 100 into a Dillon. After playing 52 Pickup I had nearly 100 primers in a cup which immediately dumped into the flipper to start over. Lessons learned: Leaving the little clevis pin out of a pickup tube is inconvenient and embarrassing. But dropping a pickup tube of Small into a Large feed tube is much worse.

 

[Show Me]

Y

I'm not worried about one going off either...unless it's in a pile of others.

You know if that fella had his blast tube on the aluminum primer tube it would have all gone straight up like the guy at the gun store. My cost effective Lyman 8 hole came with one and the automated rigs in the shop did too.

 

[CQB45ACP]

Y

You know if that fella had his blast tube on the aluminum primer tube it would have all gone straight up like the guy at the gun store. My cost effective Lyman 8 hole came with one and the automated rigs in the shop did too.

Maybe so. I too still like factory packaging and carefully using a limited number of primers in loading tools as designed. May not prevent an accident but reduces the risk of a big ugly one.

 

[FROGO207]

Me, I use the old style Lee hand primer or the Ram prime on top of the press. I have gotten into the habit of putting half a tray of primers at a time into the tool. It seems to have less problems than a full 100 primers at a time.

 

[Walkalong]

maybe just load them up for 5.56 blasting ammo?

Maybe try a few to see if your handgun will set them off, then use them up in handgun applications.

Everyone has said it, best to leave them in the original container, and if not, label everything that instance, or we forget.

 

[Nature Boy]

label everything that instance, or we forget.

I’m getting worse by the day it seems

 

[CQB45ACP]

I’m getting worse by the day it seems

Me too. I even forget to label. Then forget what the label should’ve been.

 

[Grayrock]

Anyone have an idea what these are?

 

[ballman6711]

Anyone have an idea what these are?View attachment 1208253

A mixture of large and small. Could be rifle or pistol. Load the small ones in pistol rounds, and measure the large to see if they are rifle or pistol primers, they're different thickness.

chris