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45 acp Small Primer Brass

282K views 1K replies 382 participants last post by  Nitro.45 
#1 ·
Picked up a bit of .45 ACP range brass today, tumbled it, and went to load it...then realized those IDIOTS at Federal has produced .45ACP Ammo with SMALL PISTOL PRIMERS!! Unbelievable...I plan to write to Federal and will not buy another Federal product until they withdraw this ammo from the market. Its going to wreak havoc for those of us that reload .45ACP. Try sorting this stuff out of regular .45ACP brass...

If they are trying to save money...load up aluminum cases (ala Blazer). Sheesh
 
#212 ·
Wasting good brass. Shame on you. Trade it for brass you will use. Lot's of folks reload it and like it because they also shoot 9mm and other small primer stuff.
 
#216 · (Edited)
Ahh sometimes its not about the money, I just don't care for the stuff and would prefer to not encourage others to use it. I am sure the picture fits how a few are viewing me :rofl:

I only crushed a few pieces (who has the time, really), at this point I have about 1k set aside not crushed actually, but will only be taken in as scrap.
 

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#217 ·
Embrace the suck.

I sold all my LP .45 brass and bought 10K SP brass. Set my 650 up for SP, Sold most of my LP pickup tubes and bought more SP tubes.

Now I just buy Win or CCI SRP and I'm done. I use them for .223, .40, .38 and .45.

I bought a .40 Limited gun at the same time. It only made sense to only have to screw around with one size primer.

YMMV and it took me awhile to come to this decision.
 
#219 ·
I bought bulk American Eagle 45 acp awhile back and now trying to reload the cases i fired. got about 300 to 400 shells and i got all these small primers bc i read federal brass casing is small primers....nope

mine are LARGE primers. i just started to reload today after receiving small primers because i read it was small primer. but it did not go in,,, first time priming and it did not bc i was using small primer. i was luck that i also got some large primer and they fit right in.

so if you federal brass from AE they are large, at least for me they are....
 
#222 ·
FEDERAL

My observations. You add yours.


Federal Champion has been mostly small primer for the last 2 years +/-.
Champion has copper plated bullets (not fmj)
with reduced charge of commercial Bullseye getting somewhat less than 800 fps velocity.


Federal American Eagle has been large primer forever with FMJ bullets.
I've pulled down several different powders over the years,
generally full charge getting about 830 fps from my guns.
 
#223 ·
NickA, your are right i think Federal AE all have large primers with fmj. i check over two hundred of them and they were all large primers.

i also think others range type of 45 acp are large primer. i say that becaue i have couple of other brand i found at the range and they were all 45 acp
 
#225 · (Edited)
I can only assume some of you do NOT read the various gun mags of a few years back. There was quite a discussion on the matter of small pistol primers NOT being as toxic as Large Pistol Primers---especially for the indoor ranges that were starting up as housing & families were moving close to many of the out-door ranges, SO the idea thing was a sensible indoor range especially up here in Canada, for rain or snow we have no problem of getting there & shooting.

Once in a while when I have cleaned up at our indoor range I sweep up mainly .22 LR spent brass that is put away for selling to those that purchase the brass & that is money to our h/gun section or the gun club.

My best friend & a good shooter when it comes to 45ACP uses the NT small pistol primers & if by chance I will save a few I might find for him. Now I have used some of his loads & they were good, he uses mine with large pistol primers & still shoots well.

Once in a grey moon I will not one of two are with sp brass & since I am lucky enough to have a turret loader I will slide in a Small Pistol Primer, they do not fall out & with the same powder as the LP they shoot just as well no matter what the bullet tip is like.

True if I had a progressive reloading press & was frantic to turn out a maze of reloads THEN I CAN SEE THEIR POINT. Now this is Canada & as of 1950 we could NOT sell reloaded ammo for if someone felt they wanted to get at someone, they did not like, then sell them a few with double load & let the chap suffer.

It sort of happened to me. A chap wanted to try out my Full House PPC revolver with 38Spl loads. I told him to use the reloads I had fed him. Purly by error he put in a double load (accidently his own errior for a Double Load) & that was the end of my very costly PPC revolver. No he was not injured, but the gun was totally shot.

He failed to realize that most of us PPC shooter use light loads when in competition or practice.
 
#226 ·
SP will become the new standard.

It's probably slightly cheaper for manufacturers than LP for factory ammo. Plus I'd rather accidentally try to load a SP into a LP case than crush a LP into a SP case. Also, my local range, where I scavange brass, mostly sells SP factory ammo.
 
#231 ·
Can you reload using small pistol primers in a 45?
Yes, assuming your brass is small-primer 45acp. You can't load small primers into a large primer pocket!

Has anybody had any problems with misfires or misfeeds.
No problems generally speaking, other than the annoyance of inspecting and identifying and separating large-primer brass from small-primer brass, but read through the whole thread and gather the benefit everyone else's experience and opinion. Acceptance of small-primer 45acp brass is not universal, even though it performs exactly like standard large-primer brass.
 
#233 ·
What primers can you use in small primer hole .45 ACP brass??

Hi all, I'm fairly new to reloading and love being able to reload my own rounds. The problem is that I've purchased brass in bulk and about 25% of my brass is small primer brass. I also looked at my stock of new factory .45 ACP ammo and it's small primer brass also.

The root problem is that I can't find any local retailers (Cabela's, Sportco, etc. ) that currently have any small pistol primers in stock. They also have no estimated arrival date of inventory.

My question is can I use small magnum pistol primers (CCI) in my small primer brass??

My apologies if someone has already asked/answered this question.
 
#235 ·
My apologies if someone has already asked/answered this question.
Welcome to the Forum, friend !

Yes, asked and answered a gazillion times. Best to use the Search function.
There is more to it than it seems. Especially for a rank beginner.
Do a search and get properly up to speed.

For now, just reload those Large Primer cases if you only have LP primers.
You'll find Small Pistol primers later and make use of all the SP cases.
 
#238 ·
For those interested in actual data.

I ran some tests with my SA Single Stack 1911 using different primers. Everything was loaded on the same day and tested on the same day. 10 shot strings. Temps. were in the low 90’s.

The load:
Bear Creek 230 gr. FP
4.2 gr. Winchester Super Target
OAL 1.210

Large primer case R-P
Primer:
Win. Velocity 749 f.p.s. ES 45, SD 15
Fed. Velocity 751 f.p.s. ES 39, SD 13

Blazer small primer case
Primer:
Win SP Velocity 742 f.p.s. ES 49, SD 14
Fed SPM Velocity 739 f.p.s. ES 51, SD 16
CCI SR Velocity 741 f.p.s. ES 70, SD 21

Accuracy at 50 yards for each load averaged 6-7” with a combined 50 round group of 8” which is about as good as I can shoot open sights at that distance. So, at least with a 230 gr. BCFP and WST, their’s not a whole lot of difference.
More testing to follow.

Jeff
 
#240 ·
Talked to a federal ammunition representative on saturday. He said the sp is mostly just for non toxic loads required for certain purposes. Sp brass shows up with different head stamps or not as nt just to use up the inventory.

He said the lp will not go away, nor does the use of sp save cost per unit. He also said the industry is trying to develope a good non toxic lp, that will likely replace the sp once the patent goes thru. (Current non toxic lp primers are not reliable enough for them to use)

Thats just what a federal rep told me, but who knows if the info will hold true or not.
 
#242 ·
Another thing to watch for in the SP brass is a lot of it is crimped....Winchester is one that comes to mind. I load on an RL 1050 so it has the swage station and it's not a problem for me. Sorting out the brass can be a pain in the butt! After a while my eyes get tired and I can't tell the difference! Also the swage station on the 1050 has kept me from blowing up primers when I am loading larges....done that twice a few years ago and NOT a pleasant experience....holes in the roof and ceiling fan to show for it! Thank you Dillon for making a safe priming system!
 
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