45 ACP Reloading

[walker71]

Just curious if anyone has loaded 45 ACP with the small primers. I have a bunch of Federal American Eagle brass and figured it shouldn't be a issue. I have the small pistol primers so why not. Set up the Dillion press, got the powder drop correct and then started depriming and found the small primers CCI #500 did not want to press into the primer pocket. I measured the spent primer against the CCI and found the new primers are ever so slightly larger. So anyone else ever run into this problem?

[bamboomaster]

This is the reason why you sort/personally inspect your brass. As you've discovered, .45 ACP brass accepts the normal large or small brass. Incidentally, many discussion forums for rifle cartridges do the same in quibbling about the large or small issues - especially for competitive shooting.

Some claim that for a particular reload (powder and bullet), that the small primers do a better job of getting the round on target: slower ignition, better pressure, be sure you hold your sight on target, etc.

FWIW, I dunno. Have always used large pistol primers in my .45 loads and am reluctant to change out something that works great for me. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

But if you have the time to experiment, well, once you chrony the small primer reloads against your large primer pistol loads, it should be easier for you to measure the improvements and what small primers do better than large primers for the same bullet in your .45 loads. Think group size and standard deviation measurements from your chrony, 5, 10, and 15 yard groups.

Please be sure to circle back on post and share the targets, results, etc..

And Merry Christmas, Bro'!!!!!!!!!!!! :

[raxar]

Yes, small primer .45 brass gets used when I don't want to be bothered by collecting the cases when I'm done shooting.

[cephas]

Crimped primer pocket?

[wanneroo]

Nope haven't bothered with small primer 45 ACP. I have a few hundred sitting on the shelf. Not sure what I will do with them.

[walker71]

Crimped primer pocket?

Gonna have to check the brass. Never thought it would've been crimped.

[walker71]

This is the reason why you sort/personally inspect your brass. As you've discovered, .45 ACP brass accepts the normal large or small brass. Incidentally, many discussion forums for rifle cartridges do the same in quibbling about the large or small issues - especially for competitive shooting.

Some claim that for a particular reload (powder and bullet), that the small primers do a better job of getting the round on target: slower ignition, better pressure, be sure you hold your sight on target, etc.


FWIW, I dunno. Have always used large pistol primers in my .45 loads and am reluctant to change out something that works great for me. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

But if you have the time to experiment, well, once you chrony the small primer reloads against your large primer pistol loads, it should be easier for you to measure the improvements and what small primers do better than large primers for the same bullet in your .45 loads. Think group size and standard deviation measurements from your chrony, 5, 10, and 15 yard groups.

Please be sure to circle back on post and share the targets, results, etc..

And Merry Christmas, Bro'!!!!!!!!!!!! :

Would love to test it. My only issues are the primers won't even press in. I picked up the ammo on sale, knowing it had small primers and figured most folks don't reload the small stuff. Just wanted to try and see the difference between the two.

[wanneroo]

I've found some slight variations in primers and also primer pockets. For instance I've found Sellier and Bellot primers to be a pretty tight fit on just about everything and CCI fits nicely on just about everything. Brass could be crimped, I tend to doubt it though. If you have a case prep center you could always use the small primer pocket reamer and uniformer tools and see what results you get.

[Yoder]

I've never had issues with small primer .45's. Use a primer pocket reamer. It will maker them all uniform. I shoot both small and large and could never tell the difference. I really don't think things like this matter much with handguns as far as accuracy is concerned.

[d4xycrq]

I pick up small primer 45s when I see them. Happily reload them, and have no issue seating the new primer. One question I have, though; Small Pistol or Small Rifle? Don't lose any sleep, and run Small Pistol primers in these critters. Not shooting match, not for self defense, just plinking ammo.