Friday, March 2, 2012

Small VS Large Primers

Small & Large primers

Small primer VS large primer

Recently some companies started making cases with small pistol primers for the 45 ACP. Why? Who knows? Anyway it is something we have to deal with so I am doing testing on small VS larger through the chronograph. I have found that Federal and Fiocchi are using small primers in their ammo. It’s conclusive that large primers give more velocity with all powders tested especially the slower ones such as Herco. That is because the large primer has a stronger ignition on the powder charge. Felt recoil was different with some of the loads that read 100 FPS difference or so. You can also see that there is a difference between a 3” and 5” barrel and different guns with the same barrel length. It goes to show you that any change in components will change the end results. If you are using a max load and change any component you should drop down about 5% or so to evaluate the new load. Otherwise you could go over the top with the new load.

Rock Island 5” barrel
6 X Herco 230 grain Ranier (small) 816.8 high es
6 X Herco 230 grain Ranier (large) 931.2 nice
6.5 X Unique 230 grain Ranier (small) 935.6 consistent bit fast
6.5 X Unique 230 grain Ranier (large) 1012 consistent & fast
5 X Red Dot 230 grain Ranier (small) 714 3”
5 X Red Dot 230 grain Ranier (small) 739 5”
5 X Red Dot 230 grain Ranier (large) 726 3”
5 X Red Dot 230 grain Ranier (large) 770 5”
6.5 X 231 185 grain Ranier (small) 692 3”
6.5 X 231 185 grain Ranier (small) 728 5”
6.5 X 231 185 grain FMJ WC (small) 753 3”
6.5 X 231 185 grain FMJ WC (small) 782 5”
6.5 X 231 185 grain FMJ WC (large) 822 3”
6.5 X 231 185 grain FMJ WC (large) 825 5’

5” Iver Johnson
6.5 X Tite Group 185 grain Ranier (small) 1019 consistent
6.5 X Tite Group 185 grain Ranier (large) 1055 consistent
6 X Herco 230 grain Ranier (small) 823.9 high es
6 X Herco 230 grain Ranier (large) 867.9 consistent
4.5 X Tite Group 230 grain Ranier (small) 869.8 ok
4.5 X Tite Group 230 grain Ranier (large) 884.2 consistent

Sig 5”
6 X Herco 230 grain Ranier (small) 695.8 ok
6 X Herco 230 grain Ranier (large) 848.4 consistent

Many years ago the 38 and 357 mag cases had large primers but someone realized that a small would work just fine. You will probably never encounter these cases but if you do make sure you reduce your load especially if it is a hot one. If powder is over ignited that could cause a dangerous pressure spike. That is why the flash holes are the size that they are. Starline makes 45 Colts cases especially for blanks and the heads are marked as such. Under no circumstances use them for smokeless powder ammo as that will almost certainly result in disaster. I have also seen 400 Cor Bon ammo with both size primers. Such situations are a pain in the keister. But the prudent reloader should be aware of this situation. At one time they made small primers for the 30-30 but they evidently didn’t work out well due to under ignition of the powder and were discontinued.


Iver Johnson 45 ACP

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your blog contains good information.Thanks for sharing.With time and age the primers are constantly tried and enhanced. It is known that the CCI pistol primers are more sensitive. Before that application of the primers the adjustability and the compatibility level of the primers have been aptly judged and tested. To have the cleanest form of burning in most cases one might make use of the recent non-corrosive and non-mercuric initiator mixture.

Anonymous said...

Such a useful content. A really great source of information for me. May other's also get benefits from this.
Pistol primers are indeed crucial aspects for consideration in case you have grabbed yourself a pistol. These particular primers are equally important like that of the rifle primers as well as magnum primers.

Guns Valley said...

I read your whole content it’s really interesting and attracting for new reader.
Thanks for sharing the information with us.

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