Large Rifle Primers in Handgun Cartridges?

[blackmamba]

With the shortage of components these days, has anyone used large rifle primers in .41 and .44 magnums, or 45 Colt (Ruger)? As long as they seat flush or lower and you drop down in your powder charge, why shouldn't they work?

[leftysixgun]

Light or weak hammers spring may be an issue, buts an easy issue to fix.

[blackmamba]

Thanks, lefty, hadn't thought of that.

[taffin]

Sept 29, 2020 9:42:59 GMT -5 blackmamba said:

With the shortage of components these days, has anyone used large rifle primers in .41 and .44 magnums, or 45 Colt (Ruger)? As long as they seat flush or lower and you drop down in your powder charge, why shouldn't they work?

In years past I have done this with no problems. And in some sixguns have tried both Magnum primers, standard primers, and rifle primers to see how much effect they had on loads.

[blackmamba]

Thanks, John, I will give them a try.

[mike454]

Large rifle primers are .005 taller. make sure they seated below flush. I've done it a time or two with a light load in a strong gun. Not sure how pressure would be affected.

[blackmamba]

Thanks, Mike, that was my main concern. I'll try a few and make sure they are flush- that's something I check on every load I make anyway.

[nicholst55]

I wonder if you would experience any cylinder rotation problems in this scenario. Not only are LRPs taller than LPPs, but the primer pockets are correspondingly deeper on rifle cases. I read of a fella on another forum who stated that he reamed .44 Mag brass primer pockets for LRPs with a primer pocket uniformer tool, because LPPs were simply not available where he was at that time. He didn't report any problems arising from removing the few thousandths of an inch of metal. He has since passed on, so I can't contact him for additional information. Might be something to watch out for, at any rate.

I have used SRPs in .40 S&W with no problems, back during the previous primer shortage, but the dimensions are identical between them and SPPs.

[mike454]

Sept 29, 2020 18:02:44 GMT -5 nicholst55 said:

I wonder if you would experience any cylinder rotation problems in this scenario. Not only are LRPs taller than LPPs, but the primer pockets are correspondingly deeper on rifle cases. I read of a fella on another forum who stated that he reamed .44 Mag brass primer pockets for LRPs with a primer pocket uniformer tool, because LPPs were simply not available where he was at that time. He didn't report any problems arising from removing the few thousandths of an inch of metal. He has since passed on, so I can't contact him for additional information. Might be something to watch out for, at any rate.

I have used SRPs in .40 S&W with no problems, back during the previous primer shortage, but the dimensions are identical between them and SPPs.

Like I said, I've done it without issue for about 500 rounds or so, but I'm not recommending it. I used a rcbs handprime and checked every round to make sure primer was below flush. Not sure if it would be possible to get a slam fire if the primer wasn't seated below the case head, but wouldn't want to find out.