Pistol primers?

G

g Bo

New member
This is a dumb question but Hey, I just don’t know. I bought small pistol primers the other day to load 9mm. I just noticed that half of them are small pistol regular and half are small pistol magnum.
What’s the difference besides price?
 
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A little hotter spark in the magnum primers for setting off the harder to ignite powders. Over the last 40 odd years I have used mag and non mag primers in my 9mm autos and honestly cannot tell that much difference.

While I would not mix them up I think you will be just fine using them in any modern day 9mm loading.
 
Depending on primer some are harder and may have issues igniting. Just had this happen with my SIG practice ammo. Even then I have some Tula small pistol and those things are as hard as a rifle primer, about 60% fire rate without a double tap and even then there is hardly a mark on them. Definitely nothing I would use for situations.
 
This is interesting. I have a thousand cci sp mag primers I've seldom used because I mostly load moderate loads with Unique. Should I use them ?
 
Originally Posted By: masshunterThis is interesting. I have a thousand cci sp mag primers I've seldom used because I mostly load moderate loads with Unique. Should I use them ?

Well, I would. You likely will never tell a difference.

Quite a few years ago when I got my first chronograph I shot a few various .357 mag and .44 mag load using standard and magnum primers and the speeds were just a tiny difference. Like 20-40 fps.
 
Thank you for your feedback. I will try and exchange them for regular primers.. I assume they will but we’ll see?
 
Most places won't take primers back so you're probably going to have to keep them. You can use your normal loads with the mags and expect maybe 30-40 fps gains with no appreciable rise in pressure. I've also done some experimenting with small rifle primers in my 9mm's and have had the same results...30-40 fps and all went bang every time I pulled the trigger.
 
9mm, small pistol
357, small pistol magnum
I always go by the book on primers. Save the magnum primers incase you start reloading for that.
 
Originally Posted By: g BoThank you for your feedback. I will try and exchange them for regular primers.. I assume they will but we’ll see?

If they will not....I agree with Rusty. Just don't load them
anywhere near max.

After recently getting a 9mm, I could find only ONE box of
regular small pistol primers, but had a whole carton of Rem
6 1/2 primers and tried them using Power Pistol. There were no
FTF's and no indications of over pressure.
 
g Bo said:
This is a dumb question but hey, I just don’t know. I bought small pistol primers the other day to load 9mm and just noticed that half of them are small pistol regular and half are small pistol magnum.
What’s the difference besides price?
Click to expand...
Small pistol primers (standard) produce a milder flame and are fine for most 9mm loads. Small pistol magnum primers burn hotter and longer, meant for magnum cartridges or hard-to-ignite powders. Using magnum primers in a load meant for standard ones can increase pressure, so it’s best to follow your load data and not swap them randomly.
 
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