This is a experiment I have been working on for around a month in my spare time. I have read various things about using small rifle primers in small pistol cartridges. Everything from it will have over pressure and blow up your gun, to it does nothing and they completely interchange, and everything in between. Naturally I did not fully believe either side. So I made the decision to try it for myself.
I knew and assumed all the risks, and I make no statements that anything I did is advisable and recommended. It is up to you to decide what you feel safe doing.

So lets get started. I wanted to try a small common cartridge, so I picked 9mm. The test gun is a old police trade in Beretta 92FS.
Brass is once fired winchester. Bullets were unknown brand 115gr fmj round nose (bought in a bag at a gun show).
Primers to be used is only a combination of what I had, and what was available at my local store (a couple months ago), so I did not get to test as many brands as I wanted, but I had to use what I had available to me. I have actually never used federal primers before this, but that was the only thing the local store had.

Primers are as follows: cci small pistol, cci small rifle, federal small pistol, federal small pistol magnum, federal small rifle.
I loaded up just a hair above the starting load (per hornady's 10th edition manual) of power pistol of 5 gr. I loaded 10 rounds of each with each of the above mentioned primers.
Things I noticed: The federal primers were all noticeably easier to seat than the cci primers. Some of them were so easy, it was almost like the primer pockets were too big. All the cci felt perfectly normal however. When I seated the cci small rifle, I noticed on the first one, it was not completely flush. (even though I used the same force as I always do). I was able to squeeze a little harder and got them to seat flush (hand priming tool).
I measured the height of all the primers and found the cci sp was .118, and the cci sr was .121. I measured the federal and all of them measured .118. I measured the depth of the primer pockets in the win 9mm brass and it was .118. I measured a random 223 shell and it was .125 deep. So there could be a seating issue with cci sr, but I was able to get them to seat flush with a little more pressure.

I set up my chrono and took the measurement at around 10 feet from the muzzle. Velocities were as follows (average of 10 rounds)

cci SP: 985
cci SR: 1000
fed SP: 996
fed SPM: 993
fed SR: 1004

When firing these, there was a noticeable (not huge, but noticeable) difference in felt recoil and noise when going from the small pistol to the small rifle. However the velocity did not show much in the way of significant gains.
The beretta had zero issues with any of the primers. I read that some pistols can have problems with mag or sr primers, but this one did not.
So the takeaway. Going from the cci sp to the sr netted a gain of 15 fps. going from the fed sp to the sr was even less at 11 fps. There was just as much difference between the sp and sr as there was between the fed and cci brands.

So since the difference was so mild, lets try upping the charge a little. I then upped the charge to 6 grains, which is still well below the max charge. I used the same brass and the same bullets. Velocities were as follows:

cci SP: 1163
cci SR: 1183
fed SP: 1184
fed SPM: 1192
fed SR: 1199

There was a little more of a difference, but still not that much.

So it would seem, in 9mm there was not really much difference and it did not appear to care what primer it had. Like the first test, the sr rounds "felt" a little hotter, but actual velocities did not show any major difference.
Well since 9mm did not care, lets try another, completely different round with more powder and higher pressures. Let's try 357 mag. (it just happens to be the only other pistol cartridge I reload that uses small primers)

The test gun is a S&W 686 with a 7 inch barrel. Brass is brand new never fired starline, the bullets are a unknown brand 125gr fmj flat point. I decided to load it with a "middle of the road" charge of Aliant 2400 of 15 grains.
On these rounds, I had no problems seating the cci sr primers. The pockets on this brass must be deeper (I forgot to measure). The fed primers were also noticeably easier to seat than the cci.
Same as before, around 10 feet from the chrono. Velocities were as follows (average of 10 rounds)

cci SP: 1277
cci SR 1349
fed SP: 1295
fed SPM: 1287
fed SR 1416

Ok, now we see a little more noticeable difference. cci sp and sr was a difference of 72 fps.  fed sp and spm really showed no huge difference, but going up to the fed sr show a difference of 121. That is the largest difference so far.
As with the 9mm. When going from the small pistol (of either brand) to the small rifle, there was a noticeable difference in recoil and noise (but not a huge amount, but enough to notice).
There was however one thing that showed up with the 357 mag that did not with the 9mm. When looking at the primers, all of them looked perfectly fine except for the federal SP. Those had a little fatting. If I did not know the load and know it was safe, I would think wow, that load is a little on the hot side. The cci SP looked perfectly ok with no flattening, as with all the other primers as well.
So it would seem the fed SP are thinner than all the other ones I tested in this test.

So the take away from all of this? Well you can look at the data and take it for what it is. It is in no way a scientific or fully exhaustive test (since there were many brands not tested). But I feel like it was enough to be informative.
My personal take away (and it not a recommendation to anyone) is that unless you are loading a small pistol round to the raged edge of the high end, there is not going to be a huge or meaningful difference. I also will not be using the fed SP in the 357 mag any more (was actually the first time I used them)

Thank you for the test.

I am a firm believer in testing and quantifiable results.

It seems for your pistols, you could use small rifle, small pistol, or small pistol mag for your reloads and work up accordingly.

I know in my testing, my SD9VE will. Ot light off small rifle primers and neither will my RIA 1911. But my Berretta 81 will.

Great post. TY

I did a very similar test in .40 about 5 years ago. Results were also similar.

Good info! Thx!!

I ran just about same tests, but using CCI SP, SPM, and SR.
In 45ACP and 357 magnum, difference between SPM and SR was negligible, within the spread of velocities.
SP was slightly slower.
Used CFE Pistol and WSF in 45ACP.
AA #9 in 357 mag.

Where small rifle primers really shine in 9mm is their ability to handle 55k+ psi for 9mm Major loads.

I've used SR primers in 9mm before, the only problem i had was with S&B primers.  They were too hard for some of my pistols to ignite.

The fact that some pistols will not set off small rifle primers seems to be the biggest and only major issue using them in pistols.
I guess it pretty much boils down to the fact you just have to try them for yourself, and if they light them off with no issues, just work up a load and I do not think you would have any issues.

Been using rifle primers I'm my Glocks off and on for years.  Never a problem.

Interesting data. Thank you.

one calculation is worth a thousand assumptions.  One test is worth a thousand calculations.   great work.

Terrific test with quantifiable, repeatable results.  

Federal:  the brass alloy Federal uses in both its primers and cases is SOFTER than any other brand.  This alloy difference explains

1) why the Fed SPs flattened out more, and

2) why they seated so easily



The hardest of the domestic 4 primers is CCI.


Federal’s other critical difference is: priming compound.  Of the main domestic 4 manufacturers, Federal is the ONLY one to use  a formulation of lead styphnate called “basic”, while the other 3 all use a formulation known as “normal.”

Federal’s formulation is the most sensitive to shock/ impact, which makes it the easiest to set off.

Combined with the softer brass alloy, Federal primers are noticeably more sensitive - which is why many revolver competition shooters choose Federal, since the lightened triggers they favor work with Federal but not other brands.

Quite a few of the USPSA shooters I knew way back when totally switched over to small rifle so they could buy one type. Production, Limited, and Open.

Just make sure you test a few in whatever guns you plan to shoot them in. My experience was my 226 and various 1911/2011 guns which had no problems with them.

Beware of pock-marks on your breach face if you keep doing this.  I tried this once with CCI400's.  They worked (no big surprise), and didn't have much velocity difference (again, no big surprise; it's the powder that makes it go).  But I imagine the rifle primer cups are harder than pistol primer cups.  With the lower pistol pressure, they didn't expand and seal as reliably, resulting in occasional gas leakage around the rim of the primer, and breach-face damage from the ensuing gas-jet.  Close inspection of the fired casings showed this was happening at a rate of about 1/20 firings.  Note this also means that brass is likely not desired for reloading, as it will have an erosion jet channel along the wall of the primer pocket, making it more likely for this to recur next time as well even with a pistol primer.  

I stopped doing this.

If you run higher pressure, like 9mm major, this is likely less of an issue, I guess - but that was my experience.  A few pock-marks on a breach face isn't a big deal, but nor is it really worth the trade unless you are truly desperate.

yep

open guns are like indy cars

I also ran into this.  My striker fired pistols wouldnt set off S&B SRP loads   No problems with CCI SRP.

S&B SRP loads worked on my hammer fired guns just fine.

5.7 x 28 reloading is where I was introduced to SP vs SR caps (I only buy CCI) and by chronograph, there was similar data to what the OP posted.  A slight increase in velocity, but since I wasn’t pushing limits, it was not a problem.

I accidentally used some CCI SR caps in 9mm & noted not a significant difference—using a chronograph—good to know when a primer shortage is looming....start low & don’t push the envelope.

I am low on small pistol, Federal SR match are the softest I've got and I figure they will be used in their place.

Good write up...