I saw on another thread a poster mentioning you can do this.  I reload 9mm and 38spl, and I have a TON of Wolf small rifle primers, but my small pistol stash is down to about 3-4 months worth at the rate I shoot.

Can you use small rifle primers for 9mm and 38spl, and if so, what if any precautions need to be taken?

thanks

As with any reloading...........you need to take the "standard precautions" when approaching a NEW load (or using new/ different components or when experimenting).

The other side of the equation is............will your firearm work with the Rifle primers in a pistol cartridge?

Some do.......and some don't.  YMWV.

Aloha, Mark

PS.............And for liability reasons, I'll add..............



Taken from the Magtech web site.

The standard Wolf SR primers work fine with no adjustments for my 9mm loads. The standard is a fairly sensitive primer and all of my guns have fired them off. If you have the 556 primer then some pistols may not set them off as they are not as sensitive. As mentioned use all the standard precautions when changing a component in a load.

I have heard lots of guys using these primers to make major in 9 and 38 super. At one time I had 10,000 Rem  61/2 primers I was going to use in my 357 but ended up selling them instead. Check out Brian Enos forum, there is a lot of info there on handgun loading and shooting. I know this topic has been covered there a bunch of times.

Per my thread of a while back here and on brianenos.com small rifle will work fine. Do normal safe load development and you'll be good to go. Most posters noticed no difference in pressure with identical loads. The only issue is maybe light strikes/misfires due to a harder primer depending on your firearm. The Enos thread includes info on primer hardness.






http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=6&f=42&t=290398



http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=91985





 
 
 

Thanks for the replies everyone.  I may load up 20-30 rounds this weekend with small rifle (and I'll also reduce my charge to be safe, though I don't run my 9mm that hot anyways) and see how it works out.

i mistakenly bought remington 6 1/2s instead of 7 1/2s. could the 6 1/2s be used in 9/40 loadings?

Have you been reading this thread?

Aloha, Mark

i don't get it!
the 6.5s were unsafe for 223. wsr primers are safe for 223. wsr can be used for small pistol-primed cartridges.
do you see why i'm confused?
remy 6 1/2s are for limited small rifle, mainly 22hornet, i believe

xdmikey,

Let me first apologize to you.  I should be more understanding that this is "an educational process."  And thus, I shouldn't get so frustrated.

I apologize to you.

_________________________

So anyway, the way I was reading your question..........I figure, it's the same as asking..........

"I got Rem 6 1/2 primers.  Can I use them for reloading 9mm and/or 40 S&W?"

My thought process..........(is this a trick question?)............

The Rem 6 1/2 is a small RIFLE primer.  

The 9mm and the 40 S&W are PISTOL CARTRIDGES and will normally use a small pistol primer.

Hummm...........this entire thread.............revolved around the substitution of a Small RIFLE primer for a Small PISTOL primer...............when reloading pistol ammo.

The conclusion was............

YES, a small rifle primer can be substituted for a small pistol primer when reloading pistol ammo.  BUT, remember to approach this as an "experiment."   Precautions should be observed.  Precautions such as..........reducing your loads for SAFETY (back off if you see dangerous signs), test some samples before going into full production, test with your handgun as it may not reliably set off the rifle primers, etc........

So, the answer to your question is:  (copy and paste, the same conclusion here).

Aloha, Mark

Wear as much Kevlar and flak vest's with eye shields as you can.  Do you think the Mfgs. just put out differing primers so they can add to the cost of production, labeling, inventory, etc., etc.  
458

Except for the cup thickness, I'm betting that the primer compound and amounts in each brand's SPM primer and SR primer are very similar, if not identical.  I verified that they are identical in CCI's SPM and SR primers a few months back when I called their tech dept.  



So I think that the issue comes down to the ability of your pistol to ignite the primer you select.  Talking with the tech person at CCI (a nice woman with 38yrs with CCI) convinced me that the primary difference between SPM and SR primers is the cup thickness as the rifle primers are designed for higher max pressures than the pistol primers are.

The only SR primers I have are Wolf SRM and Wolf 223 (I think they are supposed to be the same, just different markings).  At any rate, I did load work up with the SRMs and they worked pretty well.  I actually saw larger standard deviations with the SRMs than with SP primers, but not higher average velocities or pressure sings.  However, the SRM, being kind of hard, resulted in a couple of light strikes with my factory sprung S&W 681.  So, unless I don't have SP primers, I'm sticking with SP for handguns.

FYI:  Wolf says that their SRM primers have a harder cup than their SR primers.  That's why they recommend them in semi-auto rifles with free floating firing pins.

 

I loaded up some test rounds today to see what happens when you use SRM in 9mm.  I should have tested it with my Glock also to see if the striker would set the primer off...  I didn't think about it though.

I also tested my normal load so they could be compared under the same conditions:

Weapon:  AR15/9 with a 5" barrel

Brass:  Various
Primers:  Wolf Small Pistol Magnum
Powder: Hodgdon Titegroup
Charge:  3.5 gr
Bullet: Barry's Plated 147gr RN
Loaded on a Dillon 650

High: 988
Low: 943
Avg: 964
ES: 45
SD: 19

Brass:  Various
Primers: Wolf Small Rifle Magnum
Powder: Hodgdon Titegroup
Charge: 3.5 gr
Bullet" Barry's Plated 147gr RN
Loaded on a Dillon 650 but hand weighed each charge since I only loaded 20 rounds.

High: 989
Low: 949
Avg: 965
ES: 40
SD: 15

So with Wolf Primers, there is practically no difference with this specific load.

I collected all the brass and there isn't any notable difference between the two.  From now on, I'll just be buying Wolf SRM I think.

Question for you Magoo. How do you like the Berry's plated 147gr RN? I was just about to order a case and take my chances but I see you are shooting a similar load already. I had been using Rainier TNs but would like to give Berry's 147gr plated RNs a try.

I've had 0 problems with them.

I haven't tried anythng else since I've been reloading so I don't have anything to compare them to.  Barry's was the cheapest 147gr than I could find.  It's completely plated so there isn't a exposed lead base, which I wanted for my silencer.

I haven't had any problems with them during the loading process.  Accuracy is fantastic.

Barry's shipping was very fast but now their web-site says 3-5 weeks or something like that.  Shipping is free after $50 too so it's a good deal IMO.

I'll be buying from them again.