.45 ACP flash hole differences?

[Mus408]

Was going through some brass for reloading and discovered that Federal brass has a larger
.100 dia hole than the Winchester brass which measrures .081
Both are for large pistol primers. Why the difference and does it cause a difference in how the
powder burns when using same primers and powder load?

 

[gerryb158]

They are NOT both for large pistol primers. Several years ago some manufacturers sold .45 ACP ammo with SMALL pistol primers. It was intended for "lead free" range ammo (I believe.) It has caused some consternation among reloaders ever since. However, if you take the time to pick through it, load it with the correct size primer all other factors remain the same. The "small" primers work just fine in the .45 ACP, it's just a bit of a pain separating the different cases. Good luck! GB

 

[Mus408]

Have to correct you on that... Both the Federal and Winchester brass I have are sized for the large primer as I checked them all with a pin gage,just so I could weed out any small primer cases,in which I did find two.
Regarding the FLASH hole size the Federals have the large .100 diameter hole and the Winchesters
have the smaller .081 hole. I measured those hole with the butt end of Number drills.
You don't even have to measure as you can see the difference in FLASH HOLE diameter.
I assume it doesn't make a whole lot of difference,since I shot about 50 mixed brass reloads last weekend and they all worked well..well felt the same,as I didn't have my chrony setup.

Just wanted to know if anyone else has noticed this?

 

[Jimbo357mag]

I have noticed different flash hole size with 38special 'clean range' ammo. I put it aside but believe it probably would not make much difference when reloaded. It's out there, be aware when you pick up brass for reloading.

 

[wizofwas]

Why? Different manufacturers. Federal probably determined that a larger hole worked better for their primers and powders. Of course this is just a guess. Does it make a difference? To the casual reloader, probably not. To the match shooter, yes. But the match shooter wouldn't even think of mixing brass anyway. If you're worried about it, why not just sort the brass by manufacturer or by primer size?

 

[Chuck 100 yd]

I have found a few of those in the last couple years or so. Any of those cases I find that are made for large pistol primers AND have the huge flash hole go into my scrap brass bucket. Those that use small pistol primers get separated and loaded using the proper size primer. They shoot just fine.

 

[anachronism]

"Non-Toxic" primers require a larger flash hole than standard primers. It's likely that you just have some of each. The brass with the larger flash holes still use the std primers for reloading, and function perfectly.

 

[gerryb158]

Mus408, Sorry about my mistaken comment. I think I was considering the primer pocket size when I should have paid closer attention to what you asked. I think the brass would be useable in either case.

 

[Chuck 100 yd]

Any company that produced brass that when used with commonly available components to reload ammo,and the resulting reload would be dangerous, would really be sticking their neck out for a liability suit. I have read several magazine articles on the subject that were printed shortly after the small primer ACP ammo was released and everyone who tested the differences said they work interchangeably. I have loaded and shot both large and small primer brass with both large and small flash holes and find no difference in the way they shoot. That said, I still discard the ones that have large primers and extra large flash holes. I have enough ACP brass that I don't need the oddballs .

The police use our gun club range to practice and if you get there at the right time you can pick up 500-1000 pieces of once fired in just a few minutes. I have done that a couple times this year.

 

[Johnnu2]

I've collected massive amounts of Federal 'nickle' .45ACP brass from when our LEOs use our range; every piece has massive flash holes. I've used them over and over with never a problem but I do wonder how the powder doesn't just fall through those 'sewer size' openings. I also collected large quantities of brass with the small pistol primers and use them with my normal .45acp loads. I like having the ability to use small or large primers depending upon the "shortage dujour" from our industry partners...............J

 

[Rclark]

....and extra large flash holes

I had a few of these. After several pierced primers with them, I tossed 'em. Don't even fool with them anymore. The small primer ones also get tossed just because I don't want them around.

 

[volshooter]

Glad we have the search option. Dude gave me 1000 .45ACP range brass and I found about 200 were Blazer and Federal cases with small primer pockets. Sounds like they should shoot fine.

 

[powder smoke]

I Painted the head red on the small primer brass, pain to sort. ps

 

[volshooter]

I was thinking of the same thing, except with a black sharpie or something. I always inspect the primer pocket before priming anyway, but these did throw off my timing. First batch of brass that had alot of these smaller primers.

 

[mr surveyor]

now y'all have me wondering what the safety limit is for flash hole diameter. Several years ago I tinkered with the wax bullet thing, and per everything I read on the subject (and found it true) you had to drill out the flash holes a bit in the brass .... BUT, a warning was also given to never get that brass mixed in with your standard reloading brass or bad things could happen.

So .... what's the size limit?


jd

 

[Ka6otm]

The manufacturers went to small pistol for .45 ACP because some agencies/ranges wanted lead free primers only shot at their ranges. The only lead free primers made were in the small pistol configuration, so the brass companies who wanted to sell lead free ammo went to small primers.

The .45 ACP I've found with small pistol primers so far:

G.F.L
PMC
Federal
Speer
Fiocchi
nny

If you start sorting them, it helps to use a caliper locked to the size of a small pistol primer and use it as a snap gauge, but after you've seen enough of 'em, you can tell immediately at a glance.