small rifle magnum primers

[Kevin]

I ended up with some small rifle magnum primers. What do you think about using those in 357 magnum? I've read there isn't much difference between small pistol and small rifle primers. But the small rifle magnum primers???

Me -- just thinking before I do something dumb.

 

[mikld]

Well, if I were in your situation, I'd use the small rifle magnum primers without a second thought. But good reloading practice is to do a load workup, start low, at book starting loads whenever a component is changed/substituted...

https://www.google.com/search?q=magnum+vs+standard+primers&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS874US874&oq=Magnum+ves+standart+primers&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0i13j0i22i30l5j0i8i13i30j0i390l2.19115j1j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

 

[NikA]

There's a lot of demand for SRM primers to use in autoloading rifles (i.e., people loading hot 5.56). I'd bet someone will trade you for what you want/need for your loading.

 

[Mobuck]

My experience with the use of SRM primers (CCI#41) vs the standard CCi #400 in .223 reloads is:
The #41 loads required 0.5 grains less of the exact same powder # and lot (25.0 grains vs 25.5) to achieve the same velocity. This indicates a significant increase in powder ignition or whatever.
In a handgun case, I'd be VERY careful with subbing the magnum rifle primers for this reason. Maybe need a heavier hammer strike also??

 

[Kevin]

Thanks.
I was just in Scheels here in DFW. And they had more magnum primers. I bought some more small pistol magnum primers. The limit is 300. But they had small rifle primers and large pistol primers. Both Magnum and CCI brand.

They also had a lot of ammo, limit two boxes per caliber.

And the prices were normal. Sort of. The primers were $5.99 per hundred. And .22 ammo was $10 per box of 100.

Remington is coming back just like their videos say. Lots of choices for Remington Ammunition.

 

[NikA]

Good to know. Can't wait until the government dole stops and all these fools scalping reloading components are forced to sell at a fraction of what they have in their "inventory". Think I'll stock up on a few more bricks of each primer type.

 

[Uncle Howie]

Good to know. Can't wait until the government dole stops and all these fools scalping reloading components are forced to sell at a fraction of what they have in their "inventory". Think I'll stock up on a few more bricks of each primer type.

I've thought the same in past years... mostly related to rimfire ammo.

It never seems to turn up for sale at reasonable prices, even when the market corrects.

Seems like once people have gotten $80 for that brick of Winchester Wildcats or Remington Thunderbolts, they're focused on getting that price forever.

Even if CCI Mini-Mags come back down to $25/brick!

 

[NikA]

It never seems to turn up for sale at reasonable prices, even when the market corrects.

Seems like once people have gotten $80 for that brick of Winchester Wildcats or Remington Thunderbolts, they're focused on getting that price forever.

I find reloading components to be a bit different in this respect than ammo; namely, actually using them up requires a significant investment of time and attention to detail that a lot of folks don't have.

Every time there's a market run, all the gun rags/websites extol the virtues of reloading; a bunch of folks decide now is the time to get into reloading, and they buy whatever they can because it's all they can get.

2-3 years later, they're sitting on powder/primers/brass/dies that they don't have any interest in using. These things show up at gunshows with a significant markdown.

The key is the crisis has to actually end to the point where these folks lose interest. With the 24 hour news cycle focused on gun control, that could take a very long time.

 

[Kevin]

update with range report:

After a few wet rainy days, I made it to the range. The small rifle magnum primers worked fine in every 357 revolver I brought. But they did not fire in my Bond Arms Derringer style pistol. I guess the firing pin wasn't strong enough.

I loaded up 50 rounds with Universal. I loaded up a few of each starting with 4.5 grains, and going up up to 5.4 grains.

The 4.5 grain loads did very well, as did the 5.4 grains. But the other loads, 4.7, 5.0 and 5.2, did not do as well accuracy wise.

They all shot a little bit low. But otherwise grouped nice and tight at 20 yards. And now sitting here thinking about it, I probably need to adjust the rear sight, because I also had a box of 357's I had loaded with 2400. They also shot low.

Next time…

 

[Uncle Howie]

It never seems to turn up for sale at reasonable prices, even when the market corrects.

Seems like once people have gotten $80 for that brick of Winchester Wildcats or Remington Thunderbolts, they're focused on getting that price forever.

I find reloading components to be a bit different in this respect than ammo; namely, actually using them up requires a significant investment of time and attention to detail that a lot of folks don't have.

Every time there's a market run, all the gun rags/websites extol the virtues of reloading; a bunch of folks decide now is the time to get into reloading, and they buy whatever they can because it's all they can get.

2-3 years later, they're sitting on powder/primers/brass/dies that they don't have any interest in using. These things show up at gunshows with a significant markdown.

The key is the crisis has to actually end to the point where these folks lose interest. With the 24 hour news cycle focused on gun control, that could take a very long time.

All good points!