45 ACP primer size

Henry0Reilly

I had a customer decline to purchase Federal 45 acp because the cases take small primers whereas Winchester and other brands use large primers.

I'm pretty sure he was wrong. Don't all brands of any given caliber use the same primers if they are Boxer primed?

I suspect the customer must have gotten some Berdan primed cases at some time and thought they were Federal brand.

Henry0Reilly

What is the story behind the two sizes of primers for this caliber ammo? Noral has been the large pistol primer. Are the small pistol[ primers the normal for the small primer pocket?

casper1947

45 ACP use large and small primers depending on the manufacture.
What a particular brand uses I don't recall off hand.

charliemeyer007

I think the 45 ACP (N)on (T)oxic cases were the first to us small pistol primers. The 357 M. was originally a large pistol primer case. There is/were some target 308 W. cases that use small rifle.

casper1947

I just pulled out a box that I have reloaded that use small primers:
WIN NT
BLAZER
FEDERAL
FIOCCHI USA
SPEER

JnRockwall

I think it started when primers got scrace.

Henry0Reilly

Thanks for the info. I really thought he was wrong about it.

Toolfogie

To quote Hawk Carse...

"When: I first posted on it in 2005, nine years ago. Surely I wasn't the first to notice.

Why: The Dinol priming compound used in lead free primers is "hotter" than lead styphnate. First generation Winclean used large primers loaded with Dinol, but have very large flash holes to vent the pressure into the case.
They then went to small primers because less Dinol is needed and it is expensive. Those cases are headstamped NT for Non Toxic.

We are now seeing small primer .45 cases without NT headstamp, in Federal and CCI Blazer Brass (Both Alliant owned.) I think this is an economy measure. It lets them use small primer cases two ways and even styphnate small primers are probably minutely less expensive than large."

62fuelie

About a year ago there was a discussion of the differences between the large and small size primers in the .45 ACP. One writer said that he had chronoed the same load in large and small primed cases and found that the small primed cases averaged about 50 fps slower than the larges, but that when he went to small pistol magnum primers the velocities came back up. This may offset the difference between the Dinol priming compound and the styphnate.

Navybat

I can see that there are advantages (mostly cost) and disadvantages to small vs. large primers in .45.

But I'm like your customer, I don't buy .45 shells unless they are large primer. I see no reason/advantage to doing so. And for ease of reloading, consistency is best.

Hawk Carse

The sorting is a nuisance, but at least there is a shooter here who has standardized on small primers and I can save up the small primer brass I find and trade with him for large.