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I found a bunch of Speer 45 ACP brass at the range today and all of it has small primer pockets. I have found a little of this in the past and just pitched them but I would prefer not to do that if these are useable for reloading. Has anyone loaded 45 ACP with small primer pockets? If so, other than a different primer, do I need to do anything else differently (ie, change powder weight, etc.). One other thing I noticed was the inside of all of these cases were extremely clean (looked almost as clean as the outside). I wonder what powder Speer is using for these loads. Any ideas on that?

Thanks,

John

LTUME1978 wrote:I found a bunch of Speer 45 ACP brass at the range today and all of it has small primer pockets. I have found a little of this in the past and just pitched them but I would prefer not to do that if these are useable for reloading. Has anyone loaded 45 ACP with small primer pockets? If so, other than a different primer, do I need to do anything else differently (ie, change powder weight, etc.). One other thing I noticed was the inside of all of these cases were extremely clean (looked almost as clean as the outside). I wonder what powder Speer is using for these loads. Any ideas on that?

Thanks,

John

Don't have any advice for you, but I've found that all of the CCI brands (Speer, CCI, Blazer) all look beautifully clean inside, at least in 9mm and .380. I don't know if it's the powder they use or some sort of finish on the inside, but they seem to be like that for every case I encounter. It's like the opposite of PPU-stamped cases (generally Monarch), which end up completely black with sticky junk about 1/3 of the way into the case that loves to collect tumbling media which then has to be cleaned out manually.

All of the small primer stuff I've seen for the .45 has been the non-toxic stuff. Some of the head stamps have had 'NT' on them indicating so.

I would work up a load using small pistol primers the same way I would if I changed powder or brand of primer.

As to the brand of powder used by Speer in their ammunition, Speer and Federal are owned by ATK who also owns Alliant powder so . . . draw your own conclusions.

Factory loaded ammunition is not loaded with canister powder. We can't buy the exact powers the ammo plants use they adjust the loading with each lot of power they use. Canister powder is blended and adjusted by the manufacturer to make sure the can of XYZ powder made today will work just like the can made ten years ago.

Hope this helps.

Within the past several months I read an article on this issue (sorry, can't remember the source document). The author's experience was the small primer pocket ammo performed the same as large pocket. Think he theorized the large primer's advantage might be for low temp environments.

At any rate, you can't go worng with the earlier advice of working up from conservative loads.

Sorry I don't recall more details, but I did mentally file it away in case I ever encountered a large source of small primer brass.

I find it often myself. I throw it out, but I get enough of it that maybe it's worth holding on to.

I separate the small primer stuff and when I have enough to justify doing so, I reload it. I have found no problems and haven't had to change any of my current recipes. The stuff works great. If I could get a couple thousand empties, I would use it for my match ammunition.

Steve

SRVA wrote:I separate the small primer stuff and when I have enough to justify doing so, I reload it. I have found no problems and haven't had to change any of my current recipes. The stuff works great. If I could get a couple thousand empties, I would use it for my match ammunition.

Steve

I've thought of doing that myself. It would make recovery of my brass easier and the brass hogs would leave it alone.