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Do Small Rifle Primers Work In Reloaded Pistol Rounds?

That title encompasses a lot of questions, including, Do they work? How well? Any excess danger? Any specific load necessary?

rifle primers

I found a lot of videos on using small rifle primers in handgun loads. But those were mostly some guy talking for 15 minutes, shooting a few rounds through one gun, then talking some more.

Without really defining the answer to the question.

So here is the answer to the question: Will Rifle Primers Work In Pistol Loads?

If you want the long version with sound and visual, watch the video first.

Otherwise just read on.

I used the following loads and numbers to test these pistol rounds with rifle primers:
1) 9mm: 124 gr XTreme FMJ Round nose bullet, 4 gr. Titegroup powder, CCI #400 Small Rifle Primer.

2) .40 S&W: 155 gr. XTreme copper plated round nose-flat point bullet, 5.6 gr Hodgdon Titegroup powder, CCI #400 Small Rifle Primer.

Total of 198 rounds - one hundred seventeen 9mm and eighty one 40 S&W.

me at gun table rifle primers

Loaded in 15 magazines, shot through four guns as follows:
1) 3RD Gen GLOCK 23
2) Canik TP9SC Elite
3) Walther Q5 Match Pistol
4) Stoeger Cougar (Hammer fired)

The rounds were loaded in the guns, fired without stopping through all 198 rounds.

The last magazine was one of the Match Pistol Mags, with an 8' gong moved about 25 yards down range for accuracy testing.

Results Of Small Rifle Primers In Reloaded Pistol Rounds

Rounds fired normally: 198 - 100% firing success
No loss of accuracy from 25 to 40 feet, and in a final test out to 25 yards.
One Failure to fully eject -.40 cal - reloaded case related
One Failure to feed -.40 cal - again just typical case related issue with reloaded round.

That's it. No primer related problems with 198 rounds of pistol ammo reloaded using small rifle primers.

Conclusion: With 100% firing normally, with no accuracy loss, it can be reasonably concluded that they work, and work well.

Obligatory Disclaimer: The above is for informational purposes only. It is a report on my loads and results.

No part of this article should be construed to be a recommendation for any action to anybody.

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