anyone using magnum primers in 32-40 or 38-55 ?
I have maby 600 std. primers left. but have near 4000 mag.
only have 100 yd. at our club. so not loading heavy. using smokeless powder.
thanks Dennis

yes,  have quiet a few and a lot of those are mag. pistol.
thanks for your responce. will have to try for myself,
Dennis

thanks cbashooter, will load some with pistol primers also.

I use Remington 9 1/2M (Large Rifle Magnum) in my .38-50 Remington Hepburn, .38-55, .40-60 Maynard, .40-65 WCF, .45-70 Gov't. and .50-70.

The large rifle primers seat to the proper depth and do not rebound back resulting in block face pitting that the shallower pistol primers do in a rifle cartridge.

I use Magnum primers and the Remington primers that are the hottest since it results in better combustion of the black powder and less fouling.

I also place a newspaper wad inside the cartridge over the flash channel to prevent packing of BP in the channel which acts like a fuse and changes ignition timing.

When using smokeless powder I use Remington 9 1/2 and there is no need for a magnum primers for complete combustion or to ignite most smokeless powders unless you are shooting magnum powders requiring a more intense ignition or a powder like H414 that does not ignite well below freezing.

Both cbashooter and gnoahhh made it abundantly clear that they were using pistol primers for LIGHT smokeless loads in 32-40 and 38-55., and recommended that one should start low and work up. Many have, for a long time, used pistol primers in low pressure loads in some of the cartridges we load for, and I am not aware of problems. If problems have arisen, this would be a good time to bring them to light. As for dimensional difference, some I know, use a thin "paper washer" to bring the pistol primer flush. Perhaps those who do, could explain their procedure here. I have, for quite some time, used small pistol primers in 22 Hornet loads with success, and no problems. Although I am not a Hot Rodder, and have always advocated sneaking up on any untried change in loading a particular cartridge.

Schuetzendave wrote on Sep 6^th, 2023 at 12:01pm:


So, yes you can, but I wouldn't. Although pistol primers are ok with low pressures it could turn into a nasty habit....

I wish I had kept a chart of the measurements a fellow made of the height of all the commercial manufacturer's small rifle and small pistol primers.

They are supposed to be the same however actual measurements of small pistol primers indicated their heights were definitely narrower than small rifle primers.

So the depth of the small pistol and small rifle pockets may be the same however the thickness or depth of the primers are not the same (in most cases).

And enough of a difference to slam back if you seated the narrower versions too deep in the pocket.

And we must not forget the pressures in rifle cases are greater than in pistol cases and the thicker walls of the rifle primers are designed to contain it better. 

And if you uniform your primer pockets the distance could be more.

And as indicated above if there is enough room to move in a worn primer pockets you will get release of gases which with time will crater your block face.

So if you do not seat the primers to the bottom of the pocket and you use cases without worn primer pockets you can get away with using small pistol primers in small rifle cases.

But there is more of a height difference between large pistol and large rifle primers and it is more of a risk to do it (Specified as a DO NOT EVER DO by Shiloh Sharps).

mag primers are needed for best results when using 300MP powder in the 32/40 and 38/55