[Greg1911]

Yep A friend of mine sold me about 1000 primers I didn't really pay attention but they are actually MAGNUM primers I just saw large pistol and bought them.

I remember some primers I bought said large or magnum pistol but this actually says "large magnum"

will they work? will they blow my gun?

 

[jhaake]

That depends on the load, however if they are large pistol Winchesters, they only make one kind which is large pistol for standard and magnum loads.

 

[Greg1911]

probably 5.2gr of unique with a 230gr lead round nose?

Just plinking ammo.

 

[pourboy]

I sincerely doubt they'll blow up the gun. Magnum primers have harder cups, and are a bit hotter than standard primers. As stated earlier, Winchester only offer one primer for standard and magnum loads, and those aren't too hot for regular pistol load use. What brand are they?? ==Bob

 

[Jim Watson]

Magnum primers will increase pressure and velocity in a standard caliber with a fast to medium powder. That is what starting loads are for. I bet the usual 10% off of maximum will work fine. You can add back if you have a chronograph to check velocity with.

5.2 grains of Unique and a 230 grain cast is below even that and should do ok.

 

[TIM R]

I don't like mixing and matching primers but had about the same thing happen to me. I friend was coming out to see me and was going to be close to a shop with great prices. Since I was out of small pistol primers, I asked him to stop by and pick me up a K of non mag. primers. He arrived and guess what...I should have said to get the mag. primers so he might have got it right.

I used them without problem. I use CCI standards across the board, except for my wheel gun then it's Federal. These where Remmy mag. primers which I would have never bought. Normally I would have worked the loads back up but I'm not even close to max loads in what I was using them for. I did not note any difference down range.

I believe you will just fine. I would be more worried about using a non mag primer when a mag. primer is required, or if you where already at the top of the chart.

 

[Shoot&fish]

I just went through the same thing with small pistol primers. Saw the "small pistol", did not see the "magnum loads". I loaded a few just to make sure it was OK, shot them at the range, and could not tell any difference between them and the regular small pistol primers. At this point, I have shoot all 1000 primers, and still cant tell any difference. Maybe with a chrono there would be a samll difference in velocity, but there are absolutely no signs of over pressure, or increased kick.

 

[Sebago]

Wouldn't worry about it in the least. A good friend of mine has used them with 6.5 grs. of Unique and a 230 gr. fmj for decades without a problem. As for myself I'd recommend them, along with a good taper crimp, when using AA No. 5.

 

[Archer]

There is only one problem issue I can think of with respect to using magnum primers, and it strikes me as a remote possibility.

In the event of a squib, a normal primer will unseat a bullet and drive it into the first few mm of the barrel. This usually ties up the gun, because even if you cycle manually, the incoming rounds nose (depending on OAL and bullet shape) may contact the bullet base in the bore and keep the pistol out of battery, saving you from a kb! in case you missed the squib.

On the other hand the bit of extra mojo from a magnum round could push the bullet further into the barrel and allow an easier lockup, leading to the obvious problem associated with an obstruction.

 

[Deepdiver]

I accidentally loaded up 100 rounds or so of 45ACP with cci 350 (magnum) primers on top of 5.7 grns of W231. The primers actually unseated the bullet before all of the powder was ignited. The net result was that the bullet went down range, along with a spray of burning powder, and the spent casing did not fully eject. No harm to the gun, but not much fun to shoot.

I am a lot more careful now, and buy the Winchester LP primers that work for magnums as well as standard large pistol.

 

[jimbullet]

just wanted to post here so that you would know that Winchester magnum pistol large primers are safe. I loan a 231 using the magnum primers on my 45acp at a 6.0 grain 200gr swc bullets. They travel at an average of 950fps and there seems to be no problem with the magnum primers on this hot load, which does a power factor of 180 (way above the 175 required in IPSC).

 

[robertbank]

Thanks guys. Got a 100 LP Mag. Primers from the store yesterday by mistake. Looks like I am OK with 5.3.gr Win 231 underneath 200 gr. SWC.

Good news the price was right.

Bob

 

[WalterMitty]

I did some controlled testing between magnum primers and regular primers with Unique some years ago.

While the average velocity did increase, the distributions overlapped significantly.

While the fastest round came with a magnum primer and the slowest round came from a regular primer in my test, there were many rounds with regular primers that were faster than magnum rounds and visa versa.

Said another way, all other causes of variation were more important (powder charge variation, internal case size, bullet seating depth, etc) than primer type for this round.

Of course, if you were living at the edge of disaster with a really hot charge, the magnum primer could push an individual round over the edge, but your combination doesn't sound that hot.

 

[Colt Man]

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe magnum primers are normally intended for use with slow burning powders that can be difficult to ignite and exspecially in colder climates.

 

[gyp_c2]

I've done that...they worked fine. I just backed off about .2-.4 using WAP and they did just fine...In fact, it gave me an idea for some other loads that seemed kinda' dirty and it became a *new* load that burned a lil' cleaner and with a bit less powder...Have fun...g2