Reloading federal small primer .45 acp ammo

[OLDVET]

A few weeks ago I purchased 15 boxes of Federal .45 ACP ammo at the Grand Opening of the Cabela's store in Allen, Texas. After shooting the first box I realized the brass had small primer pockets. After checking with the folks at Federal and at Hogdon, I found the brass was safe to reload using small pistol primers. I shot my first 50 reloads this past weekend using this brass and the small pistol primers along with my regular .45 ACP powder load. They worked very well, in fact I think I prefer them to my regular reloads. The recoil seems to be more linear with less muzzle rise. I have not chronographed this load, but I would bet it is slightly slower than my regular 5.6 grains of Winchester 251 and 200 grain Laser Cast bullet. The only thing I am concerned with using this combination is the fact that the primers do not seem to fit as tightly as the large pistol primers fit in my other brass. All things considered the reloads did great.

 

[Charlie]

Did Federal indicate why they loaded small priimers in the .45? Just curious as to what the reasoning would be? Maybe one of those solutions to non-existant problems?

 

[Army 1911]

It is not just Federal using SP primers. As I understand it, it has something to do with making "greener" more "environmentally friendly" ammunition. Different primer composition.

 

[cactusjack]

There is an article in the most recent Guns and Ammo titled "High Volume Handloading" They had a blurb about this. They said, "And a certain manufacturer, not too long ago, decided to load some "environmentally friendly" .45 ACP ammo. The only problem with that is that those cases took Small Pistol Primers, as opposed to every other .45 ACP case made since John Browning invented the 1911." It's not clear if this is an ongoing deal or just a one-time deal.

 

[OLDVET]

The folks at Federal indicated it was a small attempt on their part to lower the amount of lead in the enviroment. It seems the anti-gunners and the enviromental people are putting pressure on the fire arm industry and the ammunition industry in hopes of pressuring them out of business. Both Federal and Hodgon Powders told me that no one has developed reloading data for .45 ACP loads using small pistol primers as of yet. It is in the works, so I assume the small pistol primer .45 ACP is going to stay around for awhile. The type of powder you use is critical when reloading these rounds. Both companies asked what powder I was using. When I told them it was Winchester 251 they said the powder would burn fast enough to be safe. I am just glad to find out you can reload these small primer cases. I have reloaded for more than 15 years so the idea of throwing away once fired brass was really chapping my "fanny".

 

[Texasjack]

I think you mean Win. 231.

When I talked to Hodgdon, they said to throw them away because the primers and powder were unique. There's also some concern that the flash hole is diffferent.

I had tried some before talking to them, using Titegroup and they seemed to work ok.

 

[OLDVET]

You are correct, it is 231 instead of 251. That is what happens when you get in a hurry. The point I was trying to make is you can reload the brass. As far as the flash holes goes, I reload several hundred rounds each month and I have noticed that different brands of brass have different sized holes. I once called Sierra Bullets and asked if this varying flash hole size affected a load's performance and they said no. Once the powder is ignited, all the action takes place in the chamber.

 

[robocop10mm]

Speern uses small primers for their RHT lead free frangible ammo. Presumably they can limit the sizes of lead free primers to 1 (small) by using the different case. Since 9mm and .40 S&W are more used by LE it did not make sense to tool up for two different lead free primers. I have loaded many thousand of Speer cases with small primers and found no difference.

Speer and Federal are sister companies. Probably made on the same machines with different headstamps.

 

[Texas42]

I kind of like the idea. One less thing I have to switch out on my dillon if I ever get a 45 auto.

It might just be cheaper. . ... Who knows.

 

[cbunt1]

There was an article a few months ago in either shooting times or handloader about loading the small primer 45s. Takeaway was load them as normal, including reducing loads 10% and work up. Standard data worked well. Consistency and accuracy were actually improved, but I suspect that's a result of single headstamp conditions.

BTW, there's nothing "new" about 45 acp being loaded with small primers. I have some military brass that's over 40 years old (i suspect ww2 ERA but have no evidence to back up) that were small primers, crimped, and about half and half steel vs brass casings. It was a recent find from boxes I know were packed up since 64.

 

[cbunt1]

There was an article a few months ago in either shooting times or handloader about loading the small primer 45s. Takeaway was load them as normal, including reducing loads 10% and work up. Standard data worked well. Consistency and accuracy were actually improved, but I suspect that's a result of single headstamp conditions.

BTW, there's nothing "new" about 45 acp being loaded with small primers. I have some military brass that's over 40 years old (i suspect ww2 ERA but have no evidence to back up) that were small primers, crimped, and about half and half steel vs brass casings. It was a recent find from boxes I know were packed up since 64.