Does anyone out there know where I can get 45ACP NT small primer brass? I bought a some loaded ammo with it and have started reloading it. I would like to get some more of it. I load 9mm an 38/357 as well and its nice only have to keep one size primer around.
As far as I know, no one is selling new SP .45ACP brass yet.
Not many folks willingly looking for it and I'd suspect there are quite a few guys on here that would gladly send you theirs though.
I just keep mine segregated by primer size...but I also load for other calibers that use LP primers so I have both on hand anyway.
The NT indicates 'non-toxic' and the ammo
mfg says it is not re-loadable, although it is.
I understand wanting to simplify....
and use the small primers.
I would not use the small primers on .45acp,
that's me personally.
You will have slower fps, maybe less than 50fps,
depending on your recipe. Yet still slower.
.45acp with large primers are much better performers
and all data commonly used to re-load them are for
components using them.
You have chrony data to back up that it is the primer size?
I've never found any noticeable velocity difference in my loads that could be directly attributed to the size of the primer. 25-30fps is what I normally see and it's a normal acceptable deviation for my own .45ACP reloads.
Maybe the difference is caused by internal case volume, maybe by the smaller primer, I can't say 100% which is the culprit.
Besides the PitA during priming, that's why I keep em separated...but I sort my pistol brass by brand as well unless I'm just loading plinking ammo.
You are correct that all the published data out there is for "standard" LP brass. Doesn't mean that you can't work up a load using that data with SP brass though.
I strongly suspect that we'll see more and more SP .45ACP brass in the future. Several manufacturers have regular (not non-toxic) loads that use SP brass too.
I'm thinking that the manufacturers are going to wind up simplifying their production process by gravitationg to just one primer size. They'd only need to stock one primer...like USMCSpeedy's thinking.
I wasn't too keen on the idea at first, but I can accept it and I won't be surprised if we start seeing .44Mag or other cartridges switching to small primers too.
The manufacturers are saying that it's non-reloadable because when the NT ammo was introduced, the NT primers weren't commonly available to reloaders.
Now, pretty much every brand out there has a DDNP compound non-toxic primer so the "it's not reloadable" isn't true anymore.
-Yes, the flash holes are larger in a lot of NT brass.
The Federal SP .45ACP brass that I've got is not marked NT and it has the same size flash hole as some older Federal LP .45 brass...so hows that for adding more confusion.
-DDNP is actually a hotter burning primer compound than the standard Lead Styphnate formulas. Maybe this is why they're only making them in SP sizes...don't need as much primer compound to light off a powder charge.
-DDNP is sensitive to moisture so yeah if you stockpile a bunch for future use, I would store them in a dry box with dessicant packs.
I think this is where the big fear of "limited shelf life" primers came from. If they're assembled in loaded ammo, they'll be just as moisture resistant as the powder in the same cartridge. the powder is moisture sensitve too after all.
But, I've been loading my SP brass (NT marked or not) with standard primers with no problems.
If you have the large flash hole NT brass, don't use em for max loads. You might see flattened or blown primers. I personally haven't seen this...but I don't care to try it either so I use the large flash hole NT brass for mild loads.
Confused yet? That's why so many guys are just plain chucking the stuff in the recycle bin.
We all need to start saving them and send them to USMCSpeedy when we get a bunch. At least someone will benefit from what the rest of us considers trash!!
Because 99% of all 45acp ever made is with LP's; it's a really PITA when you're rolling along and have one get slipped in on you. It would be the equivalent of running all your lug nuts down on all four tires and then running into one single lug nut that happened to be a metric thread.
If you are using a progressive and you are tooling along at 50 MPH. It is kinda like you hit a brick wall when that one piece of brass, that you missed when you were sorting, is put in the resizing die! What a pain in the buttocks!!
I load both LP and SP brass. All I do is keep them separate, and use a red marker on the case bottoms before I go to the range, so I can easily separate them later. No problems.
By the way, I haven't noticed any significant difference in velocity in the samples I shot over my chrony.
And to USMCspeedy: I do see the SP advertised from time to time on various forums. Just post that you would trade for LP and you'll have all the SP brass you can possibly use.
If you are using a progressive and you are tooling along at 50 MPH. It is kinda like you hit a brick wall when that one piece of brass, that you missed when you were sorting, is put in the resizing die! What a pain in the buttocks!!
Those dang things throw enough of a wrench into my game to cause me to get mideivil on them with any close heavy object, and I only hand prime my cases. I can't imagine how fustrating it is for you wealthy guys with a progressive press.
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