Home Forums Lever Action Central Cowboy Levers Which primers in lever rifles

I thought maybe I would get more response here rather than in reloading.When I was shooting SASS matches, and .357 loads, I always used pistol primers in all the loads whether I shot them in a lever rifle or handgun.

Now I have a 44 mag Marlin and a Ruger Blackhawk. The Ruger definitely doesn' like large rifle primers as I get several no fires with it using them, which I contribute to the lighter hammer drop. The 44 mag carbine shoots very well with large pistol primers, and it shoots 3 -4 inchs lower at 100 yds if I use the same load, same bullet, but large rifle primers. I don't want to carry two differnt loads. So is there any problems that could be incurred shooting the large pistol primers in the carbine? After 100 rounds or so, I have had no pierced primer sor anything.
What do most Cowboy Action shooters do in regards to primer use?

The 44 mag is a pistol cartridge whether fired in a rifle or not. Use what it is designed for. I have shot thousands of 45 Colt in my lever all with the CCI large pistol primer. The manufacturers take into account that not everyone is a reloader so they set it up to fire pistol ammo from the factory. Ryan

Thanks, I figured as much, but just had this little knawing "What if" in the back of my head

I did the same thing when I started reloading for the 32-20 in my Smith and Wesson Handguns. I came up with the same thing, Rifle ammo originally rifle primer and have never had a problem. Good luck. Ryan

I have used pistol primers in rifles that have lower operating pressures. 25/20 32/20 25/35 22 HP 30/30 303 savage 300 savage 45/70 and 50/70. and have never had a problem. some of the older rifles has weak hammer springs and it helps eliminate missfires. even the pistol primers now are better than the old rifle primers of yestarday. I flattened the primers(fired ones) and miked the thickness of them. and there are not as muck a differance as you would think. some of the cheap imported ammo even in modern shells are no better than pistol primers. the big advantage I found is the pistol primers are not as high as rifle primers and will seat even with the case easier than rifle primers. some foreign cases have shallow primer pockets and american primers will not seat deep enough. but pistol primers work fine..IMO,, Hubert

Pierced primers don't come from the gun, but from the pressure, the same load will work in either gun. I once loaded rifle primers in a .44 S/Blackhawk. That was a REALLY hot load because of the hotter primer. Even changing primer brands will affect the performance. A Winchester Rifle primer(not mag) gives higher velocity by about 125 fps in my .300 Savage than a CCI magnum with identical powder and bullet.

A handgun cartridge is a handgun cartridge whether it's fired in a rifle or handgun.

They make them to function with factory ammo, so you can be sure the intent is for pistol primers.

I didn't happen to see anybody mention here that Lg. Rifle Primers are TALLER than Lg. Pistol Primers! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif" alt="" />

So, if you're loading Lg. Rifle Primers in .44-40, .44 Mag., .45 Colt etc., your primers are NOT going to be RECESSED below the base of the case as they're supposed to and they may cause an A.D.!

This is not the case with Small Pistol and Rifle primers which have exactly the SAME dimensions.

Use the unplated primers in a rifle that has the lighter hammer blow via a light trigger work. Unplated such as the rem vs cci the rem is softer because of no plating ergo easier to ignite.

Just curious, what is the real difference between primers. Is it just size or is there a difference in �spark�? Also brands like CCI LR vs Win. LR ??

The differances in primers are several and differ by brand Rifle and pistol primers are of differing hights small Vs large differ in diameter standard vs MAgnum if length of spark as well as temprature. and differant brands have differant briciance or hardness. it is to late right now for me to rememeber the exact mesurments and the hardness one brand to another. some say the temps change with brand but I have not seen this myself I have noted that some harder primers seem to shoot lower and slower than do some of the softer ones

I've shot about 8 different .30-30 bullets in Contenders and 3
different rifles using Win.large rifle primers and CCI Magnum
Pistol primers(which I had an abundance of) and the groups were
equally accurate and hit at equal impact height. A few of the
groups did shoot MARGINALLY tighter using the CCI's, but, not enough to make a practical difference.

I change from small pistol, to small rifle primers in my 32-20 rifle, and groups tightened up. (using 2400 powder)
Virgil B.

Some are a bit "hotter" but not much really they all use the same compound, some have differant briciance and so are softer or harder than others, that makes some differance in ignition. Just make sure the primer seats against the bottom of the primer pocket and slightly below the level of the base so that you can feel the indentation. Large rifle in a handgun are to tall and while they seat flush usually they do not "indent as they should, they are also harder than large pistol primers as a rule this leads to misfire or FTF's when used in handguns

That's funny, I changed from small rifle to small pistol in my .32-20 w|4227 and cast bullets; and my groups shrunk. Go figure!

You might read through some of the priming instructions in your reloading manual. Some suggest avoiding the use of certain brands in their equipment for safety reasons. Claiming differences in sensativity.

It's been a while, but I think it's the Lee manual.

I don't usually fret over brand in my standard hunting / plinking loads but I have seen changes in group size and position when trying to develop sub-moa loads, particularly lighter varmit cartridges.