Thread: Win small pistol primers in 223

Sooo, today was offered some winchester small pistol primers at a decent price.

I asked the Qn (twice) can I use these in a 223?
Or are rhey only recommended for pistols and hornets?

Informed that that Win are fine for 223.
Asked elsewhere later and again told Winchesters will be ok. But not all brands.
Soo, took a punt and bought 300.

Now my loads are not hot. Mid range only.
But anyone had experience using them in 223.

I'm still a bit suspicious.
Obviously I'll back the loads off a bit for initial testing.

In my experience, small pistol primers are softer.

Have a read of this:

https://www.accurateshooter.com/tech...sure-analysis/

The first half dozen you fire will give to the result.
Keep your hand away from the magazine box and all will be good.
Blown primers in the .223 are pretty mild but if you can avoid them perhaps you should.
Personally i'd use SRP's, there not hard to find presently.

Originally Posted by Crusty

In my experience, small pistol primers are softer.

Have a read of this:

https://www.accurateshooter.com/tech...sure-analysis/

@Crusty Thx good article. More or less my understanding.

Just checked cup for hornet and my load per ADI manual.
My load is about Max for hornet. Soo, may get away with it.

Will just have to test.

I do have a "Hornet" load I use occassionally so will be able to use them for that if they are no good for normal loads.

I wouldn't use SP primers in a 223.
They are thinner in the cup thickness generally and softer, all to ensure ignition in pistols which may not have the spring striking effect of a rifle bolt.

Re use in a Hornet, I use SP primers in all my Hornets. I get better groups and better SD using them. I also wear safety glasses when shooting.
A Hornet runs around 43K psi whilst a 223R is around 56K psi.
A 9mm Luger rins around 30K psi.

Just not worth the risk of a face full of gas and at minimum etched bolt faces.

Been looking at pressures this morning.
My load is very mild. (24.7gr AS2208 over a 55gr superroo) Should be about 41,000cup.

Hornets run upto about 43,000 cup
HornetK up to 45,500 cup

So, starting to look ok. Hot loads would be different.


I'll load a few up starting about 23.7gr and work up.

I think the problem is likely to be hang and misfires, especially with light charges of slow powder. Accuracy could be non existent as well.
GPM.

Originally Posted by grandpamac

I think the problem is likely to be hang and misfires, especially with light charges of slow powder. Accuracy could be non existent as well.
GPM.

What makes you think that?

This is one of the worst ideas to save money reloading that I've seen

Keep for the hornet bud....you only get two eyes.

Potentially they could see use if you were going to develop a subsonic load for the 223 where there is a known pressure adjacent to pistol pressures. I am not advocating for the SPP in a rifle, just spit balling.

Originally Posted by Oldbloke

What makes you think that?

It is a lot of powder for a small pistol primer to light. My worry is that it would struggle. Small pistol powders are designed to ignite much smaller charges.

I shoot 9mm, lots, 22 Hornet, 222, 223 and larger cals.

You got sold a pup.

As above, use them in a pistol cal or 22 Hornet. Yes they are softer, particularly because they are also designed to fire in revolver calibres that are sensitive to hard primers - to the point that some brands won't fire.

A typical rifle firing pin is driven a longer distance and at higher velocity than a typical pistol firing pin. SOME pistols will happily consume small rfle primers, my Shadow 2 ate a few thou during the shortage years when I ran low on pistol primers. My revolvers would not set them off.

Now to rifle. Rifle.primers are made harder to accommodate an emphatic firing pin strike..think of a 303B which is a battle rifle. That firing pin hits hard. Men's lives depended on it settng that primer off. The primer was designed accordingly and they still are. A 303B firing pin will likely pierce the skin of a pistol primer more times than not.

223 is the civvie version of 5.56mm which is another battle rifle cal. The firing pins in these.also hit hard, by design. Small.rifle primers are designed also to accommodate this ferocity.

I have a Ruger American Ranch II. Brilliant little rifle. It has a heavily pitted bolt face. No effect on function but unsightly. How you might ask? Because Winchester some years ago put out a faulty batch of small rifle primers. They would every now and then burst thru a pin hole on the edge of the primer. Well known and written up. It was my misfortune to load them for my then new Ruger. Was it the same issue, thin skin, as using a pistol primer in a rifle? Don't know. Probably not. But I used them up in 9mm with none burst at all. The balance of 2000.

So what you risk has several facets. If your firing pin pierces the thin skin of the pistol primer you well get hot gases flashing back against your bolt face. Thst will erode, etch, the face. You will likely get poor or less reliable ignition if a primer bursts. You may get gas in the face.

For me, the worst thing would be, every time you pull the trigger, you won't actually know what to expect.

The essence of good shooting, accurate, safe, reliable, is predictability. Everything you do must give the same result every time. You will not get this using pistol primers in a rifle, with a very few exceptions, such as 22 Hornet.

If my life depended on firing a rifle and pistol primer were all I had I'd use them and hope to get away with it. Otherwise not. Certainly not just to save a few $$

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

Keep for the hornet bud....you only get two eyes.

I do have a "hornet" load in the 223 that I can use them for if necessary. It may come to that.
Also about 100 cast P.C. bullets I can load.
However, given the changes coming I don't know what the future holds. Grrrrr

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-..._content=other

Originally Posted by Oldbloke

I do have a "hornet" load in the 223 that I can use them for if necessary. It may come to that.

However, given the changes coming I don't know what the future holds. Grrrrr

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-..._content=other

Interesting phrasing by NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley, "We know that many are good law-abiding gun licence holders......." rather than 'most' implying 'many' are not.............