.45 ACP small pistol primer pockets

[Cyrus Cassidy #45437]

Whose idea was this????

 

What purpose does it serve?

 

All it's done for me is get mixed in with my regular, large primer pocket brass. I make the discovery when I try to seat the primer. Thankfully I have learned to gently insert the primer instead of ramming that thing home!

[Crazy Gun Barney, SASS #2428]

When we find the guy who did this to us, I say we put him in shoes 2 sizes too small and make him march coast to coast. 

 

Seems like no matter how careful I am, I always find one of those small primer cases when reloading.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

That so 'clean' primers can be used.

 

[Boggus Deal #64218]

The Frankfort arsenal used SP primers in some very early lots of .45 ACP. FN was doing also with crimped Berdan primers in the ‘50s. 

[Texas Lizard]

I guess I had better hang on to large primer brass 45s

 

Texas Lizard

Edited February 18 by Texas Lizard

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

Don't know where I got it, but I have 1 case with a small pistol primer amongst my thousands of .45 ACP cases.   Every time it pops up in my to be used ammo, I always seem to recover it, and thus reload it.   It's weird, but I don't really worry about it.

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

 

Since I don't pickup and shoot range brass, it's basically a non-issue.

[Sheriff Dill]

When I bought my press the guy was shooting .45 acp as his main competition ammo. Lucky for me I was told about the spp and lpp brass before I started reloading. I sorted about 2000 shells to get rid of the spp brass. It’s now at the bottom of my scrap brass bucket. 

[Injun Ryder, SASS #36201L]

I occasionally get some from WB matches.

 

After the match, when I am separating the 45 ACP cases from the 44-40 cases, I check the 45 ACP's for small primers. I also tumble 45 ACP and 45 Schofield

cartridges together so I check again during that process.  

[watab kid]

ive never reloaded 45acp , i have all i need to shoot and never reclaim brass , that might have been different if id not had good sources years ago before the pandemic , now im just hoping to shoot it all up before i die - wont work for WB as its all factory ball FMJ but i mostly shoot my acp at the range these days - i bought it all for three gun and ive given that up 

[Caprock Kid]

These “special” .45 ACP have a purpose. Every time I come across a small primer sized .45 case, I put it away in a special box “just in case”. I have saved about 150+ cases. Yes, it is jarring to try to prime a small, but it is actually a good thing. Why you ask?  
It is for when we have another “crisis” (there will always be another crisis) and can’t find large pistol primers. (small pistol primers always come back in stock sooner.)  I am able to pull out my box of “special smalls” and load .45 ACP when others were waiting for large pistol primers.

[Buckshot Bear]

6 hours ago, Cyrus Cassidy #45437 said:

Whose idea was this????

 

What purpose does it serve?

 

All it's done for me is get mixed in with my regular, large primer pocket brass. I make the discovery when I try to seat the primer. Thankfully I have learned to gently insert the primer instead of ramming that thing home!

 

Aren't they a right PITA!!!!!

Next worse thing is Sellier & Bellet brass!!!!

[watab kid]

2 hours ago, Caprock Kid said:

These “special” .45 ACP have a purpose. Every time I come across a small primer sized .45 case, I put it away in a special box “just in case”. I have saved about 150+ cases. Yes, it is jarring to try to prime a small, but it is actually a good thing. Why you ask?  
It is for when we have another “crisis” (there will always be another crisis) and can’t find large pistol primers. (small pistol primers always come back in stock sooner.)  I am able to pull out my box of “special smalls” and load .45 ACP when others were waiting for large pistol primers.

you make a great point here , i never thought about this siruation or the supply at the time , or the fact that what you can get might dictate what you can make , it makes you appreciate what those that lived in the 1870s & 80s might have had to think about , they couldnt shop on line for components or tools or loaded ammo , we are a lucky bunch arent we ? 

[Pat Riot]

3 hours ago, Buckshot Bear said:

Next worse thing is Sellier & Bellet brass!!!!

I haven’t had any trouble with S&B brass in .38, .357 and 9mm. What do you encounter that’s a problem?

 

By the way, there primers are squared off, not rounded, at the edges and can be a real b**** to pick up with my RCBS Auto Prime Tubes. 

[Buckshot Bear]

16 minutes ago, Pat Riot said:

I haven’t had any trouble with S&B brass in .38, .357 and 9mm. What do you encounter that’s a problem?

 

By the way, there primers are squared off, not rounded, at the edges and can be a real b**** to pick up with my RCBS Auto Prime Tubes. 

 

They bring my Dillon XL650 to a stop as Federal small pistol primers won't go in the primer pockets as they are so tight (.38spl brass) I get a lot of this brass as a lot of our new shooters who don't reload buy it from the club. I bought a Dillon primer pocket swager thinking that would be the answer......but I can't tell which S&B's have been swaged and which haven't. I toyed with the idea of grinding a mark on the base of the S&B's that have been swaged with a Dremel to be able to identify them. 
 

[Pat Riot]

2 hours ago, Buckshot Bear said:

 

They bring my Dillon XL650 to a stop as Federal small pistol primers won't go in the primer pockets as they are so tight (.38spl brass) I get a lot of this brass as a lot of our new shooters who don't reload buy it from the club. I bought a Dillon primer pocket swager thinking that would be the answer......but I can't tell which S&B's have been swaged and which haven't. I toyed with the idea of grinding a mark on the base of the S&B's that have been swaged with a Dremel to be able to identify them. 
 

Yes, they have snug primer pockets in .38. I forgot about that. I haven’t encountered that with 9mm.

Their brass is always stiffer that other brass too. 

[Cypress Sun]

6 hours ago, Buckshot Bear said:

 

Aren't they a right PITA!!!!!

Next worse thing is Sellier & Bellet brass!!!!

 

2 hours ago, Pat Riot said:

I haven’t had any trouble with S&B brass in .38, .357 and 9mm. What do you encounter that’s a problem?

 

By the way, there primers are squared off, not rounded, at the edges and can be a real b**** to pick up with my RCBS Auto Prime Tubes. 

 

.38 spl S & B primer holes are slightly smaller than every other brand of brass so complete primer seating is almost impossible. It's not just one or two pieces either, it's all of them. 

 

When I was shooting CAS every weekend, I would sit in the living room with a lighted magnifier glass and sort thru my .38 brass looking for splits (so they didn't push the bullet back in the rifle) and looking for S & B and Amerc brass. All of the split brass I'd toss, the S & B and Amerc brass I'd toss with prejudice!

 

Many years ago I took to marking my brass (every caliber) with a Sharpie so that I would know that it's mine and it's been inspected.

 

Back to the original thread, I check all .45 acp brass for small primers and splits. The splits I toss, the small primed brass I keep in a separate container marked SMALL PRIMERS so there is no doubt. I may use it some day, who knows....kind of like all of those 2' and 3' pieces of 2"x4"s in the shed.

 

 

Edited February 18 by Cypress Sun

[Old Man Graybeard]

I loaded some small primer brass ...I had problems with seating the primers on some of them. Not sure if they are crimped on some...like military brass...but if I ever decide it would be a good idea to try that again...I will run them all through a swager first

[Sedalia Dave]

5 hours ago, Buckshot Bear said:

 

They bring my Dillon XL650 to a stop as Federal small pistol primers won't go in the primer pockets as they are so tight (.38spl brass) I get a lot of this brass as a lot of our new shooters who don't reload buy it from the club. I bought a Dillon primer pocket swager thinking that would be the answer......but I can't tell which S&B's have been swaged and which haven't. I toyed with the idea of grinding a mark on the base of the S&B's that have been swaged with a Dremel to be able to identify them. 
 

 

SPP 45 ACP and 10 mm first hit the market to support the push towards lead free primers because lead free LPP were unreliable.  

 

Then along came the great primer shortage. Because SPP take require less brass and priming compound to make, manufacturers started making 45 ACP and 10 mm with small primer pockets.  Consider that of all the major semi-auto pistol calibers with the exception of 45 ACP and 10 mm were originally design to use large primers.. Since the primer shortage both 45 ACP and 10 mm brass is made in both small and large primer pockets.

 

To be honest i'm surprised that 45 Colt brass hasn't been made with small primer pockets. 

 

 

Edited February 18 by Sedalia Dave

[Pb Mark]

From what testing I remember, the spp 45ACP provides better ignition and lower standard deviation, better potential accuracy.  My guess is that all 45ACP will switch to spp just like the 357 magnum did years ago.

[Injun Ryder, SASS #36201L]

11 hours ago, Caprock Kid said:

These “special” .45 ACP have a purpose. Every time I come across a small primer sized .45 case, I put it away in a special box “just in case”. I have saved about 150+ cases. Yes, it is jarring to try to prime a small, but it is actually a good thing. Why you ask?  
It is for when we have another “crisis” (there will always be another crisis) and can’t find large pistol primers. (small pistol primers always come back in stock sooner.)  I am able to pull out my box of “special smalls” and load .45 ACP when others were waiting for large pistol primers.

 

One shooter told me he saved them to use in "lost" brass matches.

[Cyrus Cassidy #45437]

10 hours ago, Pat Riot said:

I haven’t had any trouble with S&B brass in .38, .357 and 9mm. What do you encounter that’s a problem?

 

 

Even with the standard, large pistol primer pocket, they are insanely tight. I often think I must be trying to jam a large primer into a small pocket. But no, it's just S&B.

[Black Angus McPherson]

For you guys that hate the small primer .45 ACP you can send them to me.  I'm down to a few thousand Large Pistol Primers, but I've got 10,000+ spp and I hardly use them for anything anymore.  .38 Special is all I use the spp for and I just don't shoot .38's as much as I used to.  On the other hand, I use LPP for .44-40, .45 Colt and .45 Schofield and I shoot those much more often.

 

I tried swapping .45 ACP brass, but the guys around here seem to just throw the spp .45's in the trash.  I did make one swap for about 150 cases, but it seemed the brass I got in trade had a high percentage that had cracks in them.

 

Angus

[Edward R S Canby, SASS#59971]

We have a local WB shooter who only loads brass with SPPs.  This saves him changing the priming system on his progressive press.  He trades 45 ACP brass with LPPs for ones with SPPs.  About a third of my range pickup 45 ACP brass has SPPs so we do a lot of trading.

[Rip Snorter]

A pain sorting, yes.  Considering the various shortages in days not so far past, I am glad to have the added flexibility on my favorite carry caliber.

Edited February 19 by Rip Snorter
Typo

[Smokin Gator SASS #29736]

12 hours ago, Injun Ryder, SASS #36201L said:

 

One shooter told me he saved them to use in "lost" brass matches.

 

That's exactly what I do. 

[WD Farren]

I specifically buy small primer type so I can use more economical small primers when reloading.

[ShadowCatcher]

I have to watch and avoid using range sweepings, too many use either Blazer or Freedom or some other bulk outfit using SPP pockets,

and they're a PITA! I use only LPP for both Colt .45 or .45 ACP, and I don't like changing my progressive over that! I give them to other

folks at the range, usually the culprits who brought them.

 

I've only got about 1500 newer casings from Norma but will buying a few thousand more over the near term.  At my age I'm not too 

worried about not having enough to last.

 

SC

[Sheriff Dill]

On 2/18/2026 at 12:27 AM, Buckshot Bear said:

 

Aren't they a right PITA!!!!!

Next worse thing is Sellier & Bellet brass!!!!

Did they change the brass.?

 

After reading this thread the other day I went to my bench and went through a handful of .38 brass inside cleaned. Out of that handful I had several S&B. I use White River Energetics primers the ones I put in my 650 primes totally fine. Not sure if the primers im using are softer, smaller diameter than Federal or what not. Before that I was worried that I would have a bunch of this brass given one handful revealed several. 

[Cyrus Cassidy #45437]

8 hours ago, Sheriff Dill said:

Did they change the brass.?

 

After reading this thread the other day I went to my bench and went through a handful of .38 brass inside cleaned. Out of that handful I had several S&B. I use White River Energetics primers the ones I put in my 650 primes totally fine. Not sure if the primers im using are softer, smaller diameter than Federal or what not. Before that I was worried that I would have a bunch of this brass given one handful revealed several. 

 

In my experience their primer pockets tend to be rather tight. 

[Sheriff Dill]

47 minutes ago, Cyrus Cassidy #45437 said:

 

In my experience their primer pockets tend to be rather tight. 

I found when I was first learning to reload that the Winchester primers I had were very hard to seat all the way. Out of the primers that came with the press set up they were the hardest. The CCI and these White River Energetics ones have been great so far. 
 

The WRE spp have gone off in all of our guns and the price for them is very reasonable. 
 

I’ll keep an eye out for the s&b brass as I keep learning and hopefully it all works out. 

[Buckshot Bear]

7 hours ago, Cyrus Cassidy #45437 said:

 

In my experience their primer pockets tend to be rather tight. 

 

You can measure them with calipers, they are 2-3 thou smaller than other brands of .38spl brass.

On my Dillon when I get one that's come down from the case feeder that I have missed when sorting, it's an instant primer crushed.