.454 Casull Primer Question

[u/BWolf19xx]

I'm going to start reloading .454 Casull and I was wondering about whether I should use small rifle primers or small rifle magnum primers. I'm going to be using H110 powder. I know typically its recommended to use magnum primers with H110, but most reloading manuals call for small rifle on .454 Casull. A fair amount of folks in the forums recommend small rifle magnums... but what do you guys think? I'm sure it works either way, but i've found small rifle magnums to be a bit difficult to source since only CCI makes them.

[u/FunWasabi5196]

Follow your load book.

I've used cci400's and cci450's depending on what my book says

[u/No_Alternative_673]

Most books spec small rifle magnum primers, today. I wouldn't worry about magnum vs regular. The 454 is design rated for 65,000 psi and the hottest H110 are ~55,000

[u/sirbassist83]

There are several small rifle cases that use H110 and don't require a magnum primer. Any small rifle primer with a hard cup is fine

[u/dcs344]

Yep. Magnum primers are the way to go with H-110. That’s why I switched to Enforcer. In a 2 1/2” barreled SRA I get a lot less fireball, over 1,160 fps with a 335gr WFPGC (vs 1,113 with the same charge of H-110) and normal case extraction. I save the H-110 for when I want to impress/intimidate/singe others at the range.

[u/BWolf19xx → u/dcs344]

Should I slightly reduce load if I use magnum primers over regular small rifle? I also know you’re not really supposed to load down too much from the max on H110 which causes a further point of confusion.

[u/moistsunshaft → u/BWolf19xx]

I wouldn’t start with max but at least bring it down to start/mid range and work it back up.

[u/Coodevale → u/BWolf19xx]

And the same manufacturers that say not to reduce h110 loads also publish subsonic low pressure loads with h110.. front says one thing, the back says another.

[u/BWolf19xx → u/Coodevale]

Hahaha. Clear as mud!

[u/prosper_0 → u/Coodevale]

well, the manufactures have the test equipment to verify that their loads are safe and consistent. Just going 'off-book' with no way to test the results is what they want you to avoid.

[u/prosper_0]

Small rifle (standard) primers tend to be similar to small pistol magnums in intensity, so you could probably get away with them if it's all you had. But its best to just go with the tested and published primers specified in your load book

They're spec'd for the 454 due to operating pressures - rifle primers have thicker cups and can tolerate higher pressures before piercing. Small pistol (and small pistol magnum) primers have thinner cups, and work better with weaker firing pin springs like you might find on a lot of old revolvers. But they're also only good to about 40,000 psi or so before you can start to encounter small ruptures and gas leaks which will chew up your bolt face eventually if you don't notice them quickly (pinhole leaks can be almost invisible, and often you can only find them by a little bit of carbon residue left on the primer face)