SPP vs LPP

[Grendel Guy]

This has probably been covered before (search sucks), but I was wondering what advantage one type of primer, small pistol or large pistol has over the other. Went to Sportsman's after seeing they had 10mm 180 fp for $28.99/50. Looking at them they had SPP. I know it's a hassle sorting for the sizes but not too big a deal. Just wondering if there was a performance difference.
TIA.

[Sig so sour of ca]

With the exception of 45 and some rifle rounds, the brass/cartridge will only use one or the other.

45acp is a large pistol primer.

Then Satan decided to get into reloading and created 45acp brass that uses small pistol primers.

You can only use what fits in the brass you are reloading.

Now to add more confusion, when primers were nowhere to be found, I would use small rifle primers in my handgun reloads. It was usually in my 9mm and 38 special. Occasionally on my 38s,I would get a dud, but when I put it in single action, it would set off the 2nd time.

I haven't had an issue in 9mm with small rifle primers, I use them in my Glock and sigs.

[Grendel Guy]

Thanks. I've .45ACP brass, some that has pockets for small and some for large. The same for the 10mm. I was just wondering if one or the other has a performance advantage. On the other hand, I can load calibers that have either when primer shortages occur. I have seen that rifle primers can be used in handgun cartridge loading with the advisement that they may not go off because of the primer cup having a thicker/harder material that the firing pin strikes. This the reason why your single actions works on them as it strikes harder.

[golfish]

This has probably been covered before (search sucks), but I was wondering what advantage one type of primer, small pistol or large pistol has over the other. Went to Sportsman's after seeing they had 100mm 180 fp for $28.99/50. Looking at them they had SPP. I know it's a hassle sorting for the sizes but not too big a deal. Just wondering if there was a performance difference.
TIA.

I'm guessing you mean 10mm and not 100mm?

I have and shoot both 10mm and a 45acp. I really haven't noticed a difference between the 2, although I don't reload the small primer brass, I just bag and tag it just in case...

[Grendel Guy]

Thanks for catching that golfish. Correction made.

[golfish]

Thanks for catching that golfish. Correction made.

You bet brother.....to be honest I wasn't sure if you meant 10mm..

This is a good topic. I'm looking forward to more post and info.

[kcstott]

There will not be a performance change that you could measure.
There are reasons to use small rifle primers in cases traditionally loaded with large primers but those advantages don't really apply to pistol rounds.

it's just more of a hassle to sort brass

[ar15barrels]

This has probably been covered before (search sucks), but I was wondering what advantage one type of primer, small pistol or large pistol has over the other. Went to Sportsman's after seeing they had 10mm 180 fp for $28.99/50. Looking at them they had SPP. I know it's a hassle sorting for the sizes but not too big a deal. Just wondering if there was a performance difference.
TIA.

Small primer pockets make for stronger brass that can either be loaded to higher pressures, or simply last longer when loaded at standard pressures.

If you look at 308winchester and 6.5 Creedmoor, the higher quality brass cases from lapua and other makers come with small primer pockets.

In handgun, it's all about sorting.
If you only keep one type, it does not matter which size you standardize on.
It's only when you want to pick up other people's brass to add to your collection that you then need to keep track of the primer sizes.
In that case, you should standardize on whatever primer size is normal for the cartridge and ignore the non-standard ones.

[Grendel Guy]

Thanks Randall. As usual your input stands to reason.

[pennstater]

Grendel Guy, I handload for my 1911-A1 using spp and lpp and notice no difference in performance. Over my chronograph, the spp show maybe 10-15 fps slower mv. Zero to make a difference. Target shooting or plinking, you won't see any change.

MLC

[JagerDog]

IIRC, the small primer 45 ACP was to make "greener" ammo. The non-tox primers were all small.

[pennstater]

IIRC, the small primer 45 ACP was to make "greener" ammo. The non-tox primers were all small.

Maybe so. Never bought any .45 acp ammo with spp, just range p/u or some that was given to me. Scheese, I don't recall what decade I bought factory .45 acp ammo.

[JagerDog]

Maybe so. Never bought any .45 acp ammo with spp, just range p/u or some that was given to me. Scheese, I don't recall what decade I bought factory .45 acp ammo.

I don?t have any, but I know both Win and Fed produced small primer 45 with an NT suffix. They primer had no lead (styphenate ?) and the bullets were FMC. They catered to indoor ranges.

[baranski]

Look at the 10mm forum.

With handloads, there usually is a very slight difference between the SP and LP.

IME, the SP factory loads are loaded at .40S&W charges.

[Grendel Guy]

I had heard that factory ammo had been "dumbed down "to .40 SW. But okay, I can make 'em right.