Standard Primers (CCI 500) in a .357 Mag

lrp3006 · Nov 30, 2008

I have been loading Alliant 2400 powder in in my .357 magnum - and per specific instructions in Speer's reloading manual have been using standard small pistol primers (CCI 500).

Today I loaded a batch of 50 rounds with H110 powder and Speer 158 gr Gold Dot HP bullets (14 gr of H110 - the min load in the Speer manual is 13.9 gr). I used the same CCI 500 primers I'd been using with the Alliant 2400 powder before I realized that I should have used magnum primers w/ H110.

Can I go ahead and shoot these w/ the standard primers ?

Thanks.

FOTIS · Dec 1, 2008

I get a better burn with the magnum caps....especially with H110.

lrp3006 · Dec 1, 2008

Thanks - I'm sure you're right about that. My concern was more around the safety of using standard primers w/ H110 - low pressure, squib loads, etc.

I'd rather not pull 50 bullets if I can avoid it.

lrp3006 · Dec 1, 2008

I called Hodgdon and talked to one of their technicians. All their testing is done w/ magnum primers - the concern with standard primers is poor ignition and potential squib loads.

So I got to spend some quality time with my inertia bullet puller tonight

It actually didn't take as long as I thought - a little rock & roll music helped set the tempo