Practice case (pistol) using shotgun primer

BBerguson

Official Pennsyltuckian
Does anyone know if these exist or would it be possible to drill out a 38 special case to make this work?

My late father in law gave me some plastic cases that shoot wc rubber bullets with just a primer. I have lots and lots of shotgun primers and was thinking this would be a great way to use some of them. Again, primer only.

One more question... Does anyone have any idea how shotgun primers compare to (in power) to pistol primers? I know based on my shotshell loading manual that vary quite a lot between companies but have no clue how they compare to pistol or rifle primers.
 

RicinYakima

High Steppes of Eastern Washington
For 577/450 Kynoch cases I use a letter "b" drill to make the basic hole, and back cut with a 30 degree for the lip of the 209 primer. Best done in a lathe!. Even for a 38 special, you will need a couple of grains of Bullseye to get the bullet out the barrel.
 

L Ross

Well-Known Member
See why we all still have those #57 Remington primers laying in the back of the cabinets? Ha! Where are those sleeves of RWS percussion caps? I'm feeling the need for a Uberti Model 1861.
 

Missionary

Well-Known Member
This should be an interesting test.
Makes me wonder how much pressure it will take to get blow back through that primer hole? Should not be much of an issue with 38 Special. Probably none at all as a plastic shot shell case survives numerous impacts.
I like this more as I think on it.
Got to finish my long bow first ......
 
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CWLONGSHOT

Well-Known Member
45 Colt fast draw guys use 209 cases for wax bullets. So why not a 38? Yes its smaller and probably best done on a lathe but brass is soft and if ya done need allot of them Im sure you could do this.

I was organizing and ran across a 38"kit" with primer primers cases and bullets both plastic.

C6F0735C-FFBB-4A63-95C5-7AD07AA2B1E9.jpeg
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
those little plastic units hurt at hallway distances with normal primers.
you want to drill out the flash holes for better oomph on them.

a shot shell primer would probably push them fast enough to target shoot at 50 foot and be competitive, or kill a cat.

and no I'm not telling the story about the garage door and the headlight again.
 

BBerguson

Official Pennsyltuckian
those little plastic units hurt at hallway distances with normal primers.
you want to drill out the flash holes for better oomph on them.

a shot shell primer would probably push them fast enough to target shoot at 50 foot and be competitive, or kill a cat.

and no I'm not telling the story about the garage door and the headlight again.
So... what about the cat? :)
 

BBerguson

Official Pennsyltuckian
45 Colt fast draw guys use 209 cases for wax bullets. So why not a 38? Yes its smaller and probably best done on a lathe but brass is soft and if ya done need allot of them Im sure you could do this.

I was organizing and ran across a 38"kit" with primer primers cases and bullets both plastic.

View attachment 19188
Yep, these are what mine look like. don’t have the entire kit, just a dozen or so red cases and black rubber bullets.
 

BBerguson

Official Pennsyltuckian
For 577/450 Kynoch cases I use a letter "b" drill to make the basic hole, and back cut with a 30 degree for the lip of the 209 primer. Best done in a lathe!. Even for a 38 special, you will need a couple of grains of Bullseye to get the bullet out the barrel.
I have a lettered set of drill bits so I guess I should be able to do this. I don’t have a lathe, wish I did many times but have spent all my tool money on woodworking equipment...

I have a drill press but it doesn’t have very tight tolerances but maybe I don’t need them for this project. I’ll see what I can do, I have lots of 38 special cases and if I ruin a few I’ll be ok.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Clamp two scraps of 1X2 pine flat together with a strip of cardboard between, drill a hole through the joint with a drill the size of a .38 case (or several, spaced an inch apart). Clamp your cases in that in your drill press vise (not clamped down to the table) and go to town. Like Fiver said, enlarge the flash holes too if there is any metal left in the pocket after it is drilled deep enough for the primer.
 
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Schweisser

New Member
I drilled a whole bunch of 38 cases for 209 primers once. The idea was to shoot plastic bullets at pigeons in a barn and I wanted lotsa ammo.

I found that my 38 didn't have the ooomph to pop a shotgun primer on the first or -- sometimes -- second hit. I think I used CCI primers, but it's been a while, so I can't say for sure. If you go this route, drill one and test it before dilling the other 199 cases (which is what I did...)
 

RicinYakima

High Steppes of Eastern Washington
Like Fiver said, enlarge the flash holes too if there is any metal left in the pocket after it is drilled deep enough for the primer.
The primers are thicker than the head of the case. You will have a hole all the way through the case head and the end battery cup will be inside the powder space.
 

BBerguson

Official Pennsyltuckian
My son dug out the plastic cases and shot a couple. At about 12 ft the “bullet” penetrated the side of a cardboard box and then disappeared. I think it passed all the way through and ricocheted off and up on the other side of the box. Oh well, it will show up sometime... A buddy of mine has a 3D printer. I asked if he thought he could print some .357 bullets but I haven’t heard back from him. Not sure it will be worth it. .357 sized lead balls are sounding more interesting, cheaper and more attainable. I also have a lot of 102 gr 9mm bullets and some 77gr wadcutters that I could try at .356 or .358.

Oh, and the plastic cases take large pistol primers. I was thinking they were small pistol but I was wrong.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
all shot shell primers ain't the same composition, many have steel inserts/caps and they take some spring pop to set them off.
a lot of guys that have guns that hit the primers on an angle and thus have an issue with the cap cracking.
keep to the Winchester and federal type shot shell primers with the copper caps to avoid the problem.
another thing to think about is that shot shell primers come in different diameters and shapes.
they are not all tapered from front to back, some are straight sided, and some are a little bit fig-8 shaped.
they vary about .001 to .002 in just the American brands [.240-.241-2] and the Europeans like to use larger diameter primers [.242~3-.245]
anyway, the federal 209-A's have a bit more oomph and less diameter [tapered a touch] than the Winchester's which ain't tapered and are a bit larger.
 

BBerguson

Official Pennsyltuckian
I have Winchester, Cheddite, Federal, Fiocchi and some CCI. I think I’ll start with the CCI as that is what I have the least of and won’t be loading any large batches of shotgun shells with them.
 

RBHarter

West Central AR
I shot out 200 low base high brass clear skeeved Fiocchi cases . 5 cycles with W209 x5 , they came primed with 616s . Never had any loose primers or wet powder , ducking ain't easy on them that way . I've also used H and W209s in PMC , Estate and Kent who also use Fiocchi cases or at least they look identical .
 

Tomme boy

Well-Known Member
All the Euro hulls I have I can seat the primers with just my fingers. Some of the new Federal hulls are cheddite now. They have gotten away from the fiber base wad totally from what I was told.