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450 Martini wrote: I own a martini henry and a snider enfield for which I convert 24 gauge magtech brass which accepts only large pistol primers. To use rifle primers in this brass would be highly dangerous.

Why have you found the use of LR primers dangerous?

450 Martini wrote:I had a spot of bother trying to stock up on large pistol primers a few years back, I own a martini henry and a snider enfield for which i convert 24 gauge magtech brass which accepts only large pistol primers. To use rifle primers in this brass would be highly dangerous. A midlands dealership refused to sell me large pistol primers because i did not posess a large pistol calibre firearm on my FAC. I urged them to call the local firearms office, they did and after about 10 minutes talking to the office they eventually sold the required primers to me. I was then told by the vendor i would need to have a special condition added to my FAC to allow me to purchase large pistol primers in future. I dashed off a email to my FEO when i got home and the response was that i was acting legally, and "special conditions" to purchase primers is nonsense, and they disliked it when parts of the shooting community dream up unreal parts of legislation.

Interesting... I've always thinking about that!, people who shoot unusual rounds or have an odd shotgun that's adapted to a single shot 38spl... smoothbore .24" barrel which uses ratshot? where the ticket holder imports the "Speer empty shot capsules" and fills them with no 9 shotgun pellets and buys 38spl cases, but what happens whens they ask for "small pistol primers"??

We know Ratshot rounds are SGC, like rimfire 9mm, and .22lr ratshots? and bullet rounds are FAC yes and some bigger buck shot

But it seems the VCR act makes out brass cases/hulls are FAC when in fact its whether its "shot" or bullet headed that controls its SGC or FAC? two laws are conflicted.

The legal define of a shotgun cartridge is defined as "cartridges containing five or more shot, none of which exceeds .36 inch in diameter? it don't say its has to be plastic hulls????

so 50-60 #8 shot in a ratshot capsule is SGC, now once set in a 38spl case is still a shotgun cartridge. but asking for primers or primed hull you need to show an FAC?

95% of SGC holder do in fact use plastic hull which use 209 primers. But it seem the 5% or a 10% fac with odd chambered guns or adapted are falling through the cracks?

Magtech brass hulls do use large pistol, factory design them to be used.

Just as a note, magtech brass shotshell hulls are formed to use large pistol primers, if i place a large pistol primer in the pocket it will fit flush with the base, very nice! But if i place a large rifle primer in the primer pocket, the rifle primer will stick out of the end. This will cause the round to fail to chamber in a martini henry rifle or chamber only after a considerable amount of pressure on the lever. I tried it out with a primed case and i thourght it's best not to cut corners and get the proper primers, i still use rifle primers on my kynoch/bertram/NDFS brass. I have found a new supplier through my club who is also a shooter so knows why i need both sizes of primer. One thing i have found over the past few years is that Shooting a antique/odd or obscure chambered rifle requires a fair amount of knowledge, skill and even imagination to get going!

Interesting, I use a lot of reformed Magtech brass and the rifle primers fit just fine with no protrusion even though the primer pocket are nominally for pistol primers

If I had to use pistol primers in my Martinis and Sniders, which I have been collecting and shooting for over 30 years, then I would not use that brass in the interests of safety.

Using pistol primers in rifles, especially military types, is bad reloading practice with anything over mouse fart loads, pistol primers have softer cups than rifle primers and are liable to pierce with rifle firing pins causing gas blow back with primer cup shrapnel.

Blow back in Sniders especially is dangerous with the weaker actions even with the locking pin in the later versions.

Mattnall wrote:

450 Martini wrote: I dashed off a email to my FEO ........they disliked it when parts of the shooting community dream up unreal parts of legislation.

This made me smile, I have heard more times when plod have tried to make firearms law. :lol:

ah....now then...statute is what it is you would think?

My dept are pretty good but they have (had) some weird ideas.

.308 is a deer round and they do not want to issue a slot against .308 for a target rifle....soon put em right on that one.

and it appears that the sec5 expanding clause only applies to a round of ammunition (complete) rather than the bullets alone.

I begged to differ but was told the head man would not like it.

All I was after was a slot to collect inert expanding, AP, frangible etc.

Now I like my FEO, he is a collegue and is very helpfull but he was not having it and pointed out that folk were selling them on Ebay etc.

But they should not be, unless they can transfer them correctly.

He then got creative and said..."sod it, we will put you down for AP, they will have to do it then"

I thought AP and expanding all came under the same umberella.... wtfwtf

Ah well, no news is good news, I know the report went in, but as I refused to hand my FAC in until it was time to issue I am not in any hurry for a collectors slot for inert (prohibited types).