16ga.com ~ View topic

Joined: 12 Aug 2005 Posts: 54 Location: San Francisco

I'm just getting back into reloading and plan to use a mix of old AA and Federal purple hulls, plus some RGLs I've been saving. I 'll certainly check the appropriate reloading data before starting up, but I'm curious if anyone has any low pressure 1 oz. loads that use Federal 209a primers. A friend gave me 1000 of them and I understand they're somewhat hotter than the Win 209s I used to use.

Joined: 03 Jun 2009 Posts: 31

The hogdon website was a lot of loads listed with the pressures and various primers. I use their powders because they put out the effort to give the data.

Definately hotter than a WW209. One of the hottest on the market. The Federal 209A is a favorite of the black powder crowd for lighting off heavy charges of hard to ignite replica BP in their inlines.

I use the Federal 209A for all my cold weather heavy hunting loads calling for hefty charges of slow burning powders like Blue Dot. I adjust the powder charge downwards a couple of grains if the load recipe calls for a milder primer. I'd not use them in a max load that calls for a milder primer though. I also never use heavy loads in old guns either. So I'm not putting myself or my guns in jeapardy.

If you are loading mild and more moderate pressure loads for use in a modern gun, the swap should not be a problem. It will probably raise pressures a bit, but you won't go into the red zone.

There is also no reason why you can't adjust the powder charge of most loads downward to compensate. Read the recipes in a few manuals to compare the effect the 209A has on similar loads. This will help you figure out what is safe and what could cause problems.

Joined: 20 Mar 2009 Posts: 428

16GG is correct. They are hotter! Shocked

Joined: 12 Aug 2005 Posts: 54 Location: San Francisco

Thanks gents. I'll do my homework.
Larry