Winchester large rifle primers...any testing done on WLR vs WLRM?

[Shuz]

I developed a nice cast boolit load for my .250 Sav Mdl 16 Savage, and it uses a Winchester primer marked WLR, but the box says"for use in standard or magnum rifle loads". Now Winchester has a primer marked WLR for standard loads and another large rifle primer marked WLRM and the box denote for magnum rifle loads. Has anybody run a test to see if the "new" WLR is different than the old WLR?
thanks,
Shuz

[Maven]

Winchester has printed that on the WLR box since "forever" or so it seems. Their LR magnum primers, however, are more energetic and a better choice for igniting slow burning powders, especially something like WCC-860 or -872. Unfortunately, the boxes of both types [that I have] are the same color (blue), as are the primer foils (green) whereas the WLR's were once red and the WLRM's, green. You've got to be vigilant about this, especially if you're working at or close to max. loads.

[Outpost75]

Winchester WLR and WLRM primers are run on the same manufacturing lines at the same time.

The so-called "magnum" primers are separated through a QA sorting process to segregate out primers in which the pellet weight is above the mean tolerance.

There is no difference in the primers. The sorting process promotes better batch uniformity by eliminating high pellet weight primers from normal WLR production and eliminating low pellet weight primers from Magnum primers by selection.

This has been done by Olin since the 1950s, originally done for military production, the standard primers being used for "clipped rifle pack" and the magnum primers for "linked pack" machinegun ammo.

[Maven]

"The so-called 'magnum' primers are separated through a QA sorting process to segregate out primers in which the pellet weight is above the mean tolerance."

Which begs the question, if the pellet weight is above the mean tolerance, is there more priming compound in them and thus, they are as I wrote in #2, "more energetic"? Inquiring minds want to know!

[Hick]

I use both WLR and WLRM frequently. Its interesting to me that the Hornady loading manual says to use WLR for some powders that the Speer reloading manual says need WLRM. I've played around with this and have begin to suspect that Speer recommends magnum primers for ball powders as a matter of principle-- whether it is necessary or not (its the safe thing to do). For some I've tried (W748, W760) the standard primers work just as well as the magnum primers.

[Outpost75]

"The so-called 'magnum' primers are separated through a QA sorting process to segregate out primers in which the pellet weight is above the mean tolerance."

Which begs the question, if the pellet weight is above the mean tolerance, is there more priming compound in them and thus, they are as I wrote in #2, "more energetic"? Inquiring minds want to know!


The product of a correctly designed primer is HEAT, not explosive force. You want calorimetric efficiency, not piezimetric efficiency.

[Maven]

Thanks for clearing that up OP75, but I still have to ask, does a heavier [primer] pellet, e.g., a WLR magnum pellet generate more heat than the WLR standard pellet? Btw, I use the WLR magnum primers with WCC 860 loads (.30-06, 8 x 57mm Mau.,; heavy CB's in both) and get slightly less unburned powder in the fired cases than with WLR primers. If there's no real difference between the two, I'd gladly use up the mag. primers and not replace them.

[Shuz]

Anybody done some testing...like with Reloder 7 and the WLR marked "for standard or magnum rifle loads" and compared them against the newer WLR primers that just state for "standard rifle loads"?

[15meter]

Winchester WLR and WLRM primers are run on the same manufacturing lines at the same time.

The so-called "magnum" primers are separated through a QA sorting process to segregate out primers in which the pellet weight is above the mean tolerance.

There is no difference in the primers. The sorting process promotes better batch uniformity by eliminating high pellet weight primers from normal WLR production and eliminating low pellet weight primers from Magnum primers by selection.

This has been done by Olin since the 1950s, originally done for military production, the standard primers being used for "clipped rifle pack" and the magnum primers for "linked pack" machinegun ammo.

Where did this info come from?

I loaded up 470 N.E. with WLRM from two different lots of primers and had failure to fires in both lots. It appeared the primer was too hard. Loaded with WLR and CCI standard and not a single failure.

The WLRM certainly had all the indications of a harder primer cup.

This would indicate that there is more than weight difference of the primer.

[Rcmaveric]

Not sure about Reloader 7, but i can show you whats left of my AR when I swapped WLR for WLRM primers over a charge of 2400 in a 7.62x39 case..... i wont do that again. I dropped the charge a 1 grain and thought it would be fine. It wasn't. The gun isn't. But i am okay thank God. For the longest time i thought there was a potential i double charged the case, but i always check but eye and flashlight. And i wouldn't have been able to seat the bullet over a double charge. Then one day going over my note, i was converting my written notes to electronics notes and i got to that page and I read what I did. That's when it dawned on me. Mag primers make slower powders ignite and burn like faster powders. They are also used to make a powder charge ignite uniformly and wholely. If you all ready have an easy to ignite powder that ignites uniformly..... well then.... you just made it burn more violently...