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Thread: Winchester primers inconsistency.

  1. #1
    Boolit Grand Master Bazoo's Avatar
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    Winchester primers inconsistency.

    With both large rifle and large pistol I've noticed this. Ill seat the primers and it'll have little to no resistance compared to the others in the batch. If I remove that primer and seat another it feels as normal. So it's got to be a primer inconsistency. I've also shot several of them that felt that way in pistol calibers and haven't found any detriment.

    Should I not fire those?

    Will it make any difference in rifle cartridges of a lower pressure like 30-30 vs those of higher pressure like 30-06?

    I'm more leery of it in rifle calibers because of the pressures. But should it be the other way around ?

    Next time I load I'll try to measure some until I can find one that measures differently. How much of a difference will cause that loose feeling?

    When I load the same batch of cases with CCI primers there is no major differences in feel.

    Thanks for taking the time to ponder my query.

    Bazoo

  2. #2
    Boolit Grand Master 303Guy's Avatar
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    I was thinking I had primer pocket expansion or wear. I was ignoring it but now I need to check the primers themselves.
    Last edited by 303Guy; 07-04-2020 at 04:42 AM.
    Rest In Peace My Son (01/06/1986 - 14/01/2014)

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  3. #3
    Boolit Buddy Cast_outlaw's Avatar
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    The difference will only be a couple tho if any more than 2 and they would probably fall out

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
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    I went out to shoot some 9mm last week and thought id use up some loads put together a few years ago. cast and jacketed loads with bullseye and Winchester small pistol primers, about 48 out of each box of 50 are duds. the primers are about 4 years old. all the loads put together with cci primers loaded at the same time fired with no problems

  5. #5
    Boolit Master JMax's Avatar
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    I have been using Win primers exclusively For decades and finished firing up a thousand 38 loads without any misfires. I use WLR, WSR, WSP and WLP Without incident.

  6. #6
    Boolit Buddy lawdog941's Avatar
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    I've found the Winchester primers more reliable than CCI. That being said, I've also noticed that some Win primers were very easy going into the pocket. But that was for 270 Win cases that were near the end of their cycle. I have both Win and CCI, but never gave it any hard thought about the primer itself. If it falls out or its questionable, I just junk the case and grab another. I think the higher pressure cartridges would cause a little more concern for primer setback and gases.

  7. #7
    Boolit Buddy

    Divil's Avatar
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    Reports like this will keep me buying CCI & Remington primers for the foreseeable future.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master
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    My experience has been the opposite. Winchester primers have always worked, but I've had misfires/handfires from the CCI primers with their harder cups and lighter flame. Western Powders new reloading manual specs WLR primers for many of their double-base powders.

  9. #9
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    Texas by God's Avatar
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    I've never had a problem with Winchester primers. Good enough for NASA, good enough for me.

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

  10. #10
    Boolit Master Dapaki's Avatar
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    I have has issues with all of the manufacturers from time to time, metal temper, thickness, OD all play a role. I have had more issues with Federal than any other.

  11. #11
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    A micrometer should show you if a few of the primers are undersized.
    [The Montana Gianni] Front sight and squeeze

  12. #12
    Boolit Master Wag's Avatar
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    I don't use Winchester or Remington primers any more. Too many duds. Only a couple in every thousand but that's too many. The CCI primers don't give me any issues.

    --Wag--
    "Great genius will always encounter fierce opposition from mediocre minds." --Albert Einstein.

  13. #13
    Boolit Grand Master
    rintinglen's Avatar
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    My money ison loose primer cups, not odd primers. I can never recall a Winchester primer that did not go bang in a properly functioning firearm; not SP, LP, LR, MLR OR MSP. That is in the course of 47 years use and two hundred thousand plus primers . Murphy's alive and well, but the only primer problems I have had were failures to ignite due to light primer hits with my old PPC revolver due to the excessively lightened mainspring. A spent primer cup over the end of the mainspring strain screw fixed that problem.







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  14. #14
    Boolit Master


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    I gave up on Win primers when they stopped the nickel coat on the cup. Had misfires that I had never experienced with Win Center-Fire primers before.
    Complained to Win, they blew me off. Haven't used them since. Had it happen to A LOT OF OTHER COWBOY SHOOTERS AT THAT TIME TOO.

    Never had a Misfire with REM or FED since. No problem with the few CCI that I've tried.
    I HATE auto-correct

    Happiness is a Warm GUN & more ammo to shoot in it.

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  15. #15
    Boolit Master

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    I have said this on this forum a number of times.
    My FTFs have always been the fault of the gun not the primer.
    I have had very few and I have been loading a lot each year for 50+ years.
    Your results may vary.

  16. #16
    Boolit Grand Master 303Guy's Avatar
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    I use Federal small rifle in my hornet because the firing pin strike is very mild and those primers fire reliably. Small pistol primers also fire reliably. I did find one primer with the anvil seated sideways. That was the only defective Fed primer I've come across.
    Rest In Peace My Son (01/06/1986 - 14/01/2014)

    ''Assume everything that moves is a human before identifying as otherwise''

  17. #17
    Boolit Bub
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    I guess I must be lucky I have used winchester,CCI, federal, Remington and the only problems I had were Russian heavy metal free primers that were duds

  18. #18
    Boolit Master
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    Well I have a brick of cci 500 spp that failed to go bang! In 2 different guns! Both guns function fine with Remington and Winchester. I called cci and they want me to send all the rounds to them so they can test it! I was told by there tech that it can’t be there primers because there primers are never bad! They have never had a complaint about there primers! Talk about having smoke blown up a certain bodily orifice! I’ll never buy another cci product! I guess I’ll use this 1000 rounds for sling shot ammo! Sure am glad I didn’t need it to defend my life!
    Long, Wide, Deep, and Without Hesitation!

  19. #19
    Boolit Master



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    You better be careful. That guy will give you cancer.................
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    dd884
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    Gary D. Peek

  20. #20
    Boolit Master RKJ's Avatar
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    The only issues I've had with any primers were some Bosnian ones (that I was warned about before buying) they seem a little larger than either Winchester or Remington but they have all gone bang when I pulled the trigger and no loss of accuracy. Could be a bad lot of Winchesters you got, it can happen.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check