Any Problems With Winchester Primers Lately?

As far as I can see the only thing what can make flip up primers is the spring of the priming arm. If that catches on something the primer gets a push and is sideways or upsidedown.
Priming is a delicate undertakement with which all parts have to fit perfectly.

I just got my 12000 WSP Winchester primers. Finally the gun shop got them in (I am located in Southamerica). Another 10000 WSP should arrive shortly (I ordered them directly from the USA) and that should give me a few years (if not an decade or more) of ammo independence.
 
Had some WSR that leaked and etched my bolt face. Loading 204, lower end/starting loads. Switched to Remington using the same brass/powder/etc and no gas cutting.. Went and found some CCIs. My friend uses WLP without any issues, for now.
 
It was for the most part the first time i ever used the tray . I tried it when i first got it but found at the time both trays seemed to work the same and just went with the RCBS tray and shell holder . The handle , spring & plungers are always the same , just the trays and shell holders are interchangeable .

The reason there are two trays is the hole in the shell holders are different sizes . Hornady is a little bigger in diameter . This means the tray area that slides up inside the shell holder is a little thicker on the hornady tray . If you use a RCBS shell holder with the hornady tray . The shell holder squeezes down those lips and the plunger gets stuck .
 
Last edited:
Automatic priming tools, trays and shell holders; I have two RCBS hand primers with the round tray. I have three different RCB shell holders; only one of the three different designs will fit the RCBS automatic hand primer.

With little effort I can modify the older shell holders to fit my automatic hand primer, RCBS offered to trade me one for one and I thought that was generous. And then there is the problem with flipping primers. The old shell holders were not designed to have a primer feed up from the bottom, the second design had an improvement and the third design was the reason my older shell holders would not fit the Automatic hand primer.

F. Guffey

And I have at least 5 Lee auto hand primers and 2 that are used to install one primer at a time. I turn the tool around and do not use my thump to seat primers, problem, the Lee was designed to operate at a tilt. And then one day I decided I would blow up a primer in my Lee because reloaders were claiming Lee placed a limit on the number of primers to be used in the tray (they thought) After 2 hours I gave up and then moved over to the RCBS hand primer; after about an hour and a half I finally set one off. I am not saying it can not happen.

Anyhow, I found it too easy to stack primers by double clutching, most should be able to understand there are those that can not help themselves, they start their cars and then they just have to pump the gas pedal to make that sound.
 
Last edited:
Metal god,

The large pistol primers are a little shorter than large rifle, so perhaps the shorter aspect ratio lets them flip more easily. Since the tool is not new, you may want to look for wear in it. I don't own that particular tool. Does it afford you the opportunity to look down into it to see that the next primer is upright before you seat it?


BTW, for checking out the primers, download the PDF file of the ANSI/SAAMI 2015 Centerfire Pistol Standard. Unlike the old 1993 standard, it has primer dimension and primer pocket dimensions with minimums and maximums on page 26 (page 35 as Acrobat Reader counts pages if you want to just enter a page number to go to there).
 
The large pistol primers are a little shorter than large rifle, so perhaps the shorter aspect ratio lets them flip more easily.
Click to expand...

Interesting fun fact there :) I knew there were size differences with some primers but not the specifics of which is which .

Since the tool is not new, you may want to look for wear in it. I don't own that particular tool. Does it afford you the opportunity to look down into it to see that the next primer is upright before you seat it?
Click to expand...

Yes and yes , It comes apart and you can easily inspect each individual part . I've done so in the past but it always appeared fine . At one point I had an issue with SP primers hanging up when entering the little shoot/lane from the main tray/holding area . I was able to see it was a small burr or imperfection on the floor in the entrance area of that shoot/lane and I was able to knock that down which solved that problem . But there again I never had that issue with SR primers . For the most part I have a hard time seeing any real issues with the tray . That does not mean they're not there , I'm just not seeing them .

Yes I can look down into the priming tool and see the primer before I insert the case . The thing about that is the primer is flipping as the ram lifts it up and into the primer pocket . Travel distance is about 3/8" or so . What I have to do is start the primer moving up while watching to be sure the primer does not flip . I then insert the case and finish the seating process . This works but really triples the time it takes to prime cases .
 
Last edited:
See if something is catching it on the rise. If so, it may favor one side. That is, if you tip it slightly left or slightly right or slightly forward as the primer seats, you may find a position for which the problem goes away. I expect tipping back toward the chute to be a bad idea, but other positions are worth a try.
 
In my experience: If they are flipping they are catching on something in that manner that any Kind of spring gets them turning (in the case of the Lee ram prime System).
 
In my experience: If they are flipping they are catching on something in that manner that any Kind of spring gets them turning (in the case of the Lee ram prime System).
Click to expand...

Again, most Lee problems came about when the reloader attempted to seat two primers at the same time, I suggest users of Lee Auto primers not change directions before seating the primer. The first primer starts to seat, when the nerves reloader double clutches the handle another primer slide under the first primer. It does not seem like a real problem but the handle looses a lot of leverage when the reloader attempts to seat two primers; this is about the time the reloader uses two hands to gain 'POWER'. And then? The reloader can not remove the case because it will not slide out of the shell holder. And then there are shell holders that are designed to protect the reloader from himself. Some shell holders do not have slots for high primers.

Back to RCBS shell holders, one more time, they are not all alike, one more time, I have three different shell holders from RCBS, the difference is in the bottom of the shell holder. FIRST DESIGN: To prevent flipping primers everything has got to be perfectly aligned, after the first design there is more forgiveness and the third design (that is the one that fits my RCBS auto hand primer) does not have the sharp edge around the primer exit hole on the bottom.

F. Guffey
 
I punched out 5,000 CCI primers through Dillon press, not one snag or flipped primer. No taking the tube off the machine to clean it out, no missed primers, no flipped primers, no issue other than a couple didn't want to seat fully.

I'm burning up a brick of Winchester SR right now, not but three hundred in, had the tube off twice...
If you have ever had to clear a jam in a Dillon primer tube, you know what a HUGE pain in the butt it is!
 
I was reminded tonight why I ultimately went with the RCBS set up over the Hornady . I primed 200 223/5.56 LC-10 cases tonight . I'm happy to report not one primer flipped and all seated great . Oh but there's a catch , there's always a catch . The Hornady shell holders have something that is smaller in the area that the cases slides in . I'm not sure if it's the groove the rim slides in for the 223 or the diameter right at the area of the base of the case just above the extractor groove or what . Not sure the cause but the issue is some cases bind up when inserting them . Of the 200 maybe 15 were hard to put in the shell holder . of those 15 , 4 or 5 had to be pushed in hard to where you could hear the case pop/click into place and one would not go period .

This does not happen when using RCBS or Redding shell holders . My Redding shell holders have been by far the most consistent as far as no hassles in the presses I use but they don't fit the priming tool .

I remember clearly now this issue with Hornady shell holders and 223/5.56 cases . Untill last week I had never used the Hornady shell holders for 9mm or 45acp so not sure if it's only 223 cases having the issue . I've used the Hornady shell holders when loading 308 and don't recall having this issue there either . Maybe the head and or extractor are getting bent out of shape being fired from my AR's . Although most eject the cases between 2;30 and 4:30 . My most used AR ejects the cases into one small pile right at 4:30 . My point there is I don't think I'm over gassed to a point my extractor is deforming the cases but that's a guess rather then fact .

My over all point here is that I believe I'm in the market for a new priming tool . Any suggestions ? I'd like it to be fairly universal .
 
I gave up on Win primers long ago for these same reasons listed.
Just poor QC.
I prefer CCI and will use Wolf over Win primers if I have no other choice.
Sad because it use to be the other way around.
 
Again, my favorite shell holder is the RCBS shell holder, it fits like a hand me down shirt; it only fits where it touches. So what can a reloader do with a shell holder that is a loose? I form cases, the loose RCBS shell holder allows me the luxury of reducing the length of the case from the shoulder to the case head by as much as .011". That comes in handy when I have a rifle with a short chamber or when I am cutting a chamber. I always want to know where I am starting and I want to know how far I have to go when finished.

And then there are shell holders that fit; I have shell holders that fit and the good fitting shell holder has advantages over the loose fitting shell holder. And then there is the companion tool to the press; the feeler gage; I can turn a loosed fitting shell holder into a good fitting shell holder with the feeler gage.

F. Guffey
 
The Hornady Shell holders have an smaller middle hole as I understood. That is a sort of propietary patent in order to be able to use ONLY Hornady shellholders on Hornady products (like the Hornady case trimmer).

I realised my Hornady Shell holders are higher as my Lee ones (Change brand of shellholders Forces you to readjust the dies). I almost forced my Lymann T Mag II turret press till I realised the Hornady shellholder is thicker and has I believe an smaller middle hole.
 
It says really "staynless" on the Winchester WSP boxes.

I wonder which is the difference between stainless and staynless.

Sometimes the WSP are loser sometimes tighter. It is most likely due to the case and not the primer. Even within brands the cases vary wastly.
Right now I have stocked over 12000 WSP primers.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top