With recent discussions about life of primers I decided to load some Winchester small rifle ID as No. 6 1/2-116. Attached are a couple pictures, front & back. I'm guessing the 50's.

I did load a few hundred of these in .222 for Prairie Dog shooting, a few years ago, and they worked very well.

I'll shoot these in a few days (depending on weather) and let you know how they performed. I did load one sleeve of 100, with 231 and Bayou 125 gr powder coat.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

I didn't see the discussion but been using the same primer size for my hornet. Think mine are older 0 problem....surprise.

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Paul
S&WCA #2726

Those are from the early 1960’s: I remember using them when I started reloading.

I’ll have to check, but I may still have some.

ZIP codes stated in 1963, but I used those color Winchester boxes in 1974 when I started reloading. The LGS where I bought primers and powder also sold surplus 4831 in a 1# small paper bag for $5.

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S&WHF 366

Found this explanation of the code stamping on ammo boxes. The "E" should indicate 1951 since there is no zip code on the box address.

Western since 1928 and Winchester Since 1958

Since 1958 the lot numbers used on Winchester boxes are in the same format as used by Western since about 1928, and repeat every twenty years. The lot number will have a letter-letter-number or letter-letter-number-number series that indicated the date. The first letter indicates the year, the second letter the month. If followed by a single digit, that equates to a single digit day; if followed by two digits, the numbers are reversed to equate with a two digit day or dingle digit day with a leading zero. Examples: 10=01, 60=06, 21=12, 61=16, 82=28, 13=31.
Hence the series DA82 will equate to 28 January 1930 or 1950 or 1970 or 1990 or 2010, depending on the box design. Additional numbers and/or letters equate to production lines, operator or inspector numbers.

1.1 Years

To repeat every 20 years using our 26-letter alphabet, six letters were skipped: A, I, J, O, Q, and Z.

B 1928 1948 1968 1988 2008
C 1929 1949 1969 1989 2009
D 1930 1950 1970 1990 2010
E 1931 1951 1971 1991 2011
F 1932 1952 1972 1992 2012
G 1933 1953 1973 1993 2013
H 1934 1954 1974 1994 2014
K 1935 1955 1975 1995 (2015)
L 1936 1956 1976 1996 (2016)
M 1937 1957 1977 1997 (2017)
N 1938 1958 1978 1998 (2018)
P 1939 1959 1979 1999 (2019)
R 1940 1960 1980 2000
S 1941 1961 1981 2001
T 1942 1962 1982 2002
U 1943 1963 1983 2003
V 1944 1964 1984 2004
W 1945 1965 1985 2005
X 1946 1966 1986 2006
Y 1947 1967 1987 2007

1.2 Months

A - January G - July
B - February H - August (I and J skipped)
C - March K - September
D - April L - October
E - May M - November
F - June N - December

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Gary
SWCA 2515

Are the trays wood or plastic? If wood...till about1963... Plastic trays after that. I still have a few boxes(Western 108?) with wooden trays...And was looking at some No 26 FA primers today...from 1949. Still work

Since they have no zip code in the address, but have plastic trays early 60, with left over 50's sleeves.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244