Winchester primers...huge issues

[Dmaxboy08]

hey guys. I have been reloading .45acp and .40s&w with winchester primers. I havent had a problem untill today. Out of 125 .45 rounds, I had 2 fail to fires. Out of 100 .40s&w I had 3. All 5 rounds had good dimples on the primers. I took them home and weighed them. All 5 weighed the amount they should so I know I didnt forget to charge them.
The .45s have power pistol in them and the .40s had bullseye.
Anyone have any issues with winchester primers?

 

[MichiganScott]

Never had an issue. With good firing pin marks and no ignition, the primers could have been contaminated during the loading process, bad to begin with, or not seated deep enough to bottom out the anvil and compress the primer pellet.

Failure to bottom out the anvil is the most common reason followed by contamination. Although bad primers happen, it's not very common.

 

[oldandslow]

dmax, 12/10/12

I've run about 70,000 Winchester primers through my machines in the last six years and have never had any problems (small pistol, large pistol, large rifle and shotgun). The only exception is when I get a high primer which would occur if I failed to fully seat the primer or if I had a really dirty primer pocket. Since I've started using Stainless Steel media in a rotary tumbler (after depriming the cases) all my primer pockets are clean and I haven't had a high primer in 5,000 rounds.

I case-gauge each and every round after reloading and also check for high primers (I like to hold up the round in front of a white wall where it's easy to spot a high primer). Each primer should be a few thousandths below the edges of the primer pocket.

One way to confirm a high primer is to fire the suspected round again. Usually the first hammer/striker hit will fully seat the primer and the second time it is hit it will fire.

Good luck and Merry Christmas- oldandslow

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Did you try to fire those rounds a second time? Most fail-to-fires result from a improper seated primer. The first strike fully seats the primer and a second strike will usually fire the round.

Like above, I have loaded many Thousands of Winchester primers and not 1 has failed to fire. (same with CCI)

 

[Rule3]

. Out of 100 .40s&w I had 3. All 5 rounds had good dimples on the primers. I took them home and weighed them. All 5 weighed the amount they should so I know I didnt forget to charge them.

Weighing the cartridges (powder or not) has nothing to do with a primer igniting. Plus weighing will not even tell if you have powder in them.

A squib (no powder) with the primer igniting will still make a pop or sound. As Arch stated did you re strike the failures??
I have never had a dud with a Win large or small primer.

How do you prime? On the press or by a hand tool?

 

[RSWMTB]

Roger that...


Been having a string of primer problems with Winchester primers; Large pistol.

I'll never use them again.


.

 

[Maximumbob54]

Federal have been my problem primers as of late. I've loaded and still load thousands upon thousands of Winchester primers and I can still count on one hand the amount of duds. Federal... I think I need a thrid hand to count how many failures I've had in the last two boxes.

 

[SMSgt]

Haven't had any misfires in a long time with any brand. The only two ever were CCIs, but not from the same lot.

 

[TNDave]

Did you try to fire those rounds a second time? Most fail-to-fires result from a improper seated primer. The first strike fully seats the primer and a second strike will usually fire the round.

Like above, I have loaded many Thousands of Winchester primers and not 1 has failed to fire. (same with CCI)

This is good info

 

[gregintenn]

I haven't had any faliures to fire, but while priming 1000 45 acp cases recently, I did have a heck of a time getting them seated. I've never seen such tight primers in anything! I'm new to reloading the 45ACP. Is this common? I've never seen it with any revolver cartridges, or rifle cartridges.

 

[J-FRAME]

It might be your primer pockets are not true. I use a RCBS primer pocket cutter tool on my new brass to clean out/ recut my pockets and have no primer problems. This really only needs to be done one time to each piece of brass and you are good to go for the life of the brass.

 

[cfplinker]

Can you check to see if the primers are high, pull the bullets, remove the powder, and then SLOWLY and CAREFULLY remove the primer and tell us if the primer ignited and also if the primer pocket is clean?

 

[Steve in Vermont]

Question: A possible problem with contamination of the primers was mentioned. For those of you with vast experience reloading, what is the usual cause of this and how easy (or hard) is it to do?

 

[Nevada Ed]

I have not had any problems with pistol primers but about ten years back there was a problem with their w209 shotgun primers. Went with Cheddite and Federal for a year.........

Tried the wsmp in 38 loads and went back to the regular primer since there was no improvement in accuracy.

I always clean the primer pockets before priming so I can get maximum depths and very seldom have a misfire with the win,cci and federal primers.

 

[Titegroups]

Primers are extemely reliable as a rule of thumb, not to say its impossible to have manufacturing defects. Ive never had an issue with any. Weighing loaded ammo with small charge weights and mixed headstamps is a poor way to check for powder charges, pull the bullets. Most of the time a primer in a empty case will be enough to force the bullet out and lodge it in the barrel so chances are the primers didnt fire.

 

[Rule3]

Why are so many people (whatever it is) so quick to blame equipment or parts for a failure. Not directed to anyone here but there are so many variables that are at play. A couple primers not igniting is not a HUGE issue when there is no data to suggest it is the primer itself. Winchesters are one of the easiest primers to seat, and are very reliable

Can there be a problem with them, perhaps, but if I was a betting Man I would say it's something else.

I changed some springs in my 625. It didn't go bang with Win Primers. Maybe Federal would work but I do not have any.. It was the light main spring, I did not blame it, it is what it is, I put the original back in.

 

[Moonman]

I too changed the mainspring in my 625 to a MR JERRY'S, man can that guy shoot a revolver.

I now use Federal primers only in that S&W JM625.

 

[Prof_Fate]

I had a FTF with a win primer, 9mm/W231.
Tried twice. Nice dimple, no bang.
Tried two different guns even.
I've yet to dissassemble to determine a cause, if possible.

it's seated deeply enough so I'm assuming a defective primer or it got wet/contaminated. I had a couple do that when I was in a hurry to reload a batch of brass. I spray lube my cases as it makes them much easier to resize. I've since learned to be 110% sure they're dry as it doesn't take much wet lube to make a dud round. (lee lube cut with water and alcohol)

 

[Moonman]

If in doubt, notify the manufacturer.

Many more things for the RELOADER TO SCREW UP,

than the manufacturer with the handling, storing, and

installation of the primers.

 

[Skip Sackett]

I too changed the mainspring in my 625 to a MR JERRY'S, man can that guy shoot a revolver.

I now use Federal primers only in that S&W JM625.

AND, if I remember right, it says that on the package!

I bought a M625JM and it would NOT light off a CCI, Winchester or Wolf consistently. I took a spent primer, pulled the anvil, backed out the strain screw and put the cup side out, between the screw and spring and tightened it all back up. No problems now, none.


The problem here is as AA has stated, those primers were not seated like they should have been to start with. The first hit seated them but, they have to have the anvil captured and resting on the primer pocket or they will not go off. Pull them and remove all powder and such from them. Then, put them in your gun, point them in a safe direction and hit them again.

A primer going off is not safe to point at anything you do not want to injure so, remember, it can cause bodily injury so be safe.