New Wichester Primers ?

[Forrest Ebert]

I just started using my new batch of WSR primers and they appear to have very thin cups? I would like to know if anyone else out there has run into this issue with the Winchester primers as they have gone to what appears to be a non-plated cup unlike the older version of the same primers.

[Kevin Thomas]

Hi Forrest,

Yes, but it was several years ago. Loads that had been used for several seasons past suddenly started showing serious pressure problems, at least based on primer appearance. We took some ammo over to Hodgdon's, and they were kind enough to test it for us. Turned out that the loads were perfectly correct in terms of pressure, but the primer was telling us (okay, shouting at us) otherwise. Did some inquiring and found that Winchester had attempted to increase their primer sensitivity by thinnng the cup slightly. Do you know how old these primers are? Had you been using an older supply of primers before (couple years old) and switched to the newer stuff?

Just a thought,

Kevin Thomas
Lapua USA