So, here is a picture(bad one)of two pieces of 308 win brass. Both are twice fired Federal with a very mild load(42.5 Varget, WLR primer, 155 Lapua Scenar). I'm getting these "pin hole" blow outs at the edge of the primers. Primer pockets are good and snug. Is this from bad brass, or a bad batch of primers? Thanks!
How old are those primers? Winchester had an issue with WLR's a few years ago, they will replace or refund on them (at least they did back then).
P.S. Bet you have a pitted bolt face too.
'Four legs good, two legs baaaad." ---------------------------------------------- "Jimmy, some of it's magic, Some of it's tragic, But I had a good life all the way." (Jimmy Buffett)
Definitely bad primers. I think there is a list of the bad Winchester primers serial numbers posted on the internet. It’s too bad, but I don’t buy any Winchester components anymore. The brass is pretty much crap too.
"I was born in the log cabin I helped my grandfather build"
I had the same thing years back with Winchester LR primers, I called Winchester and they send me the Fed Ex label and told me to send them all unused primers and any unfired ammo, I sent them about 1200 primers and some ammo and they sent me 5000 new primers. They also had me ship my rifle to Ruger where Ruger replaced a bolt that had craters on the bolt face due to faulty primers, Winchester covered the cost as well.
Question: is a couple tiny pits on a breech face truly a bad thing? I've owned a few old rifles over the years that had some pitting, on one in particular the pitting was pretty egregious. I ignored it, the guns shot fine, and I couldn't see a thing wrong with brass, extraction, etc. Am I overlooking something?
"You can lead a man to logic, but you cannot make him think." Joe Harz "Always certain, often right." Keith McCafferty
It's purely cosmetic, but on a like new Kimber Mountain Ascent. And,,I now have 3k large rifle primers that are potentially faulty. With large rifle primers being expensive and hard to find, I'd like them replaced. I can live with the bolt face, just bummed that it happened.
So, here is a picture(bad one)of two pieces of 308 win brass. Both are twice fired Federal with a very mild load(42.5 Varget, WLR primer, 155 Lapua Scenar). I'm getting these "pin hole" blow outs at the edge of the primers. Primer pockets are good and snug. Is this from bad brass, or a bad batch of primers? Thanks!
You were hiding under a rock weren't you? This is old news. Very old news. That sucks about your rifle. I'm not sure Winchester will fix it now, since the issue with those primers was about 5-10 years ago. I have a buddy that used those primers around 2016 or so, and it really etched his bolt face. He still uses the rifle as is. Still makes me leery about using WLR primers. Hopefully Winchester still honors the primer replacement, and maybe even fix your bolt face..
Originally Posted by raybass
I try to stick with the basics, they do so well. Nothing fancy mind you, just plain jane will get it done with style.
Originally Posted by Pharmseller
You want to see an animal drop right now? Shoot him in the ear hole.
How old are those primers? Winchester had an issue with WLR's a few years ago, they will replace or refund on them (at least they did back then).
P.S. Bet you have a pitted bolt face too.
They are a few years old. Was trying to use some older stuff up. Man, I've never had this happen before!
Yes, my bolt face is now pitted in 4 spots. Barely used Kimber Mountain Ascent. Dammit!
The pitting is cosmetic but can be repaired. I had the same thing happen with Federal primers.
How can pitting be repaired?
Ask Winchester, they were liable a while back, when their bad primers etched a lot of guys' bolt faces..
Will do!
Not under a rock😂! I've always had a great stash of CCI and Federal. I haven't bought a primer in 3 years(like a lot of folks). But I did have a few bricks of WLR for back up, and broke into them last month. This is the first time in 28 years of reloading that I've used Winchester.
I had the same blow out, twice, but it was with the FC brass in 270Win. For me it was the brass that caused the problem. Rifle is a Rem 700. Face is etched but still using with no problems. I quit using that lot of FC brass and haven't been a fan of it since. Years ago, FC was good brass.