Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Winchester magnum rifle primers in a 308

My brother gave me a box of reloading stuff and in it was a case (1000)of Winchester magnum rifle primers. I load 4064 powder and never load max loads but do stay in the mid to upper mid range. Is it safe to use these primers or should I sell em' and buy more LR primers. I used the Wolf LR primers last time I reloaded and have some of them left but wondering about the Winchesters. I read that the magnum primers may increase pressure and would give more fps. If it actually gave more fps, couldn't you use them with less powder and get more loads from a lb of powder?

Thanks for any info,

In a case like this you need to shoot it through a chronograph so you can see what they do, most likely they will raise your S.D. and E.S. ..........best idea if you dont have a chrono is stay with the LR primer's

Loading as you do, try them and see how they do accuracy-wise. 4064 is not hard to ignite so you may not improve anything and may actually lose, but you never know. They can be just what you need if you ever decide to shoot one of the spherical type powders. H380, H414, etc.

I like to use magnum primers in 'hunting loads'..... even in. 308 cased rounds. I've found that mag primers actually show more stable velocities over the spectrum of temps a guy could see while hunting..... especially when the mercury dips below freezing.

There is nothing unsafe about using them if you ease off the load and work back up. Of course, they would be good trading stock to get regulars if you have a friend who loads bigger rounds.

Start at the min load level and work up...

Snake

I use Rem mag primers, with BLC-2 in my .308.
Speer manual list loads with an asterisk , that use mag primers. I use them in most of my loads that use ball powder.

Thanks for the replies guys. I still have a bunch of LR primers so will use them first. The magnums will be stashed for later use.

+1

I use them with 748 in my son's .308 and groups that were in the 1 1/2 - 2" range went to usually less than 1"