Previously there was some considerable activity here on the campfire about Winchester primer problems. Were any of those problems attributed to the Magnum primers or was it a Large Rifle Primer only problem?

Thanks
Jim

Both!

Bruce

yeap I've had the win. leakage with both mag. and std.

I will not buy any Winchester primers I have had to many mis- fires with them

So far so good for me, but mine are older and have been around for awhile. If I have the option I usually use CCI.

It was certain lots of primers from years back.The new ones are fine now and seat much tighter too.Here are some photos of the defective ones.I filed a claim with Winchester on the older lots that gave me trouble.They paid me for the ones I sent back.

i got about 5000 they need back

Here is a link to file a complaint.It took several months before everything got settled.
http://www.winchester.com/Product-Service/Pages/Contact-Us.aspx

I am still waiting for my settlement for both WLR and WLRM primers.

I have a several boxes of older WW primers. Does anyone know where to find the lot numbers and dates of manufacture?
Thanks.

And I have a full brick of Win Mag (WLRM) primers. Thus my question beginning this thread.

baldhunter

Much thanks for the photos.
Amazing! I've shot hundreds if not thousands of Win primers and have never seen anything like that!

What's that do to the bolt face surface?

This primer problem has been acknowledged by Winchester for some time now. There is a thread here with the subject "WLR Primer" under Big Game Rifles in the Reloading section that has some info that might help. Rather than searching for a list of lot #s just call Linda Bates (618-258-3530)at Winchester and she will be able to tell you if your lots might be affected.

I had a brick of WLRs but hadn't shot any yet. I called and talked with a woman named Sharon. She has since retired and I believe Linda has taken her place. Anyway, I gave her my lot # and she said they should be sent back. She sent me the shipping material and had it picked up by a carrier. In a few weeks I received a check for more than the purchase price of the primers. The process was very easy for me. It took several weeks in total but I wasn't in a hurry. I wouldn't file a complaint with the online form on Winchester's website. Call and talk to someone in person, that way you know it is being handled.

Just thought I'd relay my experience. Hope this helps.

JayJunem

I sure am glad I asked the original question in this thread. Several of the posts here are helpful to me.

Sharing your experience is very helpful. Thanks for the name and phone number and thanks for your post. That phone call is something I'll certainly do.

Appreciated
Jim

Rug3,

You're welcome. Someone had posted the phone number in the thread I mentioned and it helped me return my primers so I thought I'd return the favor for anyone that may be reading and is just becoming aware of the primer issue. It's been several months since I went through the process so I hope that phone number is still valid.

I would definitely make that call. If only for the peace of mind of knowing if your primers need to be returned or not.

Good luck. Hope it works out for you.

As you can see,multiple burns on the boltface.Winchester would have paid to fix them for me,but after talking to a gunsmith about it,I decided not to have the work done.It caused no affects on accuracy,more cosmetic than anything.

By all means, gather your lot numbers and call. Much easier than sifting through a bunch of forum posts.

As someone said, the process took a while, but I got back more than
I spent and luckily hadn't used any, so had no damage.

Took the money and bought CCI and Fed. Not buying any more Winchester until the smoke clears, which may be never for me, as I have a good supply.

Mine are all at least 20-25 years old and are silver colored. Win said mine were not in the problem lot numbers but would pay me for them anyway. I didn't do it as I've been shooting out of my lot of WLRM and WLR for a long time with no problems.

Are the problem lots all copper colored primers? That would be good to know.

The ones I had problems with were from between 2008 and 2012.I bought some in 2016 and 2017 and no problems with these.

I had some bricks of the lots they wanted back, both LR and LRM. They replaced them two for one. No complaints.





P

I had pitted bolt faces on three different rifles. I had them fixed. Olin may or may not help with that.

I had a case of each primer type that I sent back.

Called that number and was told a different person now handles this issue. I didn't get her last name. but here is the new person and number;

Haley 618 252 2842

My lot number appears to be OK.
Thanks fot the help men.
Jim

Some of the unplated WW primers fit loose in good pockets.

Seems that when those lots were made they did not adjust the mfg diameter for what plating used to add to it!

I had a number of issues with Winchester primers. A number of Failure to fire and pitted one boltface as well. I tried Federal and they were very inconsistent for me. So I tried CCI and have had very good success with them in all of my rifle and pistol applications for the last 10 years as well as they seem to fit the primer pockets the best. At any rate I have developed a trust with them and prolly won't be changing anytime soon unless issues were to develop with them. YMMV