Pierced WSR primers

[Old Marine]

Had 3 Win. primers pierced in 2 different loads with different powders today. No indication of pressure issues like flattened primers or stiff bolt extraction. These are older standard primers in white boxes and have never had a pierced primer in 40 years of loading. I have not had any issues with these primers of any kind. New rifle and no problem with factory ammo (200 rnds) and wonder if there is fireing pin problem with soft prmer issue?

[CZ527 Guy]

Had 3 Win. primers pierced in 2 different loads with different powders today. No indication of pressure issues like flattened primers or stiff bolt extraction. These are older standard primers in white boxes and have never had a pierced primer in 40 years of loading. I have not had any issues with these primers of any kind. New rifle and no problem with factory ammo (200 rnds) and wonder if there is fireing pin problem with soft prmer issue?

Boils down to incorrect primer for this cartridge. The Win SR primer cup thickness comes in at .021" VS Federal 205 at .025". Cup hardness may be another variable that may play in with issues like you are experiencing. Not to say you can't work out a compromise.

If you were to continue with the WSR primer a lower pressure / velocity load would need to be worked up. Old adage of back off 10% on powder charge & work up may apply here.

Link below from BR form touches on this nicely IMHO. Post 15 may deserve the most focus. This should help clarify why primers are not directly interchangeable.

https://benchrest.com/showthread.php?520...-Thickness


Not to say the form of your firing pin may not play in here, I have experienced Improvements in such issues with factory loads that gave me similar issues. In that case I was of the opinion that the factory loaded 204 ruger load was using a REM 7 1/2 primer. Firing pin was more pointed vs a .030 Radius for example. The right touch on a buffing wheel cleared up that one nicely.

[Old Marine]

CZ I agree with your points. After careful case/primer examination of all the rounds pierced and not I can see the primers are very thin and most likely the issue. I will pull the fireing pin for a close exam and buff it if I see any anomoly. Appreciate your solid input.

[Old Bob]

Old Marine, what's the length of your bolt & firing pin? The bolt should be 2.810" & the firing pin 3.278". There are some Grendel bolts out there that are 2.800" long which can cause excessive firing pin protrusion. Also there are "enhanced" firing pins that are supposed to be used in AR's chambered in 7.63x39 or 5.45x39. Those cases can have hard primers & need the longer tip on the enhanced firing pin for reliable primer ignition.

In the pic the enhanced firing pin is on the left...

[Old Marine]

Old Bob I have a Savage 110 short action bolt gun so the AR pins are not in play and have fired 130+ factory loads with no issues with the fired primers looking normal. I will pull the pin for inspection but brlieve the old WSP are the culprit. Thanks for the input.

[Old Bob]

Old Marine... Sorry for making the assumption your rifle is an AR. Most questions about pierced primer problems deal with gas gun issues. I also have a Savage 110 but it's a .223 Rem. I have used WSR in my reloads but never had one get pierced. I use Federal GM205Ms for my bolt gun reloads these days. I'm runnin' low though...

[Dino11]

I pretty much exclusively use CCI 450 magnum primers, they have given me zero issues.

I have done some loads using diferent primers, Fed 205's, CCi 450's, CCI 400's and have used the WSR primers.

The only ones I used that gave me problems were the WSR, like you I had a very small amount that pierced. Your issue sounds identical to my experience. I would just stay away from them or your just going to be chasing your tail and waste a bunch of ammo and time using them.

[Old Marine]

Dino I hear you. The new WSP have a thicker cup and I have not read anything negative about them. I think these older primers I have are OK if I do not approach max charge. I have CCI and Remington primers that I can use for max loads. Thanks for the confirmation with your experience.