Thread: Defective Winchester LR primers

Hi, there is a well known problem where there was a bad batch of Winchester LR primers that blow out a pinhole in the corner of the primer cup even on starting loads.

A couple of threads talking about this problem:
http://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co.n...er-fail-10441/
http://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co.n...o-again-21006/

It's fairly well known as if you do a google there are a lot of reports on US forums about the problem as well.

Sadly I brought 1k of these before the problem was well known. I have tried to take them back but the local retailer is reluctant because the NZ distributor changed recently and the new distributor doesn't want any of the warrenty claims from the old distributor (love NZ customer service).

They suggested that I contact Winchester Australia which I have done. Winchester Australia has denied there was ever a problem which I find quite hard to believe.

So I am reaching out to this forum for more proof that this problem exists:
Does anybody know of a recall that was issued for this problem?
Does anybody know what the bad batch numbers are? Mine may be fine but I have no way of knowing without Winchester giving me the info.
Has anybody had this problem?

thanks in advance

I too have 2 thousand Winchester LR primers.

However I have not had any issues using them in my Brno 308.

In saying that I have only used 50 or so this year.

Cheers
Pete

I know someone that had this exact problem with these primers. He got fed the same info as you have and he got stuck with them as well. I wont see him for 2 weeks but ile try and track down his email and ask him what his batch number was.

Originally Posted by MassiveAttack

Hi, there is a well known problem where there was a bad batch of Winchester LR primers that blow out a pinhole in the corner of the primer cup even on starting loads.

A couple of threads talking about this problem:
http://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co.n...er-fail-10441/
http://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co.n...o-again-21006/

It's fairly well known as if you do a google there are a lot of reports on US forums about the problem as well.

Sadly I brought 1k of these before the problem was well known. I have tried to take them back but the local retailer is reluctant because the NZ distributor changed recently and the new distributor doesn't want any of the warrenty claims from the old distributor (love NZ customer service).

They suggested that I contact Winchester Australia which I have done. Winchester Australia has denied there was ever a problem which I find quite hard to believe.

So I am reaching out to this forum for more proof that this problem exists:
Does anybody know of a recall that was issued for this problem?
Does anybody know what the bad batch numbers are? Mine may be fine but I have no way of knowing without Winchester giving me the info.
Has anybody had this problem?

thanks in advance

I understand your frustration, and nothing winds me up quicker than shitty customer service, but I have to ask. Is it really worth all the stress and drama for $100 worth of product?

Tell that to the people who have had their boltface eroded

The defective Lot Number I had was DHL765G. Had 1000 of them and maybe 20 blew out. Purchased them about 3.5 years back and wholesaler replaced them at the time.

Tow let -Do you see a reference to his bolt face being eroded anywhere at all in his post? I don't.

Like I said, is it really worth the time and effort for $100 worth of primers?

Originally Posted by Towely

Tell that to the people who have had their boltface eroded

Or the firing pin fused to the bolt face. That happened to me and it took me over six months to get replacement parts. Frustrating.

Not him dimkiwi. The guy i know who got fobbed off. And other people with the same problem from the same primers, the infos out there. Fuck winchester i say.

Originally Posted by Towely

Not him dimkiwi. The guy i know who got fobbed off. And other people with the same problem from the same primers, the infos out there. Fuck winchester i say.

Lol - tow let was unintentional sorry. Typo.

Instances such as you describe are different and should absolutely be followed up on. But if it was just the faulty primers, I would throw them in the bin and move on.

Fire with plenty of accelerant would be my method of disposal. Just because

Lot DFL713G for me, and the wholesaler replaced them.

I had a k of these batch dll826g in 400 had 3 rupture pitting my bolt head. Funny thing was it only happened in lapua cases in my 308 and in no other make or calibre I loaded with them. Finishing them off with cast bullets in a 3030 cheaper than a 22 and more fun than Bunning them.

"There have been no reported issues with any other Winchester primer types; just certain batches of WLR bought from Graf & Son in America and distributed locally by a company other than the official Winchester agent."

From a,now on line retailers web page.

Im in the process ofchanging to cci