Thread: White River Primers

I bought a few thousand of the WR Large rifle primers when primers were hard to find a while back. I just ran out of my stock of Fiocchi LR magnum primers so it was time to do a quick check on whether these thing would any good, or whether I needed to go get some Federal or something else.
I use LR primers in 4 different 6.5CM rifles using the same load across 3 of them, which is 46gn of superformance behind a Hornady 140gn ELDM.
I used a Springfield Waypoint 2020 22" barrel and a Benelli Lupo 24" barrel for the test.
Please understand that this was more of a spot check to see if the WR primers had any future in my reloading vs a comprehensive analysis of primer performance.
Velocities were as follows.
Springfield Waypoint:
Fiocchi magnum primers: 2750fps. forgot to note SD and spread. Over 5 shots
WR Primers: 2774fps, 4.2 SD, 11.6 spread. Over 5 shots

Beneiili Lupo:
Fiocchi magnum primer: 2786fps, 13.6SD, 37 spread. Over 5 shots
WR Primers: 2806 fps, 6.0 SD, 14.5 spread. Over 5 shots

Interesting that velocity is up compared to the Fiocchi magnum primers. SD and spread also shows promise even though this is over a very small sample. I never really considered the Fiocchi magnums to be a hot primer.
Accuracy was still excellent in both rifles. Pretty happy to have managed to hit that magical 2800fps mark with the Benelli. there was no real sign of excessive pressure, primers had very slight cratering, extraction was good and no scuff marks on the case head.
So it looks like the WR primers have a future. I'd be interested in what others have found using these primers.

Side Note:
In order to seat the WR primers I deepened the primer pockets using a K&N primer pocket reamer. This deepened the pockets to .131. This was needed in the Hornady brass in order to seat just below flush. The WR primers have the internal petal sticking below the cup which makes the overall deepness dimension more that say a Federal primer. I guess I could crush this when seating but I don't like the idea of crushing the primer compound.

Just to throw a socket set in same air temp /same humidity / barometric pressure / etc bla bla you know where this is going . just be happy and shoot more .

Originally Posted by m101a1

Just to throw a socket set in same air temp /same humidity / barometric pressure / etc bla bla you know where this is going . just be happy and shoot more .

Yep, but as I said this was not intended to be a comprehensive primer test. I was a simple spot check on that day with a limited number of rounds fired.
The point here is that the WR primers appear to give very good velocities and show promise when it come to consistency.
I posted this because WR primers seem to be readily available at good prices.

They seem to fit tighter as well. Can be a pain for new-ish brass, but has meant I was able to resurrect some old Winchester brass where the pockets were getting a bit loose, now using them with WR primers for reduced loads.

I haven’t done any scientific analysis but shot many hundreds of these through a bunch of old military calibres and a few hunting calibres and never had a misfire or hang-fire or any problems at all.

Originally Posted by Juicy

I haven’t done any scientific analysis but shot many hundreds of these through a bunch of old military calibres and a few hunting calibres and never had a misfire or hang-fire or any problems at all.

@Juicy. I'm curious as to whether you did anything to address the WR primers seating depth as I mentioned above.

I'm using them in a variety of brass makes and so far all have seated below flush with me doing nothing but clean the pockets

Originally Posted by zeropak

@Juicy. I'm curious as to whether you did anything to address the WR primers seating depth as I mentioned above.

No I haven’t. Ive actually only ever used White River in LR so I’ve probably just calibrated myself into mashing them in a bit harder.

Originally Posted by zeropak

@Juicy. I'm curious as to whether you did anything to address the WR primers seating depth as I mentioned above.

Couldn’t be bothered to tweak the primer pocket so I crush the hell out of them for my 308 ba13 reload shooting the 208 and been I
impressed with them. Had the benefit of me starting wearing safety glasses seating primer…

Here's a small comparison test I did a wee while back with loads in 243W and 30.06
I use White Rivers now in some loads. Good primers I reckon.
Getting desirable seating depth is a challenge in Norma brass, which is mostly what I use. Need stiff pushing twice with my RCBC benhtop priming tool to get them fully seated. I do flatten and dent the primers slightly but, so far, doesn't seem to affect performance. In Remington and Sako brass they easily seat below the case head level.

https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....ics-lr-102747/

I use them in my 7mm and never had a problem with them at all.

Originally Posted by 30.06king

Here's a small comparison test I did a wee while back with loads in 243W and 30.06
I use White Rivers now in some loads. Good primers I reckon.
Getting desirable seating depth is a challenge in Norma brass, which is mostly what I use. Need stiff pushing twice with my RCBC benhtop priming tool to get them fully seated. I do flatten and dent the primers slightly but, so far, doesn't seem to affect performance. In Remington and Sako brass they easily seat below the case head level.

https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....ics-lr-102747/

@30.06king Interesting that your velocities Were very similar with WR and Federal 210's. Makes me think the Fiocchi Magnums were very mild.

I had problems getting them to seat nicely in Win brass, and felt uncomfortable with the level of crush I was applying. I ended up uniforming primer pockets which definitely helped. No real complaints with regards to performance though.

Originally Posted by zeropak

@30.06king Interesting that your velocities Were very similar with WR and Federal 210's. Makes me think the Fiocchi Magnums were very mild.

@zeropak
Different primer brands produce different ignition temperatures and the temperatures can influence velocities. I guess it's related to the priming compound formulas used by different makers. I saw published results some years ago of primer comparison tests done in the USA ( might be found with internet search ?? ) and Federals were up there among the higher temperature primers. I think my small test possibly shows the White Rivers are very comparable.