Wolf primers at Wideners

Thanks for the info. Never used these but think I'll give them a try.
 
I've never had an issue with them other than these primers being a bit harder to seat than other brands.
 
There are several threads on several BR Central forums on Wolfe primers failing to fire. Some people never have had an issue, others -- I'm one -- do. No definitive answers. If you are going to give them a try, I'd suggest a long practice session before using them in a match.
 
I have had quite a few failure to fire issues with them. Luckily it was during practice, not in a match. I never could figure out why they didn't go bang, so I just stop using them.

Dick
 
I've had several misfires with them too. Will not use them anymore. The sad thing is, I bought 5k and only used about 100 or so primers!
 
There are several threads on several BR Central forums on Wolfe primers failing to fire. Some people never have had an issue, others -- I'm one -- do. No definitive answers. If you are going to give them a try, I'd suggest a long practice session before using them in a match.

The Wolf primers I tested for Wideners last year were about 0.0005" larger in diameter and 0.005" shorter than the norm, so if your firing pin is at minimum protrusion or less (minimum is about 0.048" in most actions, then you may need to bring it up to the reccomended 0.050"-0.055" protrusion for the wolf primers to work.

Additionally some folks have used a primer pocket uniforming tool and taken out an additional 0/005"-0.010" out of the cup adding to the problem.

According to Chris Lee at Weidners they have become the default US collector of Wolf primer complants. At that point Wolf was calling Weidners for help in troubleshooting problems.
 
Jerry: I checked firing pin protrusion (well, Joel did). It was at .056 in the BAT. I had 18% FTF with the BAT chambered 30-BR. The rifle has over 1,000 rounds through it with no FTFs before trying the Wolf. Additionally, I had 6% FTF in a factory Savage .223. Did not check protrusion in the Savage, but had done primer testing with other brands earlier, with no FTFs.

The Wolf were Small RIfle Magnum primers. Usually, I recocked the action and gave them a second strike. In no cases did this result in firing.

I would suspect the problem is a certain lot, but of course, have no evidence.

Edit:

The BR cases were Lapua, which as you mention, do have a slightly deeper primer pocket. I use a Whitetail unifier. Usually with Lapua, it doesn't cut until multiple firing on the cases. These cases had about 20 firings on them, the pockets were quite well formed, but not loose.

The .223 cases were Winchester.
 
Last edited:
I just thought that that was a good price for primers........:eek:

A few questions that come to mind :

How big is a lot of Wolf primers ?
And how do the lot #'s work ?
Is this a recent developement the misfires ?
what colour are the primer cups ?


Many years ago there was not primer problems like recently I believe .
A lack of experianced personal making this product perhaps ?:confused:

Or perhaps a late change in primer specification to meet U.S. or other military standards is the problem .

Glenn:D
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The issue may be the thicker cups in the 223 and magnum versions. Wolf states that they are thicker. Many BR actions have lighter springs and less pin fall than is required for many primers. Lots of shooters want the cocking piece to pick up later to stop what they call "cock on close" issues etc. When the parts are changed to move the trigger forward this can be a problem. If there is 20 lbs or more of pin spring force and a fall of greater than 0.250 and they have issues, then there may be a bad lot or other problems. If you have less then the 20 lbs and .250 fall, that is probably the reason.

stiller
 
For what its worth, I've shot nearly 2000 Wolf small rifle magnum with no misfires.
They are hard to seat.
 
For what its worth, I've shot nearly 2000 Wolf small rifle magnum with no misfires.
They are hard to seat.

I too have shot about 4000 Wolf small rifle magnum primers with only one FTF = oil in case from necking up. I use my RCBS press to seat the primers because of it being hard to seat in a hand held seater.

Dan
 
I have had some problems with misfires with one lot of Wolf SRM primers . With another lot I found that the primers were a smaller dia. then other lots and would fall out after the cases were fired a few times,.Put CCIs in them and they worked fine. Seems like quality control sucks with Wolf and buying them is a crap shoot if they might work right. But can we expect any better out of the Russians with their abiding love for the good old USA.
 
Well, at least they're primers and make the rifle go bang.
For a while there that alone was pretty good.
 
May take a while to get your wideners order now, the place just blew up.
Just got word about Wideners. Stan's firecracker storage behind the main operation is what went up. Stan is big in doing fireworks shows for friends and apparently something there went POOF. Thankfully no one was injured.

Any late breaking news may be at http://www2.tricities.com/ which is the web site of the local TV station WJHL-TV.

Edit-latest
http://www2.tricities.com/news/2010/sep/01/breaking-possible-explosion-washington-co-ar-482952/
 
Last edited:
If you have less then the 20 lbs and .250 fall, that is probably the reason.

stiller

Jerry,
Out of curiosity, I checked my 30BR (a 3-lug Wichita) and it has 20 lbs and 0.245" fall. It has not been shooting as accurately as last summer. Could this be the reason? Not sure if the fall used to greater. Maybe the set screw has come loose? It also has 0.070" of cock on closing, which makes closing force high. Is changing the trigger location the only way to reduce this? That won't be easy, since the action doesn't have a trigger hanger.

Thanks,
Keith
 
May take a while to get your wideners order now, the place just blew up.

E-mail response........... They are operational... Just no fireworks...:eek:

---------------------------------------------

Thank you for the well wishes and concerns. Widener's Reloading is fine and 100% operational.


Thank you for Choosing Widener's Reloading

WRSSI
wideners@wideners.com
1-800-615-3006
1-423-282-6651 (fax)
www.wideners.com


Sent: Wednesday, September 01, 2010 11:56 PM
To: Wideners
Subject: Hope everyone is OK


Heard about the unfortunate explosion...

Thank the good lord no one was hurt!

I'm preparing an order............. Is all well to order or should
a bit of time be given as the investigation is completed..? Damage to inventory..?


Just glad you folks are OK.
Cale Roby
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Jerry,
Out of curiosity, I checked my 30BR (a 3-lug Wichita) and it has 20 lbs and 0.245" fall. . . . It also has 0.070" of cock on closing, which makes closing force high. Is changing the trigger location the only way to reduce this? That won't be easy, since the action doesn't have a trigger hanger.
You don't want to do that. That would only give you .175 fall, and that's not enough, even with a stiffer spring.
 
Back
Top