Issues with White River Energetics Large Rifle Magnum Primers

I've read a couple other reviews of white river primers having some "ftf" issues....seems sporadic but there are reports out there--- quite a few people are responding they bought some too but havent tried them yet,,,, this may take some time to see what the qc at wr is....but I'd like to see how their cs department responds too

Tom Sermersheim said:

I had a similar situation with some primers requiring a double strike to fire the cartridge while fire forming some 250 AI in a TC encore. Once the brass was fire formed and filled the chamber they fired on the first strike. I apparently did not have the bullet seated far enough into the lands to hold the case solidly. The primer showed a good strike but the case must have moved forward enough to prevent detonation. It would be interesting if you tried them again once your cases are fully formed?

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This. Ran into same issue with 6-284 fireforms. Seat the cheapest standard bullet you can get deep into the lands and give them a slight crimp.

I'll do the things you guys have been saying…For the record…I'm shooting 104 grains of US869 with a 300 grain Berger against the rifling. I'll get some pics of good primer strikes compared to the ones that didn't fire. It's 4am here, so will be a bit before I can post them.

Mac

To my eye…the fired vs. mis-fired case looks identical in terms of primer strike.

Mac

Tom Sermersheim said:

I had a similar situation with some primers requiring a double strike to fire the cartridge while fire forming some 250 AI in a TC encore. Once the brass was fire formed and filled the chamber they fired on the first strike. I apparently did not have the bullet seated far enough into the lands to hold the case solidly. The primer showed a good strike but the case must have moved forward enough to prevent detonation. It would be interesting if you tried them again once your cases are fully formed?

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TC Encore (not Pro Hunter)-
I had an issue with the firing of some factory Remington .30-06 rounds shot from my Encore. There were 3 misfires from a box of 20, 2 from another box. Thought it was a primer issue, as well. After quite a bit of investigation, I found articles related to hammer extensions causing these types of issues. I removed the stud and I've not had any issues since. Bellm does sell a heavier spring to resolve these types of issues.

mackgee said:

So wanted to just get this out there…purchased 1000 of the White River Energetics Large Rifle Magnum Primers to hold me over until I could get my hands on some Gold Medal LRM primers. Reloading supplies have been sporadic lately, and combine that with how hard it is to get stuff in Alaska, and you have a decision being made to just buy whatever I can get my hands on. I decided to use these to fire form some .338 Lapua Improved brass out of regular Lapua brass. I loaded up 50 of them with some US869 and 300 grain Bergers to start making brass. So far I have fired maybe 40 shots, and of those, I have had a failure to fire on 14 of them. As you can see in the picture the firing pin is striking them good, but they didn't go off. I even tried shooting them a second time to see if it was a light strike or not and they still didn't go off. Not sure if I got a bad batch or not, but thank god my Gold Medal's are here for me to use from now on.

Mac

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I have been using them and have not had any issues so far luckily.

mackgee said:

So wanted to just get this out there…purchased 1000 of the White River Energetics Large Rifle Magnum Primers to hold me over until I could get my hands on some Gold Medal LRM primers. Reloading supplies have been sporadic lately, and combine that with how hard it is to get stuff in Alaska, and you have a decision being made to just buy whatever I can get my hands on. I decided to use these to fire form some .338 Lapua Improved brass out of regular Lapua brass. I loaded up 50 of them with some US869 and 300 grain Bergers to start making brass. So far I have fired maybe 40 shots, and of those, I have had a failure to fire on 14 of them. As you can see in the picture the firing pin is striking them good, but they didn't go off. I even tried shooting them a second time to see if it was a light strike or not and they still didn't go off. Not sure if I got a bad batch or not, but thank god my Gold Medal's are here for me to use from now on.

Mac

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I had ONE out of the 1000 ea that didnt fire . I reload for my buddy Lou Lander that retired from the military and he lived up in your area and now lives in Wellton AZ and he bought them for me to reload for him

This is a Lane Precision full custom built on a Bat HR premium action…low round count…I doubt it's a spring issue.

Mac

mackgee said:

I'll do the things you guys have been saying…For the record…I'm shooting 104 grains of US869 with a 300 grain Berger against the rifling. I'll get some pics of good primer strikes compared to the ones that didn't fire. It's 4am here, so will be a bit before I can post them.

Mac

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IMO if you can't feel a bit of resistance when chambering it's probably not enough.

I would say not a primer issue. Light strikes are apparent on 2 of the 3 cases and the 3rd case you probably attempted to fire it twice. Headspace issue with the new cases/rounds as many have suggested.

mackgee said:

So wanted to just get this out there…purchased 1000 of the White River Energetics Large Rifle Magnum Primers to hold me over until I could get my hands on some Gold Medal LRM primers. Reloading supplies have been sporadic lately, and combine that with how hard it is to get stuff in Alaska, and you have a decision being made to just buy whatever I can get my hands on. I decided to use these to fire form some .338 Lapua Improved brass out of regular Lapua brass. I loaded up 50 of them with some US869 and 300 grain Bergers to start making brass. So far I have fired maybe 40 shots, and of those, I have had a failure to fire on 14 of them. As you can see in the picture the firing pin is striking them good, but they didn't go off. I even tried shooting them a second time to see if it was a light strike or not and they still didn't go off. Not sure if I got a bad batch or not, but thank god my Gold Medal's are here for me to use from now on.

Mac

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Many years ago when loading some 38 special wad cutter target loads I ran out of my usual, at that time Winchester small pistol primers. There were no Winchesters available at my local gun shop so I bought a few sleeves of CCI small pistol primers. It's a good thing that these rounds were being loaded for personal use since 41 of the 200 rounds loaded failed to fire, even on the second attempt. During practice this was an inconvenience, during competition it caused my disqualification from the match. I avoided CCI primers for many years because of this. These days I don't purposely avoid CCI's but usually prefer both Winchester and Federal depending upon the application.

I was lucky, during the period when loading components were not available due to COVID. I had enough primers, powders and bullets to allow me to continue to shoot, albeit at a lesser level than I liked, but could still shoot. The one thing that I regret is not resupplying my stock of IMR 4320 before Hodgdon quit making it. My highly accurate 308 and 30-06 match ammo was based on IMR 4320. Still looking for a powder with similar performance and yet to find any. Do any of you have any recommendations?

Looks like an issue but it is far from certain that the primers are the issue.

mackgee said:

To my eye…the fired vs. mis-fired case looks identical in terms of primer strike.

Mac

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These 2 primers show inconsistent oal or jam for fire forming. 1 is flattened and the other has a good dimple but no flattening.
As some have mentioned. IMO

mackgee said:

This is a Lane Precision full custom built on a Bat HR premium action…low round count…I doubt it's a spring issue.

Mac

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Yes sir, this was in response to Tom Sermersheim's post regarding a TC Encore.