Winchesters new primers

Tomme boy

Well-Known Member
I have seen over the past 6 months a new primer from winchester. They changed the color of them. They look like the really old primers in shotguns. So far I have seen the 209 and LP ones that have the new color. hopefully that is all they changed and not the actual cup or compound. A friends sportings goods store got in a bunch of the 209's back in November that looked just like this 45acp I found today. I watched the guy pull them out of a brand new box so they were not any of the old primers or reloads.

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Winelover

North Central Arkansas
The Winchester LP, I'm currently using, are brass colored. That's how I'm able to distinguish them from CCI in loaded ammo.
 
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Rick H

Well-Known Member
I have a batch of LP Winchester primers purchased 4 or 5 years ago that are unplated and brass colored. I found no difference between them and the older silver ones. I use them interchangeably.
 

RBHarter

West Central AR
I don't guess I've ever had "chromed" Winchester metallic cartridge primers . Seems like the W209s were 2 tone . It's been 5 years since I bought any parts . The Win LRP on hand and W209s .......man that's depressing 3 of the 10 that were that day I had the Winchester primer slam fire are gone now .....let's see I was shooting paper patch in an SKS so that was X2 after the 2nd move .....2010/11 so I probably bought LRP about 2008 . The 209s are probably no newer than 2003 .
 

Tomme boy

Well-Known Member
I just looked at the brass out of the tumbler. The inside of these 45acp are the same color????? How would that be when the outside is regular brass? I had them in my regular walnut mix with mineral spirits so nothing would have changed them color wise. Maybe it was Federals that I remember that was this color. It has been a long while. I know Remingtons were this color for the 57 and 97 primers. And I seem to remember some others were too.

@JWFilips no I have not got new primers. Just these that were in the new brass and the ones i seen at the shop.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
the new win 209's have that tarnished brass look in the cup too. [i just went and looked at some i have]
it reminds me of the color that remington's metallic primers have.
the 97's look a little more yellow on the cup, but their body is that same red-brassy remington color though.
 

RBHarter

West Central AR
Well I opened up some LRP Win in the old white box with the orange probably red logo patch and those were nickled cups . Probably 70s stuff from Dad's stash . The others in the blue boxes 96-05' are plain copper .......
 

CWLONGSHOT

Well-Known Member
I cracked open a carton of Winchester 41's I bought last summer. They are same brassy color I have seen. But packaging is new.
 

Intel6

Active Member
Well I opened up some LRP Win in the old white box with the orange probably red logo patch and those were nickled cups . Probably 70s stuff from Dad's stash . The others in the blue boxes 96-05' are plain copper .......

I think they changed when they were in the blue boxes. I have some blue box LP that are nickeled (I save those for .44 Mag/.45 Colt loads) and others that are the regular golden brass color. I used to buy them by the case so I probably had some left from a previous case when I bought a new case and they got intermixed.

Those primers pictured by the OP have that pinkish look and remind me of Wolf small rifle primers that I shot thousands of. They had that same pinkish look to them, I wonder if Winchester sourced them or the materials from overseas?
 

Tomme boy

Well-Known Member
I wouldn't doubt it Intel. Sig is having someone make ammo for them right now. Whoever it is, is using nickel plated steel cases. And the nickel is very good. And they are boxer primed. The plating is so good on these you can't tell they are steel other than by weight and magnetic. And something with the SIG on the case. One is "I" and the other is "I"
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
winchester was having Nobel Sport make primers for their promo shot shell line about 7-8 years back, it wouldn't surprise me at all if they contracted them again.

then again they could just be running a lower grade of brass for their cups.
 

RBHarter

West Central AR
Win ammo was held by Blount with FC , Speer , etc if I remember correctly , in the sale split when Browning got Win Arms and FN started building the retro repop pre 64 M70 .

That makes my head hurt ......CCI , FC , Speer , and Win are all with ATK , Alliant Tek , along with the LC contract .......... That doesn't sound right but it's really late and I didn't sleep enough last night and tonight isn't looking good either .
 

Dimner

Named Man
Rumor was, at the near beginning of this panic, that primer cups were the bottle neck in the production line. Supposedly only a few places actually manufactured cups because margins are so small. Had to make a gazillionmajillion to make any profit. Pre panic you have facilities already maxed out and then BAM demand is 2 or 3 times higher, but the same number of cups being made.

If this rumor is true (and I stress it was just something a few people said on a forum) then seeing changes in cups would make sense if there are new suppliers getting into the game.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
i don't think making the cups and anvils is the slow down, they just get punched out on a press.
loading the tray with the cups, filling them, and matching up the anvils to the filled cups is still done by hand, that's the bottle neck.