Having trouble seating Wolf Primers

[jim36]

I have been using the Lee hand primer for years without a problem. During the primer shortage, I found some Wolf so I jumped on them because I was in need.
I am having trouble removing the case from the shell holder because the primer doesn't seem to go in deep enough. All the Winchester and CCI primers worked with no problem.
I measured the height of the Wolf primers and found it to be a one thosand diffrence in heighth.
Has anyone found this to be, or is it just me?
Tried to seat the primer with the press instead of the hand primer and got the
same results.
Any comments?

[topper88]

I have only loaded Wolf small rifle & small pistol so far. I bought 20,000 as I don't want to be caught short again.  I have noticed two things with the small ones, I did have a few, maybe 3% that would be hard to remove from the Lee shell holder.  I did a 90 degree rotation and seated again & if that didn't work another 90 and seat.  That worked for all but one out of a thousand.  That one I had to remove the shell holder with the stuck shell still in it and carefully deprime it with the Lee hand held press, you could use any press, just center it over the ram.  I cleaned the pocket and it was then fine.  I don't clean pockets.

I use the Vari-flame small rifle primer holder in the H&R Huntsman, old push-plug style muzzleloader. With the fat firing pin and the Wolf small rifle primer I got hundred percent ignition but I attributed it to the softer copper construction, but it may be they are a little higher.

I have not tried the large rifle or large pistol yet.  Try the rotate and re-seat method to see if that helps.

[charles p]

Maybe you can clean up your primer pockets with the RCBS primer tool.  Got any carbon built up in the bottom of the pockets?

[jim36]

I tried the rotating of the case. Sometimes it works. Maybe once out of ten.
I failed to mention, these are Large Rifle primers. 243  270 3006 and 308. All with the same problem.
The primer pockets are spotless. Just used a .213 drill bit to open the diameter a tad. No change. It is definitely in the depth/height of the primer.
Hate to toss the rest of the primers, so I'll just put them back just in case I HAVE to use them someday. Might even try to add some depth to the primer pocket.

[stimpylu32]

Jim

I've not had any problems with Wolf primers , However your not the first that I have heard about this from so maybe its a more common issue than we think .

It may be a case of needing to true up the pockets with a swedger or a pocker reamer .

stimpy

[Old Syko]

When Wolf primers first came available here cup quality was poor.  In other words, cups were severely out of round, oversized in diameter, and both short and long in seating depth.  Sounds like you got some from one of the earlier lots.  At the time ARFCOM was loaded with complaints.

[mdi]

I used some Wolf Large Pistol Magnum Primers for my .44 magnum loads. The primers were a bit harder to seat than my CCI primers, but they would seat all the way in the pocket, I didn't measure them, but a bit more force was all that was needed, I figgered different cup material or lack of plating made them  a little harder to seat. When I have any primer probs I go back to my Ram Prime for a better feel and more leverage (I have a Lee hand prime and a Hornady hand prime), to see if the prob is me or the primers.

[petemi]

I too was stuck with Wolf primers during the shortage.  I've loaded large and small rifle and pistol and yes, they were a llittle harder to seat.  I've only done about 900 rounds, but haven't had any problems.  I'm loading them with the Lee Anniversary kit press.  Sometimes I have to run them again and put a little more pressure on them, but I never had any hang up in the shell holder.

Pete

[zoner]

i'm a big fan of winchester primers but did buy some small pistol primers(Wolf) during the hard times. I use em in my 357 handi rifle and in my Victory model S@W 38 spec....and i have had no problems with em yet......Mike

[jlchucker]

I wouldn't think that .001 is enough of a difference to cause the hangup that's been described. Primer cups are soft, and the anvil underneath is not all that firm either. Just the ram pressure from your seating tool, meeting hard resistance, could likely flex the primer at least that much I would expect. I've never tried Wolf primers--I usually stick to Winchester--and CCI if I cannot get Winchester.  Even at that, it feels like some seat a little harder than others. I agree with those who've suggested cleaning out primer pockets as part of the process.  It's a step that even I've been ignoring at times. From what's been said, here, though, I don't think that the height of the primer is the problem. I'd like to read more about this from you guys with experience with Wolf primers.  I've been thinking of ordering some in large rifle, small and large pistol, and shotgun. 

[savage308]

I'VE used wolf since they first became available becouse they were cheaper and easier to find and simply love them.
i never had any problems YET and believe me i shoot and reload around 1k a month every month.mostly the 223m and lr and lrm
in 223,243,270,308,and 300win mag and accuracy is as good as win primers .just got another 5k ove each size and i am reloading them now and could'nt be happier. i'm not retired yet but when i do i'll need plenty of powder ,bullets and WOLF primers.

[gray-wolf]

I have used close to 10,000 LP  Wolf/Tula primers and find them to be as good as my winchester.
I can speak to the LP only. They may be a .001 taller and I know they are about a .001 wider.
that's what makes them a little harder to seat. I don't clean pistol primer pockets and have no problem seating them with a Lee hand tool.  They are actually a little softer but appear harder because of the
.001 more thickness.
  As for rifle cases I always clean the pockets,  You could try a LR primer pocket uniforming tool
( not to be confused with a cleaning tool or a pocket enlarger or swager. It is a carbide tool that brings the pockets to speck and removes a little brass from the bottom of the pocket and squares it up.
  Not cheep --about 35 bucks from Sinclare.  I wouldn't be without one, or there tool to uniform the inside of the pocket ( looking down inside the case.  Uniform ignition is important to me for my rifle cases. If your pockets are not all dirty then the stem on your tool is perhaps not long enough to give the proper force needed to seat the primer.  .001 taller means nothing primers should seat at least .003 to .005  below the case head.

[shot1]

Apply a little more muscle on the leaver and they will seat fine. The anvil sticks up a little more on the Wolf and what you think you feel as the primer seating is only the anvil hitting bottom. You need to put on a little more pressure on the leaver and seat the cup to the bottom to compress the anvil against the priming pellet. If you don't you will have miss fires. I found this when I first started using the Wolf primers. I really like them and I get extremely good accuracy with them. Better than some of the bench rest primers that cost three times what the Wolf do.