Wolf S/R & S/RM Conundrum..

[ShootDots]

I bought 3 thousand Wolf Performance Small Rifle primers and an equivalent amount in their Small Rifle Magnum primers. The first time I used them I had MOST of them fire. I also had MANY that went "Tink-BOOM"! You could hear the firing pin strike the primer and 1/2 second it goes off! NOT GOOD! I also had several simply not fire at all, even with a B-I-G dent in the primers. I tried them with 2 Dashers and a 6.5 x 47>>>same results. So I just put them on the "back burner"..

Well I have an "Old" Squared and Trued" Rem S.A. I decided to have a 6mmBR built on it for a "trigger-time" rifle. I was looking for some old brass that I used for load development. Well I had completely forgot, there were 25 loaded already for that OLD 6mmBR. I did not know if they would chamber>>BUT THEY DID! I also noticed they had Wolf S/R primers in the cases. So the thought went thru my mind that they were going to fail miserably.. BUT, not only did they go off flawlessly, the load shot fabulously!

So now the question becomes WHY did the exact same Wolf primers, that came out of the same lot, fire without any problem in my 6mmBR but were a disaster in BOTH my other Dashers and my 6.5 x 47? I can not figure this one out. I use the same brass to fireform the 6mmBR into Dashers and the same primer seater (RCBS) to seat all my S/R primer cases..

 

[jsthntn247]

Headspace on new Palma brass causes me to get hang fires with the harder cup small primers. After they are fired, no more hang fires. If I jam bullets I do not get hang fires. Is it possible that your older rifle was .005+ on the headspace and your new one is tighter?

 

[ShootDots]

That is doubtful. My Riflesmith makes his headspace at 1 thousandths, and he does ALL my work.. I do not know. I have run this over in my head and come up w/o an explanation..

 

[riverwolf1]

All I can do is tell you my experience and other peoples experiences may differ. A number of years back when Fed small rifle match primers were hard to find, short range BR guys bought Wolf primers, and some people had ignition problems with the Wolf small rifle primer, not so with the small rifle magnum primers. What most found out was that the tune on short range BR guns changed very little if at all! Last season in Seattle At the Sniper King match, during a practice day I was shooting CCI BR 4 primers, and decided to substitute Wolf small rifle mag primers and to my surprise there was no change in POI or group size! Since I originally bought 5k of the Wolfs and just added 5k more and will be getting another 15k next week, I will be shooting them in both group & Vfs this season, and I shot quite a few matches last year and used wolf small rifle mag primers and have not had a single misfire. In conclusion were I you I would switch to the SR mag primers, and that may solve the problem. Just a note, I store all of my primers in a large military surplus 50mm ammo can with desicant pacs, inside our house year round, so they are not exposed to hot, cold or moisture.

 

[wapiti25]

wolf/tula primers have thick cups. The action that had misfires, does it have a heavy/strong firing pin spring? I have never had in 3K of the small primers. I did experience hang fires in a 6.5-06 when loaded with Norma 204 powder when using the wolf primers. I think the 204 being a double base powder is hard to ignite. I used to hear that 748, 760, H414, H335 needed a mag primer to get good ignition. When the same 6.5-06 is loaded with single base powders such as 4831 and 4350 never had the hang fires. I also never had hang fires using N204 and other primers such as CCI200, F210, or Win LRP. I have used the wolf/tula in 6 PPC (Borden action) loaded with LT-32 and VV 133 with no problems. That Borden has a light/soft spring. I also shoot the 6 Dasher loaded with Varget in a BAT action with no problems. I had heard here that Lapua 308 Palma brass had deep primer pockets.. Some of the guy's here had said they found some wolf primers that had no anvil. Good luck

 

[watercam]

I have been using Tula 5.56 and standard small rifle primers in .308 Palma brass and .223 match loads with zero ignition issues and excellent SDs. Not sure what to say, everyone seems to have different experiences.

 

[ShootDots]

The actions that produced the mis / hangfires were all Pierce Actions>>>no problem there. I have tried BOTH the S/R's and S/RM's with the same issues. However, what strikes me is that in the 6mmBR, at least for the present, I have NO issues and they seem to be shooting excellently.. I will continue to use them in this BR.. I just wonder why, in the BR I have no problems but in the Dashers and '47 I did? Now as far as Large Rifle Wolf primers go, I use them all the time w/o any mishaps whatsoever! It was the Large Rifle Wolf primers that drove me to try the S/R and S/RM's..

 

[DHD]

The actions that produced the mis / hangfires were all Pierce Actions>>>no problem there. I have tried BOTH the S/R's and S/RM's with the same issues. However, what strikes me is that in the 6mmBR, at least for the present, I have NO issues and they seem to be shooting excellently.. I will continue to use them in this BR.. I just wonder why, in the BR I have no problems but in the Dashers and '47 I did? Now as far as Large Rifle Wolf primers go, I use them all the time w/o any mishaps whatsoever! It was the Large Rifle Wolf primers that drove me to try the S/R and S/RM's..

Benjamin,
You and I had a similar conversation via PM's a year or so back (maybe a few years now). Since then, I have tried Wolf SRM's again using the same rifles I had noted the problems with and still occasionally had hangfires. The calibers were 6.5×47L (Remington model 7) and a 308 (Surgeon action) using Lapua Palma and old Remington URBR brass.

The 308 is now a 6×47L and I have added a 223AI on a Stiller action. For whatever reason, I do not have any hangfires or misfires now using the same primers. I still don't use them in the 6.5×47L though as 450's work every time.

Just to round out the specifics, with the exception of the Lapua brass, I always lightly cleanup/uniform all brass using the same cutter to the same depth and seat primers with a Lee handheld Auto-Prime. I have always given the Wolf primers a good crush, for lack of a better term, when seating them.

The ONLY primers I've ever had a hangfire with is the Wolf SRM and only in the circumstances noted above. I live in SC, so low Temps do not apply. I bought 5000 years back and I store them in a temp controlled space inside a Large sealed ammo can with all of my other primers so environmental problems more than likely isn't an issue either.

Last but not least, I am NOT a Wolf/Tula/PMC hater. They are my preferred LR primer and when I had no issues with the Wolf SRM, they produced very accurate ammo.

As you, I just don't know why I had these issues.

 

[Big Mc]

I bought 3 thousand Wolf Performance Small Rifle primers and an equivalent amount in their Small Rifle Magnum primers. The first time I used them I had MOST of them fire. I also had MANY that went "Tink-BOOM"! You could hear the firing pin strike the primer and 1/2 second it goes off! NOT GOOD! I also had several simply not fire at all, even with a B-I-G dent in the primers. I tried them with 2 Dashers and a 6.5 x 47>>>same results. So I just put them on the "back burner"..

Well I have an "Old" Squared and Trued" Rem S.A. I decided to have a 6mmBR built on it for a "trigger-time" rifle. I was looking for some old brass that I used for load development. Well I had completely forgot, there were 25 loaded already for that OLD 6mmBR. I did not know if they would chamber>>BUT THEY DID! I also noticed they had Wolf S/R primers in the cases. So the thought went thru my mind that they were going to fail miserably.. BUT, not only did they go off flawlessly, the load shot fabulously!

So now the question becomes WHY did the exact same Wolf primers, that came out of the same lot, fire without any problem in my 6mmBR but were a disaster in BOTH my other Dashers and my 6.5 x 47? I can not figure this one out. I use the same brass to fireform the 6mmBR into Dashers and the same primer seater (RCBS) to seat all my S/R primer cases..

The only time I a problem with the Wolf SM primers is when I did not seat them all the way. They seem to like deep seating.. Just my two cents.. Tommy Mc..

 

[waldo1979]

How are you seating the primers? I vaguely remember someone mentioning issues getting a firm seat with these primers.

I've never had an issue. I've been using a 21st priming tool (the 0.0025" version) but will be trying the a Dillon 550 soon.

 

[ShootDots]

Oh T-Rust me, they are seated to as far as they will go + a small "crush"..

 

[normmatzen]

I have been using Wolf SRM and LR primers for 8 years or so with NEVER a misfire.
I use most of the LR and all the SRM in Savage PTA actions. My bench rest guns are a 6BRX and a 284 WIN. I did try BR4 primers when Wolf was not available withno difference at all. Now I buy larger quantities but I worry that we may not be able to get then anymore. I do use the SR primers in a couple 30-06 ( Savage and Winchester M70 ) as well as two 7X57 in M93 and VZ24/M98 Mauser.

 

[Liven The Dream]

Wolf LR , SR , SRM use them all , 6 BR ,308 , .223 . 6.5X55
One time had trouble , was not getting them seated deep enough .
As stated above always low SD.

Saw a Fellow Shooter with a Remington 700 SA Custom Palma Rifle have trouble with Wolf Primers.
Tuned out a week firing pin spring.

Good Luck

 

[ShootDots]

I have never found the Large Rifle Wolf primers to be any "problem" whatsoever.. I was just wondering why, the Small Rifle will work in my 6mmBR but not anything else? You can rest assured that I will use them exclusively in my BR.. It is an anomaly I can't explain..

 

[Medic505]

I had THE same PROBLEM with .308 palma BRASS with A surgeon ACTION. CHANGED the FIRING pin SPRING and IT went AWAY. You SHOULD clean AROUND your SHIFT key, I think IT'S sticking.

 

[Acyr]

I had THE same PROBLEM with .308 palma BRASS with A surgeon ACTION. CHANGED the FIRING pin SPRING and IT went AWAY. You SHOULD clean AROUND your SHIFT key, I think IT'S sticking.

Same here but in a Savage PTA action. Changed the firing pin spring and not a single issue since.

 

[pikespeakgoat]

I just recently had the same tink-boom with my Remington 722 in 6BR with the Wolf SRM primers. To say I was puzzled was an understatement since I have shot 4,300+ of these without a hiccup. I replaced my firing pin and all is well once again.

 

[Scott Harris]

The actions that produced the mis / hangfires were all Pierce Actions>>>no problem there. ....

Have you measured the firing pin strength, ensured the pin moves freely etc? ...in other words how do you "know"?
Another approach is to have someone fire your troublesome ammo in their rifle.....isolate source of problem.

 

[ShootDots]

Have you measured the firing pin strength, ensured the pin moves freely etc? ...in other words how do you "know"?
Another approach is to have someone fire your troublesome ammo in their rifle.....isolate source of problem.

Hello Scott.. I have not measured the firing pin strength. However, my Pierce actions have no problems whatsoever detonating CCI 450 primers which have VERY hard cups. Since my Pierce actions experience no problems with anything else and they WOULD fire many of the Wolf S/R (but certainly not all) would lead me to believe that there may be some "issues" with some of the Wolf's.. But ALL of the Wolf primers that I pulled the trigger on, had the same size / depth of primer dent, detonated or not. But in my Remington and in a 6mmBR seems to detonate the Wolf S/R with no problems! I don't know, I am at a loss. But hey if they work in my Rem, I will use them..

 

[Trevor60]

i posted this last June, wasn't able to diagnose the problem. but did speak with a guy that has the same action as mine same result they would not reliable fire the wolf. when they would shoot they had better numbers for my load so i would like to find a solution.

Evening june 2015

I have the Tula SRM primers, with a bench mounted priming station with incremental adjustments. I have used the same system for years and the WLR, Federal, and Remington have had zero FTF. With the Tula primers i have just over 1% failure rate. I have adjusted the depth of the primer from flush to slight (visible) crush with similar results. i can not get 100% ignition from this lot of Tula primers.

F/TR Bolt action rifle: I thought it was the firing pin so i measure the protrusion at .0375. This number is low for a custom action so i order a new firing pin and the new length was .0475 with the new firing pin i expected 100% ignition... sorry again i had FTF but not with the Fed or Rem i am not sure if the cup is too hard or other factors. When breaking down the FTF loads i have only seen one primer with no anvil. i can provide the lot number put i bought these primers in 2012 so i am not sure if this is relevant to the ops issues.

If anyone has a solution i am open to suggestions i am sitting on thousands of these primers.