Did Winchester ammo ever come with silver primers?

[slowr1der]

So I bought some brass online that the seller claimed to be once fired. The problem with it is when I got it all but 2 pieces had silver primers. Now I found this odd as I've never seen any Winchester brass with silver primers. They have all had a gold colored primer that's matched the case. Or at least every kind of Winchester ammo I've seen. So did Winchester ammo ever come with silver primers, or has this brass most likely been reloaded already?

 

[Runningman]

Yes, Winchester ammo (CF rifle and CF pistol) had silver primers till around late 1990s. It think it was actually a nickle plating.

 

[jaholder1971]

Yes, Winchester ammo (CF rifle and CF pistol) had silver primers till around late 1990s. It think it was actually a nickle plating.

And they were MUCH better primers than the brass cupped crap they sell today.

 

[Manco]

So did Winchester ammo ever come with silver primers, or has this brass most likely been reloaded already?

One can't tell for sure just by looking at the color of the primers because the ammo could either be quite old (from back when Winchester used silver-colored primers), or have been loaded with a lead-free primer (I have some new Winchester ammo with these primers and they are silver-colored). The former case is somewhat unlikely I would think, and in the latter case you should be able to distinguish between regular and lead-free primers by the size of the flash hole, which is really large for lead-free primers (but should still work fine when reloading with regular primers, according to Winchester).

So if the flash hole is normal-sized, then either the ammo is more than 10 years old and possibly once-fired, or it has been fired more than once; and if the flash hole is extra-large, then the ammo could legitimately have been of recent manufacture and only once-fired, but you can't know for sure, just as usual (well, you could look for ejector marks on the base and other clues, but that's a different topic).

And they were MUCH better primers than the brass cupped crap they sell today.

How so? I'm asking in earnest because I currently use Winchester defensive ammo. It as well as WWB seem to go bang every time I pull the trigger.

 

[Steve 48]

Sure did but its been a while.

 

[mrfixit]

Winchester primers

current WIN NT (non toxic) have silver colored primers

 

[jaholder1971]

Manco,

I used to reload using Winchester primers exclusively until they went to the blue box and no plating. I don't know if the cups are thinner or softer but the first loadings I made in .223 for my AR ended up with pierced primers from the first shot on and ended up ruining a firing pin.

I now use Federal GMM for my large rifle and CCI BR4s for my small rifle primers and CCI standard primers for my heavier pistol loads. I will use the newer blue box Winchesters for low pressure .38 and .45ACP but anything high pressure (.357, .40 or 9mm) I use CCI.