Wolf primers, have you used them?

[donttellthewife]

With domistic manufactorers not supplying the market place, I thought I would give the wolf primers a try.

Has anyone had any personal experiance with these primers
small handgun
large handgun
small rifle
large rifle

Thanks, Ron

 

[Alphazulu6]

I use the ones they include with their wolf gold .308 ammunition. I like that ammunition so much I bought many boxes

 

[USSR]

dttw,

The Russian primers are noted for the low ES/SD numbers they seem to produce in ammo loaded with them. David Tubbs thinks so highly of them, that he bought 700,000 of them.

Don

 

[Creeping Incrementalism]

USSR, Do you know that Wolf primers are of the same quality as the Russian primers you/Tubbs speak of, and even if they are Russian at all? Wolf packages ammo from both Eastbloc and Western countries, so the primers might not be from Russia.

 

[trueblue1776]

I think they are from Bos & Herc not Rus.

(not that it matters)

 

[griz]

Where do you get them? I've never seen them for sale.

 

[USSR]

USSR, Do you know that Wolf primers are of the same quality as the Russian primers you/Tubbs speak of, and even if they are Russian at all? Wolf packages ammo from both Eastbloc and Western countries, so the primers might not be from Russia.

CI,

When I first bought the Russian primers several years ago, they were directly imported into this country by a man in Arizona. Then, PMC contracted with the Russian primer company to produce them under the PMC name. This contract has ended, and the latest word is that the Russian primer company is producing them under the Wolf name. While Wolf may be using different primers in ammo they produce, it is my understanding that the primers they now sell are produced by this Russian primer company.

Don

 

[Firehand]

If they start selling Berdan primers, I'll buy some. I've got a lot of 7.5x55, 6.5x55 and .303 brass I could use them with.

 

[armoredman]

I saw them listed at Midway under the Wolf name...wondered if they would be any good.

 

[strat81]

Wideners has them listed too. I asked about them at my local shop today and they looked at me like I was from Mars.

 

[layusn1]

The only primers that aren't CCI, Remington or Winchester around here are Magtec. I haven't really heard to much about them either way. I do know I wish I had bought some more primers along the way...then again, I'm too broke to afford bullets right now so it doesn't matter that I don't have primers..or powder for that matter...I really need to save up a butt ton of money so I can justify one of those large internet purchases and pay the hazmat fee...before OSHA outlaws it...lol.

 

[mgh]

For what it's worth, Dillon Precision says to use American primers in their presses.

(I was curious about the Internet wisdom that CCI primers weren't recommended for the Dillon press, so I sent them an email. Their response: "No problem using any brand of American made primers.")

 

[koja48]

What I could find on-line " Send them an email, I did. They (Wolf) replied that the primers are made in Tula. I also inquired about the suitability of these primers for semi-autos with floating firing pins. The reply indicated that they are hard enough to avoid slamfires." and "These are boxer primers. They are non corrosive, and are supose to be milspec in small and large rifle sizes. . . (from gunboards.com)."

Widener's states that "The WOLF Standard Small Rifle Primers have an all COPPER CUP, which is a little more sensitive than the brass cup magnum primers" and doesn't recommend them for semi-auto rifle loads.

 

[donttellthewife]

Thanks for the info.

I think I'll hold off ordering any of these, until more people who have used them report their experiances.

 

[nobody_special]

I just ordered some of the Wolf small pistol primers (along with a boatload of other stuff) from Wideners... plan to use them for reloading 9mm.

 

[cheygriz]

For what it's worth, Dillon Precision says to use American primers in their presses.

That sounds more like political propaganda than ballistics. (Can you say "xenophobia?) German RWS primers are some of the best in the world.

 

[Citroen]

Will know soon!

Since I have been unable to find Federal large pistol primers, I ordered 5000 of the Wolf from Widener's. Great people to deal with, by the way. Ordered on Monday - received on Thursday!

My revolvers are pretty highly "tuned" and won't eat anything but Federal, so, if they digest the Wolf, I will be quite happy. If not, I will run the ammo through the Glock 30.

I will let you know come Thursday of this coming week as that is the soonest I can get to the range.

By the way, to find out what was wrong with the suppy of Federals I called the company. Appears they are not aware of a shortage anywhere and they suggested a ready source in my general area. This was after I ordered the Wolf primers.

John
Charlotte, NC

 

[donttellthewife]

Citroen,

Thanks, I'll be waiting for your range report, who was the source for the federal primers and how much.

Ron

 

[st_albert]

I too will be waiting with baited breath. I generally buy from Wideners, because they're close enough I can go in person and avoid the #!!%$! hazmat fee. Until they got the Wolf primers, they have been out of most any primers I needed (small rifle and pistol, even large pistol -- magnum, match, or regular). So if Wolf looks like an option, I'm in.

FWIW many of the folks at Wideners are themselves reloaders, and in the 6 or 7 years I've been doing business with them, I've yet to have gotten a bum steer from them, asking face to face. I tend to doubt they'd be stocking them if there were a glaring flaw (unless maybe they're desperate to stock SOMETHING in SR and SP). And you've all probably seen the warnings and disclaimers they put on the website when anything is a little, how shall I say, "iffy."

But all this is speculation. Let the "range reports" roll in! Data! We need data!

Albert

 

[Citroen]

Federal Primers

The lady at Federal (knowing I was in North Carolina) gave me the name and number for Parks and Son in Advance, NC. She did not tell me, however, that they are wholesale only. So, when I called them I found I could not buy from them but that they had plenty of Federal primers and had a delivery scheduled in Charlotte this coming week.

So I called the dealer local to me; guy told me they were out of Large Pistol Federal primers but I was able to advise him that he would have some first of the week and he was good enough to take my credit card number to hold 3000 for me.

As to the Wolf, it will be Thursday before I can test them. For what it is worth they "look" just fine and load just like any other so far as fit in the 45 cases. Strangely enough Wolf packages them like Winchester except upside down - so you have to flip them twice. I use a Lee Auto Prime as I want seating depth to be controlled better than my press will do.

I am loading a bunch with 8 gr. of Accurate # 5 and Rainier 185 JFP bullets. If my Smith 25s won't ignite them , the Colt and Glock will.

The lady at Widener's (very nice people to deal with) said that the feedback they had received indicated that the Wolf primers were pretty soft and should compare with Federal but of course she could not say for sure.

I will let you know but just from looking at them, and the price, I would not hesitate to order some to try. If you are shooting semi-autos I suspect they would work all the time. My revolvers have some of the best triggers I have ever seen but they are picky about ammo. Federals ignite 99.9 percent, Winchesters about 80 percent and CCI about 50 percent.

John
Charlotte, NC

 

[Citroen]

Was too curious

Just could not wait until range day to test the Wolf large pistol primers so I primed 6 pieces of 45 brass and inserted them into a full moon clip. (Note: I forgot about needing to enlarge the flash hole when using primer only for propellant so the resulting cylinder lock up by the primer backing out were not the fault of Wolf - Federals do it too unles you enlarge the flash hole.)

Only tried two due to above problem but each ignited perfectly. At this point I will load a couple of boxes and try them at the range but I am confident that they will be fine in my revolvers.

JOhn
Charlotte, NC

 

[Citroen]

93 percent with Wolf Primers

Finally got to the range today over lunch. I only had time for 50 rounds so I set up 30 for my 25-2 Smith with the very soft DA trigger (up until now only Federal primers would ignite 100 percent) and 21 for the Glock 30.

Set-up was 185 gr. Rainier JFP; 8 gr. Accurate # 5 and the Wolf primer. Glock functioned flawlessly as expected. Accuracy was better than I can hold.

With the Smith I had 2 rounds that required a second pull of the trigger. This is better than the same gun with Winchester primers and far better than with CCI.

For practice ammo I would not hesitate to use the Wolf primers (I better use them as I bought 5000) but for anything serious I will continue to use only Federals in my revolvers. Thankfully they are back in stock so I picked up 2000 today.

So, if you are wondering about the Wolf primers, unless you shoot only highly tuned revolvers I would say they work just fine and are an excellent value. I had to pay $60 for the 2000 Federals today.

John
Charlotte, NC