I just fell into several cartons of Winchester Staynless primers, size No. 11. There is no information anywhere on any of the boxes as to what size they are. They were stored well and appear to be in good condition but may be more collectable than shootable. Can anyone tell me what size they are? (my guess based on other items is large rifle but that assumption is not good enough). Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve up North:
I just fell into several cartons of Winchester Staynless primers, size No. 11. There is no information anywhere on any of the boxes as to what size they are. They were stored well and appear to be in good condition but may be more collectable than shootable. Can anyone tell me what size they are? (my guess based on other items is large rifle but that assumption is not good enough). Thanks.

Measure and compare.

https://www.sierrabullets.com/primer-substitutions/

If they are branded as Staynless then they are old enough to where calling them out as non-corrosive was relevant. I did a little searching and would guess those are between 70 and 100 years old. Frankly if they were stored correctly they are most likely perfectly good once you establish their correct usage as Large rifle large pistol etc.

From the style of the boxes, they are 1930s to 1950s. Yes, they make a point of pointing out that they are non-corrosive.

Thanks for the link.

Wood boxes?

Odd. I have never heard of a Winchester No. 11 primer.

The #11 I’ve heard of is a musket cap.

Dunno what you’ve got. Those predate me…

I still have the packaging from a brick I shot a couple years ago. They were 8 1/2 and it says Large rifle on the slide out box. You might want to look there if you havent yet.

There are what appear to be lot numbers on the side of the individual boxes but no size. The 1,000 primer cartons are buff cardboard with black printing and the individual 100 primer boxes are mostly blue with some white and the lettering is red. The internal dividers between each row of primers are wooden. I think that dates them to the 1930s and 40s. No reference I can find for early Winchester primers has the size numbers for ones that old; most refer to triple digit size numbers,which Winchester used in the 50s and 60s.