Author Topic: Winchester's Bottom of the Barrel? (Read 738 times)

Patriot_1776 · « **on:** June 02, 2005, 01:11:34 PM »

I recieved some new Winchester brass for my 223 WSSM a couple days ago, and noticed something I hope is not all too common.

After sorting through a bag of 50, about 6 or 7 cases had some sort of problem with either the shoulder or the case mouth.

I'm not sure how to describe it, but it looks as though on a couple cases the mouth is split, and has rolled on top of itself. :shock:

On others, there are what look like for lack of a better word "deep flutes" on the shoulder, kind of like a varmint HP bullet.

The real kicker is that on one case it is soooo bad, the split on the mouth travels almost all the way down the shoulder! I was shocked to see that, and I have not even looked through all 100 cases yet.

Anybody know what the heck is happening here? I'm a little upset about this because as far as I know, Winchester is at this time the only ones manufacturing cases for the WSSMs.....And they are darn expen$ive!!!!!

Thanks for any input on this.

-Patriot

PS: Please don't say "You shoulda' got a 22-250". :-D

Redhawk1 · « **Reply #1 on:** June 02, 2005, 01:52:42 PM »

You said it we didn't. (22-250) :-D

I would send them back and get them replaced.

Flash · « **Reply #2 on:** June 02, 2005, 02:20:51 PM »

I once purchased a bulk package of Winchester 243 Brass and got several 308 cases in the package. Never again!!!!!!

Patriot_1776 · « **Reply #3 on:** June 02, 2005, 02:21:26 PM »

Redhawk1 wrote:

Quote

You said it we didn't. (22-250) :-D

Grrrrrrr....I knew someone would catch me on that. :grin:

I have loaded only 10 cases (developing a load) so far and that is all I'll do for now.

Also how does that work; simply give them a call and they should send a new bag of 50? Or only however many are defective?

Would it still be possible to get them replaced after I had loaded those others (I didn't use the defective ones)?

I apologize for the fresh questions; just want to make sure I'm understanding correctly. Thanks.

-Patriot

George Foster · « **Reply #4 on:** June 03, 2005, 01:17:30 AM »

This won't help you but I have had that problem with Win brass in the past couple of years and use only Rem brass now. I would call them and explain the problem and see what they do.

Questor · « **Reply #5 on:** June 03, 2005, 03:46:29 AM »

I use Winchester brass almost exclusively and haven't had any problems with it except for a few slightly squeezed case mouths that were corrected during the initial sizing. You should be able to get them replaced.

jcunclejoe · « **Reply #6 on:** June 03, 2005, 05:27:16 AM »

Winchester makes a hundred or more different cartridge cases and millions upon millions of pieces a year. Even with the best inspection techniques, occasionally some bad ones will get out. Remington, and everyone else has this problem too.

Contact them and Politely explain the problem and I'm sure they will bend over backwards to make it right. Most manufacturers will do everything possible to take care of the customer and rectify problems.

I stress the polite part. I once sent a nastygram to Belt Mountain, before I thought about the whole thing. He was extremely nice to me, asked me what dimension I would like my base pin and made me exactly what I needed with no additional charge.

I was a jerk and really felt like it afterward. I should have been nice and asked some questions before I just started to complain. He was a true porfessional and handled me exceptionally well.

I'm not at all saying you are complaining. But give Winchester a call, use some honey and catch some flies. I hear they are good fried or chocolate covered.

Joe

Flash · « **Reply #7 on:** June 03, 2005, 02:27:47 PM »

The problem I had goes back about 12 years but when I contacted them, I was told to ship the cases back to them and they'll take it from there. Well, I took it from there and bought Remington instead.

ricciardelli · « **Reply #8 on:** June 03, 2005, 02:58:44 PM »

I just loaded 300 .22-250's for a guy for decorative purposes. ("Loaded" is not the proper word here. All I did was seat bullets in new cases, no powder and no primer.)

These 300 cases were all from the same lot, but I have no idea what lot in Iraq they were dug-up from!

They were the worst cases I have ever seen from any manufacturer! Manufacturing tolerances were varied, several cases were un-usable because of splits and rolls, and one bag of "100" actually had only 94 in it!

glock29 · « **Reply #9 on:** June 07, 2005, 07:39:50 AM »

I have found quality control for some brands of bulk brass is much worse than others.
For the price of bulk brass (which I find generally too high), I expect the same flawless (1 defect per 1000 or less) quality I expect in factory loaded ammo.
Material and manufacturing cost for brass is actually low; the other costs in the brass (marketing, advertising, overhead, etc) I consider to be JUNK "FEES" just as I do with other products. For firearms/related products, the amount of these "JUNK COSTS" in relation to the actual product cost is ridiculous.
Most brands are good, some are better and there is one brand that is so bad that I refuse to purchase any longer unless they are the sole-source.

I agree with Flash & his comments; I just buy Remington instead except for the 458 Win Mag, as Remington no longer (bummer) offers this brass.

Kingfish · « **Reply #10 on:** June 07, 2005, 11:07:13 AM »

I found one piece like you describe in one of my WSM bags of 50. It had a roll in the shoulder and a split neck. I just used it for a round to slip different bullets into to find the length to the lands.

They would make it good for you but you know they would want you to send the bad ones back. WW is the only one that makes brass for my 7WSM so I couldn't buy another brand.

Bill

myronman3 · « **Reply #11 on:** June 07, 2005, 12:30:29 PM »

i use winchester brass; when i can't find starline, that is.