Winchester Brass Rant

Just venting and was curious if others have been running into issue with Winchester brass lately? I just purchased a bag of 50 count 243 win brass the other day. Out of the bag 15 are garbage, oblonged flash holes, folded/crushed/crimped necks, cracks, and even double stamped flash holes. And of the other 35, even some of that is questionable. I’m tempted to just return it and start over. Did I just get unlucky or is there an issue with Winchester brass? It’s been about 15 years since I last purchased any Winchester brass, but I don’t remember it being anything like this!

And is there a decent brass manufacturer out there that doesn’t charge an arm and a leg? Recommendations?

Thanks!

I'm using their brass for 30-06 & 338-06. Both seem fine to me, but I may have low standards.

Attachment 4767Attachment 4768Attachment 4769

Hopefully these pictures show show some of the issues.

For the most part I've had great luck with the inexpensive Winchester brass. My only bad luck with it was with a bag of it in 204 Ruger. That stuff started splitting necks on the third loading. They must have skipped the annealing step.

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Just venting and was curious if others have been running into issue with Winchester brass lately?

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Yes. I don't buy it anymore. PPU (Prvi Partizan) brass has been much better for me and less cost.

Can get only a few reloads on rifle brass. Seems brittle to me. Buy Hornady brass. For pistol it seems good.

I got a bunch of split cases too. I wont intentionally buy winchester any more.

I’m trying out some Starline brass and it looks good. Yeah burs in the flash holes but only took a few minutes to clean that up. Very reasonable price also. I’ve only shot 10 rounds of it so far but I shot the best group my 12FV has ever fired. Getting very consistent neck tension with this brass. It’s also sized closer to chamber size than some others. So far so good.

Ok, thanks guys. Seems the generic consensus is Winchester Brass has gone down the crapper. I’ll start researching some other manufactures. And thanks for the recommendations! Cheers.

Time to bite the bullet(or brass)and go Lapua. You won't be disappointed.

I too will not buy any winchester ammo, I have had pretty crappy performance from it.
The brass seems ok as long as it is older and I can inspect it. Usually range pickup brass. I have a bunch in 45 acp and it seems pretty decent. I have about 80 pieces of 308 that is range pickup. I cleaned, inspected, annealed and sized the brass. So far it seems ok. I am beating it up in my AR10 and will toss it when it get questionable.
The brass you have looks like crap! I would be returning that bag asap. If I paid for 50 pieces of brass, I want 50 pieces, not 47 or 48. That stuff looks like a monkey was running the machines.
Like another suggested, I would look for some better brass. Lapua, Norma, hell even federal would be better than what you have there.
I would also check out hornady. I bought a box of loaded ammo and after firing, I weighed each case and measured the water capacity of them and was surprised when the results I got was more uniform and less variation than my lapua brass!

That's very disappointing.

Locally Hornady is on the shelf at the gun shop and I use that frequently, though I have no complaints with Federal Premium from factory loads and recently I bought 50 Peterson cases (mfg in Township, PA) and they seem to be of very good quality.

Some years back Remington was having soft heads that the primers loosened up after a few reloads and I ceased using them. I also tore the lip off a Rem case in the resizing die and that is a pain in the butt (and I likely share the blame for insufficient sizing lube). Not sure if that issue was ever resolved.

Yep, Winchester brass has gone way down hill. Last bag of .270 I bought had a bunch of crimped necks and three or four split cases in a brand new bag. Never bothered calling and complaining just took my money elsewhere. I figured they will figure out their problems pretty quick when they can't sell any brass. It's Norma or Lapua from me here on out.

I've experienced similar issues although not to the extent of your batch. I'd contact Winchester or the retailer for a refund or replacement.

I would look at Petersen or ADG brass.

As a follow up, I sent Winchester an email, they sent me a shipping label to return them. Probably send me a coupon to use on other Winchester supplies. Guess I’ll see.

I also bought two bags of Winchester .243 brass last fall and had to throw 10 or 12 cases in the trash. All of these damaged cases had malformed shoulders and necks with cracks in the shoulder and neck areas.

Both Remington and Winchester started going down hill after they lost the contract to produce ammunition at Lake City. Remington DuPont and Winchester Olin are just names from the past and General Dynamics Weapons Division owns and produces Remington IMR and Winchester ball powders. And Olin Chemical only produces chemicals for fertilizers and Winchester no longer makes the raw brass the cartridges are made from and Remington filed for bankruptcy.

Bottom line, it is a shame but in todays world the stock holders govern the quality control of many manufactures.

Below, subliminal suggestion

Peterson Brass 243 Winchester Unprimed Box of 50

https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog...roductId/77097

Peterson Brass 243 Winchester Small Primer Unprimed Box of 50

https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog...roductId/77098

My standards are not that low, them are a problem!

That is really rough to hear. I just purchased 150 7mm Rem Mag Winchester brass. I was going to clean out everything else I had and start fresh. I loaded up 40 test loads and didn't notice any bad ones, and got some great strings of shots using .2 grain intervals. I will keep my eyes open.

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Originally Posted by RustyShackle

As a follow up, I sent Winchester an email, they sent me a shipping label to return them. Probably send me a coupon to use on other Winchester supplies. Guess I’ll see.

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I had the same thing from Winchester 22-250 brass over the winter. They sent me a check for retail cost. Took about a month to receive it. Going to burn the 600 I have and hope Starline starts making 22-250 by that time. I use that in my 6x45 and 338 Federal with no issues.

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For .223 and pistol brass I don’t really care. For bolt guns I stick with Lapua, painful to spend that much on brass but it is worth it in the end.

I used Winchester brass for years and years, the last few batches I received were horrible. All the defects listed above plus crooked as a crankshaft. I don't think its a fluke because everyone is saying the same thing, I'm done with them. I switched to Starline and Peterson.

Just as an update, Winchester sent me a check to refund the cost of the brass. Guess I’ll be able to try again with another manufacturer.

I bought 100 rounds of Winchester 300 win mag brass and only about 70 were usable. On another note, buying 7mm08, they have been stellar. Some loads are up to 8 firings with no issues at all.

I ran into problems with once fired Winchester 40 S&W brass in an AR carbine. Three out of five cases in the magazine separated mid case upon extraction. Reloaded same bullet and powder charge in Federal cases and no problem at all.