An official reply from Winchester (Olin Corp)

[davidjblythe]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Last week I send a real letter to Winchester asking why they do not offer 7.62x54R brass as a reloading component. They sell the loaded ammo under their "metric caliber" line, but not as components. I've heard that they simply import this stuff, but I still thought I'd ask them the question.

Here's a copy-n-paste of the letter I snail mailed them:
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David James Blythe
6301 S. Westshore Blvd. Apt 809N
Tampa, FL 33616
(813) 944-2017
December 4, 2007


Winchester Ammunition
Att: Product Services
427 N. Shamrock St.
East Alton, IL 62024.


Dear Sir or Ma’am,

I’m an avid firearm enthusiast and active reloader. I find that shooting reloads helps drive down the ever increasing costs of target shooting. I have used your factory loaded ammunition many times, and find it accurate and reliable, and use your brass to load my own cartridges. This being said, I was wondering why you do not offer unprimed 7.62x54R brass as a reloading component? This is a very popular caliber, and after a quick search of online forums, you can see that many reloaders of this fine caliber are plagued with issues of new brass availability. Currently only Norma and Lapua carry new brass, but at a price that is way too high to make reloading cost effective.
If you already produce the loaded cartridge, why not market the extra brass coming off the machines? Imagine the market of reloaders that is untapped that are screaming for quality reloadable brass! If there is any way to get a special order of 100 brass cases from you, please let me know. I already reload a precious few cases left over from the soft point factory loads you offer, and they are outstanding! Please let me know if it’s possible to purchase directly from your company, if not what avenues Winchester might be considering to make unprimed brass in this caliber available.
Again, I could be writing Remington or other competitors, but your cases are still going strong after many, many reloads, so Winchester is my first choice! Regardless of the outcome of this issue, please know that I will continue to use your products, as I think they are top notch.
Merry Christmas!




Very Respectfully,
Corporal David James Blythe, USMC

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Attached is the reply I just got today:

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In addition to this they sent me a nice product catalogue. But still no 7.62x54R brass avaliable. Sorry guys, I thought it was worth a shot.

Respectfully,
Cpl David Blythe

 

[armoredman]

It is, you got thier attention that you want them to offer it, and if enough people contact them to do so, to show the demand for the product is there, then they will offer it. Good job.

 

[KaiserBen]

IIRC, the Winchester Metric line is just PRVI Partisan ammo rebranded. If any of your brass has the headstamp NNY or PPU, it's PP manufactured brass. Grafs carries PP brass as well as their house brand in some calibers (rumored to be PP as well).

 

[1911jerry]

What is PRVI Partisan ammo?

JS

 

[R.W.Dale]

If I'm not mistaken I believe that winchester imports both their 7.62x25 tok and 7.62x54r ammunition from Sellier & Bellot.

http://www.sb-usa.com/

 

[FieroCDSP]

If I'm not mistaken I believe that winchester imports both their 7.62x25 tok and 7.62x54r ammunition from Sellier & Bellot

I'm pretty sure they do. My local store has primed 54Russian brass that are stamped Winchester and S&B (mixed). The guy said they get them that way as S&B make the Winchester brass for that caliber.

 

[K3]

The brass on the WWB 7.62X54 is reloadable, is it not? I have 40 pieces laying around...

 

[davidjblythe]

Yes I reload the WWB rounds... They have a winchester headstamp, even though they are most likely imported. Maybe they will offer them eventually ....