Winchester brass

[Pripyat]

I picked up some new Winchester 30-06 brass (qty 50) thinking that new brass properly prepped would eliminate the most variables for a ladder test. First of I noticed this guy:


I knocked the burr off and it is definitely scrap IMO.

Another piece was actually shorter than the trim-to-length. I trimmed it a thousandth less than the book value and still didn't have a new surface all the way around the case mouth.

And one piece has a small divot on the mouth much like the one pictured above even after trimming.

Then came the issue with the cartridge not being perpendicular to the surface of the head. I had cases that would walk all around the pilot if I rotated the case in my RCBS trimmer. Probably a quarter were off center by at least 1/32".

Is this normal? I know Winchester <> Lapua but this seems ridiculous.

 

[Reefinmike]

I would call winchester tomorrow. Im sure they will make it right for ya.

 

[gamestalker]

Wow, I've seen a bad batch of brass before, but nothing like that.

GS

 

[Swampman]

In my opinion, the quality of Winchester rifle brass has dropped a lot in the last five or six years.

 

[Pripyat]

I was thinking last night - what are the odds that a RCBS rock chucker and RCBS X-die bent the cases causing them to be off-center? I trimmed after FL sizing so this could be the case (no pun intended) but I am new to this..

 

[FROGO207]

If you are not having problems with once fired brass then setup of the die should not be an issue with the new brass. Wow that sure has QC problems. I also would contact Winchester but would expect more of the same quality brass as replacement IMHO.

 

[Pripyat]

Once fired seems fine. The main reason for the post is that if the consensus is that all Winchester brass is this bad I won't waste my time contacting them.

BTW, I have only trimmed 20 or so but here are some of the worst ones:



Hard to see with phone pic but the three are showing dimples or rough surface (shorter than trim-to-length on most of the neck surface). The single is the one previously pictured.

I just sent Winchester support an email. Hopefully they will respond. I'll keep the thread updated.

 

[tygranch]

Several years ago I ordered 100 new Winchester 7mm Rem Mag cases. Didn't get around to loading them for almost a year, but when I inspected them at least 25% looked like that. I contacted Winchester and they replaced them no questions asked. The new batch didn't have a bad case in it.

 

[Pripyat]

I messed with the cases some more this evening to see if there what percentage seemed worth using. Two cases, when placed in the trimmer, did not contact the cutting surface at all. I threw the caliper on it and they both measured 3 thousandths shorter than the trim-to-length value in the reloading manual.

I bought this brass close to a year ago and am just getting around to doing something with it. Hopefully I will get a response from them tomorrow. This whole endeavor reminded me to contact RCBS to see if they will suggest anything about my bullet plug that is cutting my cast LRN projectiles..

 

[Reefinmike]

I contacted remington 8 months ago about some 223 bullets I bought that had cannalures, OAL and weight all over the place. They sent me a form sorry letter and a check. Real good way to gain the confidence of a new customer, right? Situations like these Id expect the company to replace the product with one of good quality and even throw in an extra bag of bullets for the trouble and wait. Remington made my poo poo list this year as well as another handful of internet and local vendors who did some dirty deeds this past panic year.

 

[Hondo 60]

Depends on where you bought them.

I bought some RP brass from MidwayUSA.
I contacted them about 3 pcs that were less than expected.
They fixed it w/o even asking for a return of the bad ones.

So I would contact either Winchester or the seller.
I'll bet both would be willing to make it right.

 

[Pripyat]

I emailed RCBS and Winchester at the same time - Haven't heard from RCBS but I did get a call from Winchester earlier today.

They asked that I send them the brass so they could inspect it - Unfortunately I have FL sized all of it and attempted to trim all of it. I pulled out 10 pieces that were the worst of the lot and started working through loading the 40 that seemed reasonable. I figure any non-concentric issues will sort themselves out when fireforming to the chamber.

Anyway, I asked if I could only send in the 10 worst ones and she agreed. She said once they get the bad pieces they would get a check sent out so I could purchase some more. Sounds good to me.

 

[Potatohead]

They will fix it up for you. I emailed them about WWB 115gr 9mm jamming my SR9 and they fixed it, paid the shipping and everything. My biggest problem was that I had +/-800 rds. They sent me 1000 AND upgraded it to a better round. This was at the height of the panic too. They told me they wanted to test it (yea right) and it may take 4-6 mos...I got it in 3ish weeks I believe

 

[Pripyat]

Jeez. I sent the worst pieces of brass off to Winchester (they picked up shipping) and in the meantime was digging through my brass bins to find some once-fired 30-06 to load. What do I find? Another bag of Winchester brass, sealed, that was purchased the same day as the other bag of 50. :/

I pull out the caliper and the fifth one I measured was 3 thousandths shorter than the trim to length value. Send it back as well or load it? I don't see any major neck issues like I pictured in the first post of this thread.

 

[CMV]

3 thou is about as thick as sheet of typical copier/printer paper. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[918v]

Cases will grow. Trim past the burr and shoot.

 

[243winxb]

http://www.saami.org/PubResources/CC_Drawings/Rifle/30-06%20Springfield.pdf Trim length for 30-06 is 2.474" minimum to 2.494" maximum.

 

[Tolkachi Robotnik]

I'm with Swampman.

I would rate Winchester brass pretty low, but only if it is fairly recent origin. In my first years reloading I never noticed it to have failures. Lately more often, and the overall quality is much lower than several other makers. It even seems to discolor and do electrolytic changes quick if left around moisture or on the ground.

Lapua is very good indeed, but even PPU is very good brass. So far RP is also quite serviceable.

 

[GaryL]

They may have gotten a bad batch of raw material (brass). Some of the raw material coming out of China is total garbage, but it's often cheap, and there's a lot of places in the supply chain where it could get mixed in by someone wanting to make an extra buck. At least with the bad examples to work with, they might be able to trace it back to a supplier they may need to contact.

 

[joed]

I have gotten that from Remington and Winchester routinely. Out of a bag of 50 usually 2 are bad. And that's going back 10 years at least.

I don't call either, I just don't buy their product anymore.