Poor Winchester brass quality control.

[6mm Remington]

I've had a couple bags of 6mm Remington Winchester brass (50 rounds each) sitting on the shelf in my reloading room that I've had for maybe 4 years and just got around to prepping them to be loaded. In doing this prep work I found that out of 100 rounds of brass that I was truing up that 32 of them were defective to the point that I could not safely use them. It appeared that not enough brass was used in the cases and there were gaps and lines in the neck/shoulder area. You could actually see through some of the gaps. I was pretty unhappy to say the least. Brass is not cheap!

I contacted Winchester and told them of the situation and I included pictures of the brass. The woman I spoke with was very helpful and informed me to send the brass in and once they had it they would have it replaced and shipped back to me. I guess that's another part of the equation. I felt like man they were right on this and would help me out but it apparently hasn't worked out that way as I still haven't seen the replacement brass after a few weeks. I think I expected better results than this.

 

[RL338]

Red and Black bagged brass is complete crap for them. On the flip side I contacted them , sent the junk brass back and did receive a check for the full amount I paid for the brass.

 

[Joec7651]

The new Winchester brass I have tried To use lately (and that was the last bag I had) has been sub-par to put it nicely. I don’t mind a neck being out of round because I size first regardless, but many of the cartridge heads wouldn’t fit in a Lee or Redding shell holder because it was oblong and not round. I haven’t had any issues with the older blue bag brass but the red/black has been a gamble at best. Seems like while other manufacturers have been improving quality Winchester has fell a bit. At this point they are disappointing.

It’s not a deal if you have to buy two bags to ensure 50 rounds of in spec ammunition. Buy quality brass to begin with. It may cost a few dollars more per package, but all 50 or 100 pieces of brass will be usable. You’ll also only need to buy one package, not 2. I’ll spend a couple bucks extra to forego any headaches.

 

[GregoryB.]

I have also gotten some less than stellar brass from them as well. Had to full length resize them before I could load them.

 

[JD338]

I've had a couple bags of 6mm Remington Winchester brass (50 rounds each) sitting on the shelf in my reloading room that I've had for maybe 4 years and just got around to prepping them to be loaded. In doing this prep work I found that out of 100 rounds of brass that I was truing up that 32 of them were defective to the point that I could not safely use them. It appeared that not enough brass was used in the cases and there were gaps and lines in the neck/shoulder area. You could actually see through some of the gaps. I was pretty unhappy to say the least. Brass is not cheap!

I contacted Winchester and told them of the situation and I included pictures of the brass. The woman I spoke with was very helpful and informed me to send the brass in and once they had it they would have it replaced and shipped back to me. I guess that's another part of the equation. I felt like man they were right on this and would help me out but it apparently hasn't worked out that way as I still haven't seen the replacement brass after a few weeks. I think I expected better results than this.

David,
It might be that they have to make a run of 6mm Rem brass. Maybe Winchester can give you a time frame for the replacement brass.

JD338

 

[michsteve]

This is weird in a way because their factory ammo must be up to par? I wonder do they sell the leftover brass that doesn't meet spec for their own reloading.

 

[Joec7651]

This is weird in a way because their factory ammo must be up to par? I wonder do they sell the leftover brass that doesn't meet spec for their own reloading.

I think this is precisely what they are doing. I would do the same thing. I’d use my best components in the ammo I put my name on. Their quality on brass will return but the question is when.

 

[PJGunner]

My preference on brass has always been Winchester first, Remington second and Federal last. I also loads for some oddball cartridges like the 7x57 Mauser and .358 Win. which are only made on a seasonal basis and Winchester decides when it's the season. I was at a gun show when I ran into a fellow who sold strictly reloading components like brass, bullets and loaded ammo. I'd bought bullets from him in years past so we knew each other somewhat. He had a goodly sized amounf of Winchester andRemington 7x57 brass in bulk and a nice pile of .358 Win. to boot. I asked him what he was asking for the brass, all of it? He said some price then showed me the paperwork wth the prices he paid. He said give me $50 over what I'm into it and it's yours. I had to borrow his hand truck to cart it out to my vehicle.Over 500 round of 7x57 and 300 rounds of ,358 Winchester brand brass. The only bad thing I found was 5 ot 6 rounds of .356 Win. brass head stamps as .358 Win. That went in the collector's brass box. fact is that brass will outlast me. I've used so little of it because it's been so good. I load 7x57 on the very hot side and I finally dumped the last set used after seven hot loadings just on general principle. The Remington brass has also held up very well. I use the Winchester for one rifle and the Remington in another rifle.
Paul B.

 

[KinleyWater]

You said the bags were maybe four years old - I wonder if the quality has improved. We've seen quality in the industry was an wane over the years - thinking Remington - so I'm just curious if they've improved their QC since then.

 

[RL338]

I believe the bagged brass being sold is culled from their production lines. There is way more money in quality loaded ammo for them.

 

[Alderman]

I’ve used quite a bit of Winchester brass and have never had an issue other than an occasional funky piece. Haven’t bought any in a while and I have been reading about quite a few failures lately.

 

[Lazy Bushman]

I've never had much problem with Win brass. I find the necks thin out a little sooner but that could be distorted as I shoot more of it. I'm not reloading for on paper accuracy and most of mine gets used in the bush and because I rarely return from a hunt with all my brass, I sure as heck don't buy expensive stuff. I guess I'm lucky not to have experienced some of the war stories and experiences that I know a number of people have with Winnie brass