Winchester 30-06 brass

[Guy Miner]

What a disappointment!

I've bought bulk Winchester brass before, and it worked out pretty well, good enough to shoot "high master" scores in long range competition with my 308 rifle.

I've had a bag of "new" Winchester 30-06 brass sitting around for a while and broke it out to make some hunting ammo. I wasn't too surprised that quite a few of the case mouths were flattened a bit or irregular. That can happen easily with bags of brass.

But my goodness! Of the 25 cases I tried to use, 5 of them wouldn't even fit in a standard shell holder! I forced one in and had a heck of a time getting it back out of the shell holder. Had to put the shell holder in my vise and tug the brass cartridge case out with a pair of channel lock pliers!

So - it will be interesting to see what the other 25 cases in that bag are like. Made me really appreciate the good Federal, Nosler and Starline brass I've used in recent years.

Regards, Guy

 

[lhsako]

Did you contact the retailer about this problem?

 

[RL338]

I had gotten a crappy bag of 30-06 Winchester brass last year. The flash holes were punched oval. Their Quality Assurance team has left the field.

 

[Slimfinn]

Guy, curious what brand shell holder? Ive had issues with a hornady one on some brass, and even trying to slide them onto the ram.
Also my lee priming tool the #2 holder was tight on the Lapua 6br brass, but just bought a new #2 and it worked fine

 

[Alaska]

What a disappointment!

I've bought bulk Winchester brass before, and it worked out pretty well, good enough to shoot "high master" scores in long range competition with my 308 rifle.

I've had a bag of "new" Winchester 30-06 brass sitting around for a while and broke it out to make some hunting ammo. I wasn't too surprised that quite a few of the case mouths were flattened a bit or irregular. That can happen easily with bags of brass.

But my goodness! Of the 25 cases I tried to use, 5 of them wouldn't even fit in a standard shell holder! I forced one in and had a heck of a time getting it back out of the shell holder. Had to put the shell holder in my vise and tug the brass cartridge case out with a pair of channel lock pliers!

So - it will be interesting to see what the other 25 cases in that bag are like. Made me really appreciate the good Federal, Nosler and Starline brass I've used in recent years.

Regards, Guy

I am a strong advocate for Win Brass because of the great powder capacity it has. But have to say I have not bought any in probably 10 years. I stocked up heavily during Obama years. I even have some virgin 92 Palma Match brass made by WW. I use a lot of M852 1971 brass with 748 @ 44.0 with 175gr and my stash of 1973 RWS primers 5341 love the 308 Win.

 

[300WSM]

Red and Black bag ?

or the

White and Blue bag?

 

[Joec7651]

The last couple bags of Winchester brass I’ve opened were pretty junky and disappointing. Black and red bags.

I’ve had nothing but great results from Federal brass. Some don’t care for it but I’ve had connsistent quality with them. The Federal brass I’m loading for my 308 has been in service for quite some time. It’s on load 6-8, I’d have to check the number to be sure. I also like Starline and Hornady brass very much.

 

[RL338]

Starline does make quality rifle brass now days. Red/Black Winchester is junk no way around that.

 

[NYDAN]

Guy, that would be a big disappointment. Hopefully, the next 25 will be better. I have had some Winchester factory ammo that wouldn't chamber. That was irritating.

For what it is worth, I have never had a problem with Norma brass in any rifle cartridge I have loaded.

Dan

 

[ShadeTree]

If it's the red and black bag it doesn't shock me in the least, actually be more surprised if you came on here and said it was decent. They got me on a bag of 22-250, never again. Good as anything else once it was prepped and fireformed, but I'd like to have even just $10 an hr for the time I spent getting it ready. Considered initially selling it on Ebay or somewhere but I wouldn't want to pass on to somebody else that kind of junk, so I put the time in necessary to use it. It was either that or scrap it, which wouldn't of been a bad choice either other than the waste.

 

[Joec7651]

If it’s taking us that much time to simply make it serviceable, I see no way it could be consistent. I have some Winchester brass loaded, and it does ok. Most of it is from fired factory ammunition. I still prep it, but it takes a little less effort than their bagged brass.

The dilemma with me is that if it takes that much time to make it serviceable (which it does) I won’t have any faith in it. An old saying about bronzing a turd comes to mind.

 

[DrMike]

I preferentially use Norma brass if it is available. Lapua brass is excellent, as is RWS. Hmmmm. European brass is great to work with. I've never had a problem with Federal or with Hornady. Surprisingly, I got good service life out of these brands; but then, I don't load my cartridges as hot as some. Remington and Winchester can require quite a bit of prep before I can use it. I've sworn off Nosler since it required a premium to purchase and it seldom fit in the shell holder for many cartridges.

 

[wvbuckbuster]

Used Winchester a lot in the past but not for years. It and Rem always worked fine back in the day. I'd take Remington over Winchester now. Federal does well just doesn't seem to get as many loadings as it used to before the primer pockets start opening up. Maybe just me. Norma, Lapua, Starline and Hornady have all done well for me. Dan.

 

[ShadeTree]

I've never bought new Remington brass marketed as reloading brass so that could be different and cheaper on quality control, I wouldn't know. But I've used gobs of once fired factory Remington brass in all kinds of cartridges. It's been as good as anything I've worked with in that measuring stick of brass you would put in that same category.......separate from brands like Lapua and Norma obviously.

With a couple annealing's throughout its reloading span, it is on the precipice of excellent as far as case life. Requires less prep work on average I'd say than the one bag of Hornady I used. Federal brass might be plenty good on prep work and consistency, but way too soft.

 

[300WSM]

What a disappointment!

I've bought bulk Winchester brass before, and it worked out pretty well, good enough to shoot "high master" scores in long range competition with my 308 rifle.

I've had a bag of "new" Winchester 30-06 brass sitting around for a while and broke it out to make some hunting ammo. I wasn't too surprised that quite a few of the case mouths were flattened a bit or irregular. That can happen easily with bags of brass.

But my goodness! Of the 25 cases I tried to use, 5 of them wouldn't even fit in a standard shell holder! I forced one in and had a heck of a time getting it back out of the shell holder. Had to put the shell holder in my vise and tug the brass cartridge case out with a pair of channel lock pliers!

So - it will be interesting to see what the other 25 cases in that bag are like. Made me really appreciate the good Federal, Nosler and Starline brass I've used in recent years.

Regards, Guy

Guy...
Was that a
Red and black bag

or

White and Blue bag

 

[PJGunner]

A few years back I bought 300 rounds of Winchester .358 Win. brass. That stuff is hard to get as you probably know. A few flattened necks, the usual problems but overall good brass. I found four cased marked .358 Win. that were actually 256 Win. cases. I stuck them in my box that hold oddball cartridges and cases.
Paul B.

 

[wvbuckbuster]

I've never bought new Remington brass marketed as reloading brass so that could be different and cheaper on quality control, I wouldn't know. But I've used gobs of once fired factory Remington brass in all kinds of cartridges. It's been as good as anything I've worked with in that measuring stick of brass you would put in that same category.......separate from brands like Lapua and Norma obviously.

With a couple annealing's throughout its reloading span, it is on the precipice of excellent as far as case life. Requires less prep work on average I'd say than the one bag of Hornady I used. Federal brass might be plenty good on prep work and consistency, but way too soft.

Me too on the once fired Remington but have used new on occasion. Dan.

 

[RL338]

I've never bought new Remington brass marketed as reloading brass so that could be different and cheaper on quality control, I wouldn't know. But I've used gobs of once fired factory Remington brass in all kinds of cartridges. It's been as good as anything I've worked with in that measuring stick of brass you would put in that same category.......separate from brands like Lapua and Norma obviously.

With a couple annealing's throughout its reloading span, it is on the precipice of excellent as far as case life. Requires less prep work on average I'd say than the one bag of Hornady I used. Federal brass might be plenty good on prep work and consistency, but way too soft.

I have used piles of Remington brass in 308 and 30-06 without a hiccup.

 

[ShadeTree]

A few years back I bought 300 rounds of Winchester .358 Win. brass. That stuff is hard to get as you probably know. A few flattened necks, the usual problems but overall good brass. I found four cased marked .358 Win. that were actually 256 Win. cases. I stuck them in my box that hold oddball cartridges and cases.
Paul B.

I got 2 unopened bags of the old blue/white Winchester brass in 348 Winchester that I haven't had to get into yet. I'm expecting it to be good brass as those older bags generally were. The new red/black bag in 22-250 was an embarrassment to manufacturing the world over. If I wouldn't of heard the same story like Guy's numerous times since, I'd think I got the swept up rejects off the floor.

 

[ShadeTree]

I have used piles of Remington brass in 308 and 30-06 without a hiccup.

Yepper. If you don't anneal it, it can give you some problems when you get some numbers of reloads on them with split necks as they can get hard and brittle quickly. Anneal them every 3 times or so and I will eventually pitch them because of wearing out thin ahead of the web like happens with all brass when the count gets high enough. Never pitched for loose primer pockets, and a split neck showing up even with high counts is a rare occurrence.

When it comes to Remington brass it is the least expensive component for me across the board regardless of cartridge. Factory core lokt ammo was/is a popular choice for yrs in my area so free or very cheap once fired brass was always easy to come by in common cartridges.