any one ever tried Winclean ammo?

D

Deja vu

New member
so yesterday I was at one of the local gun stores and I saw some Winclean (357 mag) ammo on sale for 20% off so I bought 2 boxes.

It seemed like it shot OK from my 640 S&W but the recoil was worse than most other 125 grain ammo and it threw a huge fire ball.

While it was "fun" to shoot a pocket flame thrower I don't think it is meant to be like this. Did I just get an off batch or does all Winclean ammo throw fire balls the size of a 5 gallon bucket? I wish I had pictures because the fire was amazing!

p.s. it did indeed leave my gun very clean (though I still cleaned it) and the casings looks like they had never been used before out side of the dented primers.
 
My dad and I shot some of the ammo you describe in a Ruger Police Service Six several years ago. While I don't remember any unusually severe muzzle blast, I do remember that accuracy was absolutely dismal out of that particular gun. I haven't tried the ammo since then as I prefer to stick with 140-158grn bullets in my .357 Magnums.
 
I fired it in 45acp many years ago. Very clean indeed. We were shooting in sunny weather, so I can't speak on the flash.

I'd save that ammo for low light shooting... for fun.
 
I have shot it in .45 acp .... and in .45acp the winclean --- means it uses lead free primers and in that caliber, they use small pistol primers vs the more normal large pistol primers ( making the .45 ACP - NT cases not reloadable ...) ....

The cases were marked WIN - NT for Non Toxic ......( and since I reload / I had to toss all the cases out ) ...

My hunch is the fireball - you were seeing is a combination of your barrel length and the velocity of the rounds you purchased vs anything about the "win clean" brand ....but I have not shot any of it in .357 mag ....
 
The winclean 45acp I shot years back had regular large pistol primers. I remember reloading them because the flash hole was much bigger than standard brass, and the insides of the cases were definitely cleaner looking.
 
I shoot this j-frame a lot (about 50 rounds a week) and I have never seen a fire ball like this out of the gun.
 
Seem's good, I've shot 5-6 box's of 9mm, and saved the rest for if the range I go to requires TMJs. It's just to darn expensive for me. Bought it three years ago when it was priced what the FMJ ammo is today.
 
I've fired it in .45ACP and in .38 special. I like it a lot. It's VERY clean stuff, barely leaving a residue. I find it to be accurate and, maybe, slightly hotter than most ammos of equivalent weight and caliber.
 
Tho, not .357, I just grabbed a couple of boxes once assuming I was grabbing plain old WWB. I shot them side by side with regular 115 grain FMJ, and didn’t notice any difference in report or recoil. I believe that WinClean bullets are BEB, and not FMJ. BEB means Brass Enclosed Bullet. If you look at a BEB bullet and a FMJ bullet side by side from the bottom, all you will see is brass on the bottom of the BEB bullet, but on the bottom of the FMJ bullet, you will see the led core exposed.

I’ve never shot anything but 158 grain from my .357, but I have read that 125 grain ammo in a .357 is hotter, and not recommended for my old S&W “K” frame.

original.jpg
 
I shoot it in my 9mm's and .38 spl. It does seem to have a little more flash than other ammo but I have found it to be very accurate shooting ammo in my guns.
 
8shot357 said:
BEB means Brass Enclosed Bullet.
Click to expand...

Or TMJ?
Click to expand...

BEB actually stands for "Brass Enclosed Base," meaning that the base of the bullet is completely covered by the brass jacket. It's different from TMJ ("Total Metal Jacket"), which I believe is a plating process (relatively thick plating) that covers the entire bullet. BEB bullets are made in the more traditional way that jacketed lead bullets are, except that it leaves a part of the point (in this case a flat meplat) exposed instead of the base. The effect is the same, leaving no lead exposed directly to burning powder, thereby eliminating lead contamination from vaporization inside the gun as well as in the air. In addition, the primers used in WinClean ammunition are free from lead and other heavy metals.

Most if not all of the other major manufacturers offer similar "clean" ammunition, although not all of the TMJ-based products use lead-free primers. For example, Speer Lawman uses only TMJ bullets these days, but if you want them to be really "clean" then you'll want to get the "Clean-Fire" variant that uses different primers. Winchester also offers a limited line of completely lead-free, supposedly toxin-free ammunition called "Super Clean NT," which use no lead in the bullets. I'm not familiar with any similar offerings (I know of other loads that have lead-free bullets, but typically their primers still contain lead), but there probably are some if you look for them.
 
Last edited:
Manco .

BEB actually stands for "Brass Enclosed Base," meaning that the base of the bullet is completely covered by the brass jacket. It's different from TMJ ("Total Metal Jacket"), which I believe is a plating process (relatively thick plating) that covers the entire bullet. BEB bullets are made in the more traditional way that jacketed lead bullets are, except that it leaves a part of the point (in this case a flat meplat) exposed instead of the base. The effect is the same, leaving no lead exposed directly to burning powder, thereby eliminating lead contamination from vaporization inside the gun as well as in the air. In addition, the primers used in WinClean ammunition are free from lead and other heavy metals.

Most if not all of the other major manufacturers offer similar "clean" ammunition, although not all of the TMJ-based products use lead-free primers. For example, Speer Lawman uses only TMJ bullets these days, but if you want them to be really "clean" then you'll want to get the "Clean-Fire" variant that uses different primers. Winchester also offers a limited line of completely lead-free, supposedly toxin-free ammunition called "Super Clean NT," which use no lead in the bullets. I'm not familiar with any similar offerings (I know of other loads that have lead-free bullets, but typically their primers still contain lead), but there probably are some if you look for them.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the FYI.
 
Manco said:
BEB actually stands for "Brass Enclosed Base," meaning that the base of the bullet is completely covered by the brass jacket.
Click to expand...

Good explanation. It’s been a few months, and I remember it as “Brass Enclosed Bullet”, and that may have been how I was told, but looking at the Winchester site, “Brass Enclosed Base” is the correct term.
 
Some bullet companies, like Montana Gold, make a "FMJ" Full Metal Jacket that has an exposed lead base.... and "CMJ" Complete Metal Jacket - where the lead base is enclosed by the jacket....

The "CMJ" is a little more expensive - but you get significantly less smoke off of a CMJ than a FMJ.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top