Winchester White Box Potential Catastrophic Error

C

cajundefender

Inactive
I recently ordered some WWB 158grn FMJ from Cabela's. Before storing ammunition for range days, I inspect each box for safety and I inspect each defense JHP round individually. Going through the boxes and checking in a random zig-zag motion for serious casing issues, serious corrosion, checking all primers for serious errors, and just looking at the general average condition of the box. Most cartridges passed with about a third having some discoloration and dents in the casings, but not serious enough to be pulled for being unsuitable for firing, but I did find something disturbing: One of the rounds seemed like it sat lower in the box than the rest. Suspicious, I pulled that one and looked at it. It is shorter than the rest of them, and when comparing it to another one, it looks as if the bullet is seated too deeply into the casing, as the casing is the same size yet the bullet isn't. There are also two gear/plier marks on the bullet and the casing, and several small dented patterns towards the primer, with a serious bent indentation with gear marks on the back of the casing next to the primer. Obviously, this round was pulled and I am re-inspecting the others. The bullet appears to be seated properly with the same look as the others, but it is about a millimeter shorter than the others. What do you think is wrong with it and is it common? Regardless, the round will be disposed of. I have about a dozen other defective cartridges in .38. Possibly a stupid question, but could I pull the bullet out and study the rounds? Especially with this one, I want to see what the bullet looks like compared to the others. Is it just molded smaller than the others or is it likely just seated too deeply. I don't want to blow myself up... :rolleyes: Thanks!
 
I clamped down on the bullet after reading the safe way to remove the bullet. The metal jacket came off. The lead core did not. Finally the casing snapped in half. On the inside, there was not enough powder (I opened a good round for comparison and the defective cartridge did not have even half of the powder of the good one) which might have caused a squib if fired. The bullet sizes appear to be about the same, but the slight shortness of the defective round can be attributed to its lack of a metal jacket. I think all it was was that it was seated too deep. As for the powder and the possibility of a squib, I can't say whether it is coincidence and others may be like it or if the amount of powder might be affected by the deep seating of the bullet. Just glad I caught that. I would complain about their quality control, but for a few 100 pack range boxes and only one serious defect, not too bad. Probably about a third of the others either have discolored primers, casings, or bullet or there is some minor denting, but not too bad for bulk production of range-value ammunition.
 
Apparently that ammo is low cost because the maker skimps on QC and inspection. But that kind of checking should be automatic, built into the manufacturing machinery. I don't know how many rounds were involved, but IMHO one error of that kind in a couple of hundred thousand is way too many.

Jim
 
It used to be that factory ammunition was as close to perfect as you could get. Now, I continue to read more and more reports of bad ammunition coming out of American factories. This is a very disturbing trend.
 
It's not like it was some kind of hidden error either. It was very obvious when I scanned over it that something was very wrong. The dents can be expected but this is ridiculous and unacceptable. :mad:
 
You should contact Winchester. I had a box of Remington hard ball 9mm that one of the rounds had a crushed primer in sideways.
Sent them photos of the box with the lot number and one of the round.
They sent me a sorry/thankyou and a box of 50 new and a hat.
Yours is a reminder that we need to check what we stuff into our guns in these days that the ammo production lines are running 7 days a week 24 hours a day.
 
The cop shop I once worked out of had a chart on the wall with pictures of ammo defects, including split cases, sideways primers, upside down primers, etc., with the warning to inspect YOUR ammo before loading YOUR weapon. I don't know how much it helped, but it was good advice for anyone carrying a gun, not just LEOs.

Jim
 
I've seen a variety of issues with factory ammo cartridges.../ and at the speeds they run their equipment, I guess its not that surprising... ( inverted primers, split cases, bullets seated too deep, significant dents in cases, etc....)..

( but its another reason I've been happy reloading my own ammo for the last 40+ years)....
 
Next time you need to pull a bullet; might I suggest a bullet puller?

It would have been good to contact Winchester before you destroyed the evidence. No point in it now.

Because my experience tells me that Winchester brass is superior over all others (IMO), I have purchased a lot of Winchester White Box over the decades. Mostly, 45 ACP (230 FMJ) and 38 Special (130 FMJ), but also 357 Mag (158 JHP).

Over that time, I've seen lots of anomalies - mostly dents in the cases and OAL variations. And the situation seems to have indeed gotten worse. Sorry you ran into this issue.

This showcases an example of why I cringe when I hear phrases like "as good as factory ammo." The ammo I - and probably most here on TFL - load, is superior to factory ammo.
 
Maybe it's because they have been trying to crank out ammo like crazy since the shortage.

At any rate 99% of what I shoot is cast by myself and loaded by myself in a single stage press. Every load is triple checked visually before seating.
 
Maybe it's because they have been trying to crank out ammo like crazy since the shortage.
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I think your on the right track here. With the way they have been running full bore plus since the ammo craziness, and when you consider the amount over the norm they are cranking out, it makes perfect sense.
 
I clamped down on the bullet after reading the safe way to remove the bullet. The metal jacket came off. The lead core did not. Finally the casing snapped in half.
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Too much fail for words :D. FWIW, I got a Tula 9mm FMJ with two bullets and (thankfully) no powder stuffed in it. Dud primer, too. One does have to ask what kind of crappy machinery is even capable of doing such things :confused:

Maybe it's a bizarre inverse of Project Eldest Son wherein the ammo supply is sown with duds so as to reduce our combat effectiveness? You can bet your case wouldn't have broken in half if it'd been made from that tin foil :D

TCB
 
I had an old Winchester /Western box ox 357 158 HP's that had one case that was too long and crimped over the ogive of the bullet. I also have a 9mm W/W hollow point round with the primer seated side ways in the primer pocket.
 
on the other hand, cant really complain about it, not like it was a triple charge..
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Yes, but it could have caused a bullet to lodge in the barrel with potential bad effects when the next round was fired.

Unfortunately, for a number of reasons, not everybody has the presence of mind to check the bore when they get a squib load.:(
 
Sounds like a factory issue to me, but I was in a Cabela's this week. Noticed several ratty looking boxes of ammo, some with exposed shells inside. They must be scraping up the stockroom to find stuff to put on the shelves. Certainly possible damaged rounds are being put back in damaged boxes and put up for sale.
 
Man is imperfect, anything made by Man is also imperfect.

I had a round of military surplus 45 ACP with no flash hole in the case. The primer backed all the way out when it fired but the round was dud.

I had an entire box of factory 44 Specials split the cases when fired. I didn't notice until I had fired 48 of them.

It happens. Can't get too excited about isolated instances of ammo malfunction.
 
when you go to 3 shifts a day 7 days a week you have to bring on new/inexperienced people. Run long enough like that and everyone gets tired.

You get what you pay for. I have purchased a fair bit of WWB and seen some odd stuff.

WWB is not loaded such that it pushes the limits of any gun. What you describe could have caused a dangerous pressure spike, but I doubt if it would exceed the limits of most handguns. I bet it would have fired just fine and most shooters would not have even noticed the problem.
 
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