Odd finding from New boxes of Winchester 5.56 from Lake City, looking for advice

[TTSX]

Looks like a Winchester crimp. A fairly aggressive one, but it wouldn't surprise me on any Winchester made ammo

 

[quneur]

Someone is going to get their clock cleaned. If Winchester is running the Lake City plant, oh man. Hopefully, someone whistlebows the QC before someone gets hurt or dies.

 

[partsed]

My son bought 100 rounds of Winchester white box 300 BO ammo and one of the freaking bullets is loose in the case, you can hold onto the case and turn the bullet with your other hand!!!

 

[gmerkt]

Looks like a Winchester crimp. A fairly aggressive one, but it wouldn't surprise me on any Winchester made ammo

Winchester has been using the "factory crimp" for many years on lots of their ammo. The one that Richard Lee liked. But this is a pretty heavy application of that.

The picture of the head stamps in post #14 show both WMA and LC head stamps together. Did these come in the same bulk package as Winchester factory ammo? That seems irregular from what I'm familiar with. Even granted that Olin has the LC contract. Are we sure this is Win. factory ammo and not remanufactured from non-Winchester?

Somewhere else I read comments made by a gun dealer that since the Covid ammo scarcity, they are receiving many more complaints about ammunition failures.

 

[Pete F]

My son bought 100 rounds of Winchester white box 300 BO ammo and one of the freaking bullets is loose in the case, you can hold onto the case and turn the bullet with your other hand!

When they started producing .375 Winchester again, I got a box that over 50% of the bullets were loose. I pulled one out with my fingers. At $2.50 a round, I was upset and sent a letter to Winchester with pictures of the crimps They promptly replyed and had me send mine in and sent new nes out. It took about a week. Same type of "factory crimp." Their QC is horrible sometimes, but their customer service seems to be one of the best.

From then on, I checked all of the cartridges before I bought the box. I did get some strange looks from other customers and employees.

 

[Lasers]

The picture of the head stamps in post #14 show both WMA and LC head stamps together. Did these come in the same bulk package as Winchester factory ammo? That seems irregular from what I'm familiar with. Even granted that Olin has the LC contract. Are we sure this is Win. factory ammo and not remanufactured from non-Winchester?

Left 3 are the same brand and type, Winchester m193, just from a bulk box of 150

Center 3 are from the "bad" lots

Right 3 are from 20 Rd box of Winchester M855, stamped LC btw

 

[gmerkt]

Left 3 are the same brand and type, Winchester m193, just from a bulk box of 150

Center 3 are from the "bad" lots

Right 3 are from 20 Rd box of Winchester M855, stamped LC btw

Thanks, sorry, I didn't read that correctly the first time. So they aren't all from the same box.

The primers certainly look factory. If it's reman, primed cases with original primers have been used. Which isn't unknown.

I guess during the ammo shortage, it's to be expected that QC might slip and some anomalies would escape inspection. Unless this is going to be a change in manufacturing technique that Win. has decided to use. That hefty "factory" crimp, I don't know that it would be dangerous. A very heavy version of a crimp style Win. has long used. May affect accuracy if bullet distortion has occurred.

 

[Lasers]

I'm tempted to pull a bullet from the lot and inspect, but at this point they are paying to ship them back in and sending me a check for reimbursement (how about some ammo instead?! lol)

 

[Xmark1]

Now, That's a crimp! I wonder if they are pinned also, wouldn't want that sucker to come loose!

 

[The Heretic]

Personally, if they all had the same crimp like that, I would prefer them over other ammo. If only some had the crimp then I would assume that some cartridges from a different batch (meant for a military contract) got mixed in. My only concern in that case would be that they would shoot to a different POI than others.

Like I said, I have seen ammo like this before - the crimp is not a mistake, it is intentional.

 

[RVTECH]

the crimp is not a mistake, it is intentional.

Of course the crimp wasn't a mistake but I don't think they intended it to be that heavy.

Also take a look at pic #4 enlarged. The case mouth is rolled over as opposed to a nicely squared off to the bullet such as in the pics you posted. Also the neck is bulged and in pic #5 you can see where the crimp is so heavy the neck is taking on a slight 'octagon' shape. Also what did they seat the bullets with ? A hammer? The tips are flattened off. Also someone correct me if I am wrong but isn't ammo that has the discoloration around the neck and shoulder area typical of reman ammo and not new.

I am glad the OP is getting his money back as this is chit for ammo.

 

[Dozer99]

The discoloration is from the annealing process.

 

[The Heretic]

The discoloration is from the annealing process.

Not sure about that, could be. Usually annealing is done on the shoulder up to the neck, not just on the case mouth. It could be that they annealed the case mouth just for the ability to crimp it that much? I don't know. It would be useful to hear what Winchester has to say about the whole issue beyond refunding $

 

[Lasers]

Just in case anyone was wondering, got my check and an apology(kinda) from Winchester.

They paid me $42.00 for 3 boxes ~ 60 rounds or 70 CPR

 

[Caveman Jim]

Just in case anyone was wondering, got my check and an apology(kinda) from Winchester.

They paid me $42.00 for 3 boxes ~ 60 rounds or 70 CPR

It's good that they made it right for you. I do wonder if others (noob's) will not even notice it and shoot it…

 

[Stomper]

My son bought 100 rounds of Winchester white box 300 BO ammo and one of the freaking bullets is loose in the case, you can hold onto the case and turn the bullet with your other hand!!!

That's a feature and not a fault, it's to make them extra quiet.






Not really.

 

[arakboss]

I would save that ammo for friends and family ammo:

The emergency “friends and family” gun.

Recently there was various posts about supplying family, friends or neighbors with a gun. I’ve got my own opinion on handing out firearms to people, and although I definitely wouldn’t advise it in most cases because if they haven’t already done their due diligence already in advance acquire at...

www.northwestfirearms.com

 

[RVTECH]

It's good that they made it right for you. I do wonder if others (noob's) will not even notice it and shoot it…

Oh I am sure some do shoot ammo that looks like this. Heck I have seen noobee reloads that look about the same.

 

[OldTengu]

I shot ammo what looked like that the other day. Still here.

 

[Caveman Jim]

Oh I am sure some do shoot ammo that looks like this. Heck I have seen noobee reloads that look about the same.

And that's where the lawsuits will come from, people that don't take shooting and gun ownership seriously…