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Culling new brass, Is this typical of Winchester brass?

J

jd65

Sergeant of the Hide
Full Member
Minuteman
Jan 7, 2014
398
73
Texas
#1
I purchased 100 pieces of Winchester brass in 300wsm. I have culled 19 pieces for these issues so far.
1)Split neck
2)Case head diameter too big. Won’t fit in the case holder
3)Case OAL .02 under the trim to length
4)Flash hole messed
5)Primer pocket messed up
5)Shoulder has dings all around it. Almost has a wrinkled look to it.

I’ll weight sort tomorrow and see what I have left. This is the first time that I have bought Winchester brass. Previously I have only worked with Lapua & Nosler and I didn’t have this many issues. Is this a perfect example of you get what you pay for?

B5E28F1F-5C43-4B09-93A0-68C09A8DCEA5.jpeg


F4D5173C-698F-4289-B963-E4C8EF0E4CD5.jpeg


B4A336BB-F25B-4F6E-A292-63F3D1170446.jpeg
 
#3
I get better looking range pickup than that. Lol

Bad lot probably.
Wonder if Winchester will make it right?

Worth a try.
 
#4
That’s unfortunate for sure. I started reloading years ago with Win brass for 308 and the only perceived problem was inconsistent shoulder set back that I believe was due to a metallurgy issues. I could be wrong. I only work with Lapua these days. That’s poor QC on Winchester’s part if that is what they’re passing along these days. Times change I guess.
 
#8
Winchester has no quality control or blind inspectors. A year or two I purchased 4 bags of 300 WM brass, cull rate was 25% plus. I made some phone calls and eventually sent them in, but i won't be buying any more red black and white bag fodder. No issues with the old blue and white bags. Peterson, Alpha , Lapua, lots of good brass available out there.
 
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#9
My red/ black winchester brass looked the same as the stuff pictured above. I sent a couple emails and pictures and they sent me a refund. I hated to see a staple company like that do that to themselves this day in age.
 
#10
Sadly, this seems to be a common problem with the newer Red/Black bags of Winchester Brass! Several years back I purchased 2- 50 round bags of 300 WM brass. Out of those 100 pieces, I culled 2 that had neck/shoulder creases, or folds that were definitely an issue... The rest looked acceptable. I've read many issues with these newer runs pf brass. On a good note, last week going through my brass stash, I found 2 new 100 round bags of the older Blue Bag 22-250 brass, that I didn't remember I had..... Ha Ha.... Feeling pretty lucky finding those!!!!!
 
#11
This stuff is from the new red & black bag. The Nosler and and Norma stuff was more than I wanted to spend but at the rate this is going I'll be evened up before long. Here I go with the get what you pay for & buy once, cry once! Lesson learned ...again
 
#14
Its been a long time since I bought Win brass but when I did it was much better than that. I would call the company to see if they'll replace the bags you bought. I wouldn't have any confidence in what is in those bags.
 
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#17
You can try Jageman brass. My 308 stuff of theirs has been pretty good, and it was cheaper than Winchester brass. The one thing on your list that wouldn't bug me is the trim length. I can always trim it... but split necks and wrinkled shit is a no go. I've dug 7.62x51 NATO out of dry crusty desert ranges that looked better than that after sitting in the desert for 30 years
 
#18
Ryridesmotox said:
You can try Jageman brass. My 308 stuff of theirs has been pretty good, and it was cheaper than Winchester brass. The one thing on your list that wouldn't bug me is the trim length. I can always trim it... but split necks and wrinkled shit is a no go. I've dug 7.62x51 NATO out of dry crusty desert ranges that looked better than that after sitting in the desert for 30 years
Click to expand...

I'll look into Jageman as I don't recall coming across that brand in my search for brass. The few pieces mentioned about length, they were too short, as in .02 - .03 under the "trim to length" too short. They are still usable but wont be in my lineup of starters. I'll use them on the practice squad. The cases with the large case head/rim, I'm thinking of chucking them up in the lathe and polish or turn them to the correct size, which will only take about .005 - .01 off the diameter to get them to fit in my case holder. I think there was 12 pieces set aside just for the large head/rim. I do know I wont be buying Winchester brass again after this mess.
 
#19
jd65 said:
I'll look into Jageman as I don't recall coming across that brand in my search for brass. The few pieces mentioned about length, they were too short, as in .02 - .03 under the "trim to length" too short. They are still usable but wont be in my lineup of starters. I'll use them on the practice squad. The cases with the large case head/rim, I'm thinking of chucking them up in the lathe and polish or turn them to the correct size, which will only take about .005 - .01 off the diameter to get them to fit in my case holder. I think there was 12 pieces set aside just for the large head/rim. I do know I wont be buying Winchester brass again after this mess.
Click to expand...

Looking at their lists, Jag doesnt make WSM yet... or they aren't listing it on their site. If they arent secretly turning them out, you cant go wrong with alpha. Plus they send the brass in a cartridge box, which is convenient, and it also kind of evens out the cost of the brass piece for piece.

A few firings and resizings and those short cases will be long enough. I would definitely use them as sighters/foulers until they got long enough to trim, but make sure and keep them on the same firing cycle as the rest so they wear the same.
 
#20
I had that issue with the old blue bag stuff. Around 20% cull rate for ultra short cases, shoulder set back issues, crooked necks/dented shoulders, etc. I got rid of all the other brass I used and went with Lapua. Never looked back.
 
#21
Bantam1 said:
I had that issue with the old blue bag stuff. Around 20% cull rate for ultra short cases, shoulder set back issues, crooked necks/dented shoulders, etc. I got rid of all the other brass I used and went with Lapua. Never looked back.
Click to expand...

I do wish Lapua made 300wsm brass
 
#23
Not normal. I use a bunch of win 243 brass, when the 2012 shortage hit I sucked it up and bought lapua 243 because win brass was all out. About the same time I got a new micrometer to measure nk thickness. The lapua brass had nk thickness anywhere from .017 to .013 on the same case! I ended up paying alot extra to have to turn nks on it. I checked the new win brass I had, .014 all the way around on multiple cases.
 
#25
I run all new brass through my dies any manufacturers.

I get a little ocd after that and tumble the hell out of it as well.

Will have the same wax buildup as my other rounds inside and out.

Dont normally have to trim since mostly just setting neck tension.
I think I may have trimmed sig or starline brass?
 
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#26
jd65 said:
This stuff is from the new red & black bag. The Nosler and and Norma stuff was more than I wanted to spend but at the rate this is going I'll be evened up before long. Here I go with the get what you pay for & buy once, cry once! Lesson learned ...again
Click to expand...

Rumor has it Nosler buys their brass through Norma.

I've never had issues with Winchester but I'd bet everything I'm using is 20 years old or better.

New I buy Hornady for cheap, Lapua/Peterson/alpha if it needs to last.

I will say for cheap brass I haven't seen anyone beat Hornady. Haven't had to cull any cases yet, but I don't even bother trimming or measuring length until they're once fired.
 
#27
I would have put off trimming till once fired if I could have. The length on these varied almost .04 and the case mouths were not even close to straight, as in one side would measure .01 - .015 longer than the other. I'm not sure the best way to describe it, but how I noticed it the first time was when a case was rolling on the table, the end of the case looked like a wave.
 
#28
I've had good luck with 223 & 308 Winchester brass, but I have not bought them for several yrs, but last fall I bought Winchester 30-30 brass and it was ok, so maybe something changed. Maybe just a few calibers ? I'd send them an e-mail.
 
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