So,a friend gave me a box of Winchester brass. He'd bought the ammo new at Walmart and gave me the once fired brass when he was done. This is where it got weird. I was trying a new load with a Nosler bt bullet and started at the low end of the powder range in their manual. I did have to seat the bullet a little deeper than they did as the OAL they listed had the bullet jammed in the rifling. The primer pockets felt tight when priming then. When I shot the box of 20, I had two leaking primers which it's never seen before. I was pretty concerned but didn't see any signs of high pressure or anything which I thought was odd. I find a load with another bullet that worked well and went to load these a second time. I found 19 out of 20 to have loose primer pockets. I scrapped those and kept the one that was tight. I checked inside the case with a paper clip and didn't feel any sign of case separation. When I shot it, I ejected it only to find a crack at the bottom of the case with case separation happening. Something else I've never experienced. The other 20 pieces of Remington bra I've been using are holding up well and haven't had any issues. Was this likely a bad batch of brass or was something else going on?
Is this a bad batch of brass?
- Thread starter slowr1der
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ironworkerwill
Member
I used to like Win brass, now not so much. I got 3 firings from one batch before the pockets became loose. All Win factory loaded brass. I have NOT had a separation.(270,223, and 7-08)
I have some 7-08 Rem brass that has been loaded 8+ times and the pockets are holding up.
Got some 7-08 PPU brass from a guy here on THR and it has been the best yet as far as factory loaded brass. I hate to say it, but it's not made in the U.S.
I have some 7-08 Rem brass that has been loaded 8+ times and the pockets are holding up.
Got some 7-08 PPU brass from a guy here on THR and it has been the best yet as far as factory loaded brass. I hate to say it, but it's not made in the U.S.
I've had different experience with Winchester brass. All good in my book. What primer brand are you using? It sounds like the primer and primer pocket is miss-matched. As to the case separation - It would only take one and yes I would throw the entire lot of brass out. I assume you reload for the rifle a lot and are not having any other problems.
Swampman
Old Fart
You didn't mention the caliber, but I've noticed the drop in quality of Winchester brass is most pronounced in their .223 brass. 7 or 8 years ago Winchester was my all around favorite, but current brass seems softer and much more prone to splitting in the neck/shoulder area, sometimes on the first firing right out of the factory box!
I haven't noticed the same drop in quality in the Winchester +P .257 Roberts brass. The last couple bags I purchased seem to be holding up well.
I haven't noticed the same drop in quality in the Winchester +P .257 Roberts brass. The last couple bags I purchased seem to be holding up well.
243winxb
Member
Your friends rifle needs its headspace checked. Excess headspace will damage new factory brass/ammo on the first firing.
I was using Winchester Large Rifle primers as well. Now I am wondering about the headspace on his rifle. I was originally worried about that on mine, but following a local gunsmiths advice he told me to back the sizing die off 1/8th of a turn at a time and resize a case. If the headspace was off he said I should be able to do that until I felt resistance when closing the bolt on the brass and I'd have the brass sized for that rifle. I've never heard of this, but never needed it so I guess he knew what he was talking about. I tried it and if I backed off the die any from the shell holder I couldn't even close the bolt on it. That combined with the fact that Remington brass hasn't given me any issues makes me think it's not my rifle. The Remington brass was range pickups.
That said, I've always had great luck with Winchester brass in other calibers too. It's been one of my favorites.
That said, I've always had great luck with Winchester brass in other calibers too. It's been one of my favorites.
gamestalker
member
I haven't had any thing like that happen, that sounds strange. I get 8-10 loadings from most of my bottle neck brass. Up until recently, the only issues I have with Win. is some minor flaws, with exception to a recent batch I bought new. This new batch of 7mm RM had some major issues with the necks, took some work to get them loadable.
GS
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