Are there two WWB brands???

[Dogguy]

I was doodling around on the Net this morning and found another gun forum with a stickie from 2008 that baffles me.

According to the poster, there are two Winchester USA ammos out there. The 50-round boxes and the 100-round Value Packs are said to be two different ammos. This poster said the 50-round boxes are good quality but the Value Packs are the equivalent of "factory seconds" and cause frequent failures to feed, eject, ignite...total crap ammo.

As someone who has shot a buttload of rounds from both types of boxes of Winchester USA in .38 Special, 9mm and .45 ACP, I do not recall ever having any type of failure with either. I also find it impossible to believe that any manufacturer of ammunition would market "seconds", considering the number of lawyers practicing in the country.

My inclination is to trust but verify and my experience has not verified any difference except the boxes. What has been the experiences of others?

 

[Scott30]

I have seen no difference between the two. With the 50 rd box you are paying extra for the packaging. If you want neat boxes and to save a little cash then buy 2 of the 50 rd, shoot them and refill with the value packs.

 

[dsb1829]

In my limited experience the WWB is only good for plinking and wasting money. The 100rd box from Walmart was exceptionally bad with respect to groupings. A friend had just put new sights on his Kimber and thought he was having a bad day, so he handed his gun over to the range master (a notoriously good shot). After firing a few rounds the range master declared that it was embarrassing and walked off to grab some other ammo. He then proceeded to put 4 rounds through a single hole with that ammo. Compared to the 4-5in group the difference was obvious.

I like WWB for plinking though. It has a light recoil and is accurate enough to shoot plates and silhouettes of moderate size. Great for getting a lot of rounds through a gun to break it in. Personally I have not had any issues or failures with the 45ACP in either 50 or 100 box. I did have on FTF in 38 Special 50 box. I can't say I notice any difference between the boxes in terms of quality of ammo. Both set the bar fairly low.

 

[gearhead]

The WWB ammo is all over the place for overall length, also. It causes feeding problems with some pistols.

 

[rbernie]

To address the OP - no, I do not believe that the WWB ammo is different between the 50rd and 100rd packaging.

 

[dc.fireman]

The 50-round boxes and the 100-round Value Packs are said to be two different ammos. This poster said the 50-round boxes are good quality but the Value Packs are the equivalent of "factory seconds" and cause frequent failures to feed, eject, ignite...total crap

What has been the experiences of others?

I have experienced the same : in two separate boxes of WWB 100 round packs, I had 3 FTE's , & 1 FTF. Each time I pulled the trigger it went bang, but the stovepipes were enough to make me swear it off for good. I load my own, or use Remington 45 now.

 

[rocky1]

My experience is that there are a whole lot of self-professed experts on the Internet, and you can only believe a fraction of what you read there.

If it shoots well for you; why worry about it?? If it doesn't buy something else!

 

[oldbear]

The Winchester “White Box” and the Remington “UMC” is defiantly second tier ammo, not as powerful, accurate, and much dirtier than their first line ammo. When ammo was hard to find I shot some of it but only as range ammo. I would never carry it for self-defense.

On a side note I think it’s sad that two old line and respected American companies have been reduced to selling quantity instead of quality.

 

[Blackbeard]

I think the 50 and 100 boxes are the same ammo. For the record, I've never had a failure with any WWB round, but then my gun is famous for its "perfection".

 

[dogtown tom]

Dogguy:T...his poster said the 50-round boxes are good quality but the Value Packs are the equivalent of "factory seconds"...

Same ammunition from the same equipment off the same manufacturing line.
Different box.

 

[Dr.Rob]

I recall at some point the bullets went from being copper to looking like they were brass washed and back. That is probably the source of the myth. I've shot a ton of WWB and saw no difference, even loading both 'color' cartidges into the same magazine.

It's not match grade ammunition and you shouldn't expect it to perform as such.

 

[Guns and more]

I think the 50 and 100 boxes are the same ammo. For the record, I've never had a failure with any WWB round,

Ditto.
I look at it this way. I could buy top of the line ammo and pay twice as much, then practice half as much.
WWB is good for practice, and I certainly wouldn't want to be shot with it.
I doubt a bad guy would say, "Is that WWB you have in your 9mm.? Ha! Bring it on!"

For the record, I've never had a failure with any WWB round. More likely, your failures have been the firearm.
As far as specs. I actually bought a digital caliper to measure ammo for my Seecamp. Yeah, it's finicky about ammo. The WWB was very consistent in length.

 

[writerinmo]

I had two rounds with little or no powder out of one 100 round box, the bullet literally fell out of the end of the barrel. That was enough for me to say "No More" WWB. Plus I can now get both Federal Champion and Blazer brass cheaper, so no reason to pay more for ammo that I've had a problem with.

 

[stickhauler]

On the plus side, with the 100 round value pack, I've often gotten a couple extra rounds in a box. The 50 round boxes, they put the rounds in pretty trays. The 100 round box, they dump the suckers into the box and seal it. Not a bit of difference.

I've never noticed Blazer Brass to be any better or worse than WWB, or UMC.

 

[Patriotme]

I shoot a lot of WWB and I'm buying ammo for three shooters so money is definately a concern. I've never had any problem with WWB. This is most of what I shoot in 9mm today.

 

[jwash3rd]

On another forum somebody asked about cartridge length. Out of curiosity I measured the AOL of 10 rounds out of every brand I had on hand. The 100 round box of WWB actually had tighter tolerances than the 50. It all shoots the same to me, though.

 

[Davek1977]

Both appear and funcion identically to me. I have no reaqson to believe the ammo is any different other than packaging

 

[Geckgo]

You know, it's funny how SOOOO many of us could have no problems after dumping nearly 1000 of these through our guns, and others seem to get lucky to find a box that will actually shoot without any problems.

If I'm putting 99% of my rounds in a 3" circle at 10 yrds with WWB offhand and I switch to federal premium, that means all my groups will go in the same hole??? Neat! I need to try that.

 

[Hangingrock]

Over a ten year plus period I’ve experienced no memorable problems with 45ACP and 9mm-Luger WWB in various pistols of different manufactures. Since I can’t run through a rain storm with out getting wet or leap tall buildings with a single bound I’m fairly certain that my experience is the rule as opposed to the exception.

This is not to say tomorrow that I may experience difficulties mentioned by others with WWB.

 

[Geckgo]

Get a bad one... chuck it and fire the next one. Good practice

 

[oldfool]

shucks, they all shoot same out of my handguns
no FTE, no FTF, just pull trigger, they go bang, sound, feel, and hit just like the real thing
and hit same at 15 yards as the boutique stuff, straight up or mix-n-match, light or heavy loads

advantage revolver

 

[BeerSleeper]

Anyone think the difference could be due to the packaging? Maybe 100 rounds bouncing loose in a box during all shipping/handline, maybe that accounts for the variance in cartridge OAL, vs the 50 round boxes that are packed in styrofoam trays?

 

[SKILCZ]

I've literally never had a failure with WWB that I can recall. I use it as target/plinking ammo and have fired thousands of rounds of it easily. I've used it in numerous calibers, too, both pistol and rifle. I've never compared it to match-grade target ammo, but it works well for plinking, IMO. YMMV, apparently. I'm happy with it for plinking.

 

[Ole Coot]

I never had any problems. I haven't shot anyone lately and as to accuracy let's just say I never drove any tacks with a handgun. A general rule, if it goes bang and seems to hit hard you need an extensive testing procedure which will tell you zip if only a few rounds aren't up to par. It's a rumor until proven otherwise.

 

[DashCasey0120]

One thing I noticed about the last box of WWB I bought was that they had a funny mark, was a circle with four little dots in it, couldn't hardly get the primer out later when I was gonna reload them, any thoughts on that one