New Brass Issues

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joe-bue

joe-bue

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Has anyone had problems with new brass?

I purchased a couple hundred rounds of new Winchester brass for my 25 WSSM about 6 months ago. I just recently got to going through it (since it is winter). I always resize, and trim all new brass the same as fired. Upon going through it, I found just over 20 cases that were cracked in the neck and or shoulder. I understand that with the WSSM there are the cracking issues, but I just thought that this was strange for so many to be cracked with new brass. I was talking to another member about new brass (different caliber) and they said that they had QC issues with their brass being over trimmed, and thought that i would ask if anyone else was seeing this, or if this is common.

PS: No, I have not yet, but I am planning on opening a call to Winchester.
 
Had some Hornady brass crack on second firing, which is unusual. Haven't used any Winchester brass in a while, but I bought some loaded ammo that already had cracked necks.
 
I had brass that has cracked on the first sizing. It happens. Definitely not at a rate of twenty percent!
Perhaps they missed an annealing at the factory. If able, an annealing before sizing any more may help.
 
Actually his failure rate is around 10% rather than 20 but it is still TOO MUCH. New brass should be near 100% reliable.
Lafitte
 
I don't think its a WSSM issue. More like a Winchester issue. Their QC has be really bad for several years. Especially since the obama shortages. Sorry but not surprised to hear that your reject rate is that high!
 
I had heard about the QC issues with the 22lr stuff, but I hadn't head anything about the components. that is too bad, i usually prefer their brass.
 
I taught my neighbor how to handload 3+ yrs ago. He bought some WW brass (rifle) and I told him to inspect and size. He had 3 pieces out of the bag that were defective. I gave him the contact number for WW and he gave them a call. He ended up talking with a lady that was in charge of QC. At that time she said they had started using a new procedure. Did not say what though. He had to send the pieces in to her and she contacted him back in a couple of days and said a new package of brass was headed his way. What surprised him is he was just going to toss them and be done till I told him about CS in this industry.

Personally I think all the new procedures are to save money by cutting steps out. For them it only has to last one firing. I've seen many cases that split on the 1st firing. I now have all my shooting neighbors annealing their rifle brass every reload cycle. Much better brass life taking the time to do it.
 
That is good to know about their CS, I will hopefully contact them here in the the next week.
I personally have only been annealing for about a year, so as far as how often to do it, I am still learning. I do know that a lot of the the case life depends on the caliber.
 
Had hornady superformance brass split. Star line 38spl brass came in different lengths as bad as 5/6k off.
 
the wsm and wssm seem to suffer from short brass life, my 7wsms are probably on there last firing. i saw hornady's wssm brass one day for about 60 cents at midway, my LGS just got in a browning a-bolt medallion in 25.wssm and a zeiss conquest , have to see what he wants for it.
 
Well, I wonder if that is the reason Midway is selling the WSSM's so cheap. About $17 for a bag of 50. I ordered a bag but haven't inspected them yet. Thanks for the heads-up. I will certainly inspect them carefully.
 
lightman said:
I don't think its a WSSM issue. More like a Winchester issue. Their QC has be really bad for several years. Especially since the obama shortages. Sorry but not surprised to hear that your reject rate is that high!
Click to expand...

I agree with this. I usually don't buy brass unless is is for an odd duck....like the OP. You are not going to find this on the walmart shelf. And usually companies charge a pretty penny for it.
 
Rule3 said:
So one or two people on the internet claim Win has a QC problem and then that is a given fact??
Pretty much the same as Federal brass is all crap,
Click to expand...

I don't know anything bad about Federal brass, first hand. I've read about primer pockets getting loose prematurely.

But with Winchester brass, its a given fact for me from my personal experience! When you have bought multiple bags of brass from different sources in multiple calibers and have 5 or 10% of it defective right out of the bag. Or when 50% of it splits the necks on the first firing its hard to say anything positive about it.

If one or two people posting about it makes you skeptical then google problems with winchester brass! It seems to be more than one or two.

Its real shame too. I always liked Winchester brass. These QC issues don't seem to plague their loaded ammo. Its one of the ones that I will keep when I pick up range brass.
 
Thank goodness for the InterWeb and all the statistical valid proof testing of things that are wrong with so many things.:uhoh:
50% of necks split on first firing?? Seriously? OK whatever.
 
I seldom ever cut a mfg by name so I will say this, I have a note on my bulletin in big letters reminding me
not to buy any more cases from that mfg you mentioned in your thread.
I don't know for sure but so many things are made overseas by big name hunting & shooting companies,
I would be interested to know where they are manufactured with critic both ways. Like why over there if
not in the U.S. & if they are done here in the U.S. then there is no excuse for poor quality.
 
I am not knocking Winchester. I am a major fan of their Rifles and shotguns, and prefer the brass. I just had a bad lot of brass, multiple bags with multiple cases in each bag having issues. I wanted to know if others had seen this also with Winchester, and other manufacurers. I am one of the last people that will disregard a product or brand of product that i have been using for years, and had almost no major issues with until now. just because of one major issue. i want to see what CS says first, and what they will do to make this right. i would hate to see them go down hill considering the history, but it does, and has happened to companies.

troy fairweather said:
the wsm and wssm seem to suffer from short brass life
Click to expand...

Like Troy Fairweather said above. Both some of the WSM, and all of the WSSM have had issues, neck and shoulders since day one fat case, small hole lots of pressure. without annealing they fail fast. this many failures in new brass right out of the bag is a QC issue from the word go. It probably means they either missed an annealing step in the forming, or just didn't check close when setting up the line for production. for all i know it may have been one of the first runs on the line.

I am taking pictures of the brass this weekend, and going to send to Winchester next week to see what they say.
 
Rule3 said:
Thank goodness for the InterWeb and all the statistical valid proof testing of things that are wrong with so many things.:uhoh:
50% of necks split on first firing?? Seriously? OK whatever.
Click to expand...

Please keep in mind this is only my experience in my rifle, not “statistical valid proof testing” in any way shape or form. And if you think that I am full of crap, that is OK, you won’t be standing alone. I still buy Winchester brass. I just anneal it before I load it. Your mileage may vary.

Ok, the batch of Winchester brass that got me into annealing was new 223 shot out of a rifle that I have been loading for, for about two years, using the standard load that I almost always use. After firing all 100 cartridges I had 33 split necks. After I got my annealing setup ready this batch of 100 became my test batch. They have been annealed then loaded 4 more times. At the forth loading I ended up with 64 cases left. I will continue to load and keep track of this batch until I get tired of messing with it. It worried me because This batch was one bag of ten, and I didn’t want to lose 1000 rounds of brass. Since I have started annealing the new brass, I am not getting a noticeable amount of split necks.

And, somehow, I ended up with a few boxes of Winchester 223 target ammunition. I shot up a box trying it out. It didn’t shoot in anything I own so I pulled the bullets to try some Mexican Match. That didn’t work either, so I ended up replacing the bullets and powder. They shoot pretty well, however in the last batch of 120 I pulled, I found three split necks. This is in unfired, factory loaded ammunition. Unfortunately, this brass is not going to get annealed before firing. Annealing brass with the primer in just doesn’t work for me.
 
This isnt too uncommon, i bought 500 starline cases in 454 casull that about 15-20% are way too stiff ( have a thread on it recently called annealing pistol brass before first use- something like that, ill add a link if i can figure it out). Split a few cases on first firing, very tough to size. Contacted starline they were very friendly and just said to send any i wasnt comfortable with and theyll replace them and give me extras to cover the cost of shipping.
I will say winchester brass often has over sized rims (in 357 mag & 45 colt - maybe others) that make them very tight to get in and out of the shell holder - when i come across them i check if the slide in easily, if not i scrap them.

Charlie98 said:
I have a case of Remington 22LR that is just about unshootable.
Click to expand...
I have found any ammunition with that name on it has been beyond horrible for the past several years, wouldnt buy it in any caliber for .05 per round. Had a box of umc with a couple loaded backwards (45acp) no clue how that happened. Others way short. Some go pop, some bang, some fizzle. Just horrible.

Rule3 said:
Pretty much the same as Federal brass is all crap
Click to expand...
Kind of tough to tell if youre being sarcastic. I think pretty highly of federal brass , ive got federal handgun cases that have been extensively used at very high pressure with no issues.
 
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