Purchased a new box of Winchester PDX1 today, rounds are damaged in box *PICS*

[IdahoHk416]

I went down to my LGS today and purchased a box of Winchester PDX1 .45 230 gr jhp to carry in my new Hk USP .45 compact.

When I opened the box and inspected the rounds, I found that several of them had deep gouges/dents in the brass where the bullet seats. Also, several of the bullets had dents/gouges in them as well.

I took several pics and contacted Winchester customer service about the issue. I have been seeing this more and more with ammo that I have been purchasing. It seems as they try to keep up with demand, QC has dropped. I just find this unacceptable with ammunition that I may have to use to defend myself with one day.

Here are some pics-

 

[MICHAEL T]

I agree QC seems to be down . Seems more squib loads also. I would want that box replaced and another for my trouble

 

[rhinoh]

Not sure why you posted your receipt...are you trying to blame the dealer in some way? We believe you did buy the box rather than steal it

I too have noticed a decline in quality of ammo..I have a 5.56 round right out of the box that looks like it was run over in coarse gravel by a tank

 

[BigBore44]

That's a shame. PDX1 is good ammo. Keep us posted on what Winchester says.

 

[IdahoHk416]

I posted the pic with the receipt because it's one of the pics that I sent to Winchester. I posted the same four pics that I sent them.

 

[stressed]

I would be upset as well at over $1 a round. Ive had federal factory seconds in better condition

 

[Drail]

I've been carrying my own carefully constructed handloads for 40 years. This why. I have seen factory ammo in boxes with primers seated upside down and sideways or no powder in the case or no crimp. If the factories are going to sell us crappy ammo at least they should price it like crappy ammo. Then it would be like McDonalds - you don't expect much but you don't pay much for it either.

 

[Enachos]

Winchester QC has gone WAAAYYYYYY down! I too have found dinged up rounds of PDX1. Even found split cases on some rounds... I'll upload a picture when I get a chance. This is the only ammo that occasionally causes my firearms to misfunction. I have since parted with Winchester. No longer for me. No sir.

 

[Enachos]

With Winchester I have experienced split casings, squib loads, bad primers/seating, and even some rounds that were so out-of-spec that they wouldn't chamber even if you tried dropping the round into the barrel with the pistol disassembled... While the majority of the malfunctions I experienced were with WWB, I too have also had bad luck out of their so-called premium ammo. I'll stick with handloads from now on... Call me a control freak.

 

[loose noose]

Just the other day I got to shoot that AMT .22 Auto Mag II, you guessed it I was out shooting the .22 Winchester Magnum Supreme. After about 5 rounds I had an extra powerful feeling load, and felt a heat around my face, and found the empty casing down by my feet. The casing had ruptured down by the base of the casing. I shot some Federal's afterward and never had another problem.

Needless to say I won't be shooting any more Winchester regardless of the caliber. There quality has really gone down the tubes.

 

[WestKentucky]

WWB rendered a brand new keltec pf9 unusable on the first mag when a friend bought one a couple years back. After calling keltec thinking it was gun issue we quickly got the FU since it was a hot round stuck partially chambered. Rigged up a vise to hold the gun and sunk it in a pond and pounded the round out with the proverbial BFH and a long metal rod. Case was jacked up when we got it loose, it stove piped after we beat it so we saw the issue. The cases were bulged near the extractor groove and wouldn't work in any of the 4 or 5 9mm there that day when using the plunk test. Keep in mind this was 2 maybe 3 years ago...before the shortage really got going. I stopped with their ammo then.

 

[kilibreaux]

Drail, you are SO right! Now days you hear all sorts of clap-trap about the reliability of factory ammo, yet I'd put my handloads up against anything made in an automated factory these days. I KNOW my cases are powdered (correctly) and I KNOW my primers are seated properly, and I KNOW the condition of my brass, and I know how to join it all together to end up with ammo that chambers fires and ejects with amazing reliability.

I'm reminded that back in the days when pistols were single-shot, muzzle loaded, people took great care to load them properly because they knew that one shot had to fire. Today, going to a range and blowing away hundreds of rounds punching holes through paper seems the norm...and the same mentality has been creeping into hand loading...more who get into reloading are doing it to save a few bucks while churning out huge numbers of rounds...they don't care to start slow, learn all the ins and outs and potential pitfalls because they THINK the machine is "the expert." Then the machine fails to powder a case, or powders one twice and they never even had a clue until they're standing there stupfied looking at the bottom half of a gun still in their hand. THEN they jump online and post pictures of their "kaboom" and attempt to paint a picture that it was someone the GUN'S fault...or the factory ammo they shot BEFORE they shot their handloads...we're seeing a lot more blown guns because people are increasingly reliant on someone else to build for them the ammunition quality they don't "have time, nor interest" to do for themselves.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

I've never bought a box of PDX exactly for this reason. Ever box I look at has beat up rounds in it.

 

[poetdante]

I have some rounds that look like that (from jamming when I was racking the slide to get the first round in. How likely the round won't function when I need it to? I made sure the rounds that had the small dent were the ones in the chamber. I'm a student so self defense ammo is hard to afford (bought a box of 50 online for what a box of 30 at the store would cost me). Please tell me I didn't ruin 15% of my only defense ammo...

 

[Field Tester]

Please keep us updated and what Winchester's response is.

I know they also had a recall last week on some of their. 22lr ammo. They initially didn't even state how they were going to compensate.

I'm curious what their response will be to you. This stuff is not cheap. Off to check my box now.

 

[Fri]

I bought a box of pdx1 three or four years ago that had a round with a dent but larger than the one pictured. I spoke with a CS rep and they sent a return label to me and had me send back the bad round via UPS. A couple weeks later, I received a $20 voucher in the mail to use at any store that sells Winchester ammo.

Chris

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Poetdante, I'm pretty sure the line you are seeing is from bullet seating, not a defect. I have fired many rounds that have a similar ring that came that way from the factory. Never a problem. But if you look at the OP's pics, they look damaged. Not the same thing

Unless I'm not seeing the full extent on your picks.

 

[Drail]

Try to avoid rechambering rounds in a semi auto gun. While you should be able to do this if the rounds are poorly constructed it can cause very serious problems if the bullet sets back far enough in a high pressure round. The bullets are setting back because there is not enough neck tension. Poor quality control during high speed mass production is the reason. Factory rounds have gotten really bad in this regard in the last few years. Just one more reason why if it absolutely positively HAS to work - I'll stick with my own handloads. Relying on mass produced factory ammo for self defense use is like buying used tires from Bubba down at the gas station and driving cross country with them at high speed.

 

[Barry the Bear]

Never tried the pdx1 outside of their shotgun offerings, but the silvertips to me are the worst of the worst, tried some in .44 spl was told to expect 900 fps out of a 5 inch barrel, well my 29-3 is sitting in at 6.5 inches long and we chrono'd them at around 755. Apart from cheap practice rounds winchester no longer fills my defense needs.

 

[Snowdog]

Poetdante, I have a few hundred rounds of XM40HC (essentially brass-cased 180gr HST) that has that occur just from sitting in the magazine. All cases will be "lineless" when loaded in the mag and after 3 weeks of carrying around in a M&P40c, half will develop those.

Every one I've taken to the range worked flawlessly, so I don't think it affect function in any way.

 

[stressed]

I've never even bought or shot WWB. I hear it's garbage. Remington UMC is what I use for cheap plinking, then again remington isnt well liked in the .22 community for their thunderbolts.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Each manufacturer has issues that people don't like. My own experience has been

Winchester = expensive and dinged up
Federal = underpowered
Hornady = poor crimp on the semiaouto ammo, bullet setback after three or four chamberings, and some say not loaded to advertised velocities, though I have no issue with it
Speer = expensive and hard to find (Hard to find cuz it's quality though.)
Corbon = expensive and hard to find (same reason)
Remington = old tech IMO and defense ammo is expensive
Buffalo Bore = expensive

These are just my opinions. Yours will differer. Of course for every person who doesn't like an ammo company's product, there are many who do like them.

I like speer ammo the most. It has proven itself over and over in gel tests, the ammo is always loaded warm, and the cartridges are clean. Again, tha's JMO.

 

[243winxb]

new plant, employees & machinery = Defects

More Win. http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=9356269#post9356269

 

[USAF_Vet]

I bought some 5.56 that looked pretty beat up. I had to check the box and make sure I didn't buy reloads.
With ammo production presumably going full bore, quality control standards are probably reduced to meet demand.

 

[Godsgunman]

Hence why I reload my own ammo, even my defensive ones. I have complete control and know exactly what goes in each load. Call me a control freak but the only ammo I've ever had issues with is store bought.