Winchester Ranger Ammo recall

[[email protected]]

I got an email earlier that said winchster is recalling some of their Ranger Q4355 40 S&W 180 grain bonded ammo. Inside the flap of the box there is a "Day code" and all codes starting with F and EN are effected. It is reported that some of these rounds do not have a flash hole in the case.

URGENT URGENT URGENT – ACTION REQUIRED TODAY
The FBI is working with Winchester on a potentially serious condition affecting all recently
produced .40 S&W, Winchester, Q4355, 180grain, Bonded SERVICE ammunition. Some of the
cartridge casings were produced without a flash hole. This condition completely eliminates
the ability of this Service cartridge to fire – this is a “silent killer” in that no visual inspection by
FBI personnel can detect this manufacturing defect and it would only be known at the time the
Agent attempted to fire their handgun. A limited number of problems have been reported
however this is such a dangerous condition immediate action across the FBI is necessary.
Affected ammunition will have a four character “day code”, two letters, two numbers, i.e., FA
42. All Q4355 with day codes beginning with the letter F and any Q4355 with the two letter
combination of EN are included in this recall.
This ammunition must be removed from FBI service weapons and magazines IMMEDIATELY.
Again, boxed ammunition with the following codes must be removed from service
IMMEDIATELY:
Product Code: Q4355
Day Code: Any code beginning with F or EN
See attached file for photo identifying the location of these codes on the ammunition
box.
.
This recall only affects Winchester ammunition Q4355, 180grain, Bonded SERVICE with day
codes outlined above.

 

[Hammerhead]

Hello,
There is nothing on the Winchester site about this. Can anyone confirm it?

Regards,
Rick

 

[fastbolt]

It's not uncommon for the major ammo companies not to list a public "recall" if the ammo involved was only produced for a LE/Gov contract.

 

[WardenWolf]

Or, possibly in this case, intended for law enforcement only. Winchester tries to keep this ammo out of public hands, but it's pretty widely available nonetheless. It's possible they're deliberately excluding making it public for this reason.

 

[918v]

This is what happens when .gov buys too much all at once.

 

[918v]

Also, this is a real good reason to use handloads for self defense. You know, at the very least, they have flash holes.

 

[[email protected]]

The notice was sent from a friend who works in research with the TBI. The same email went to other officers and other agencies, not just to me and my agency. I shared this since it was not labled "Confidental LE only", and as a warning since some Law Enforcement Only ammo ends up on the market. I believe Midway Usa recently had a similar over run of this ammo on sale, but it came in a more plain white box.

 

[rajb123]

hmmm.... ammo without flash holes.... that is useful..... it sounds like it was invented by the anti-gun lobby....

 

[Mike_Hughes]

No flash hole in winchester white box 115 g 9mm

I searched this issue and came to this post. was just shooting Area 8 and had a major malfunction in my glock 19. there was no flash hole in my round and it sent the entire round (brass and all) down the barrel. I have photos at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3789199207203.2148102.1193764770&type=3 and I believe this album is public (if your not a friend on FB).
Anyhow, have not seen much on this but it is a serious issue, there is no feasible visual inspection to cull these rounds out. Granted white box is generally practice ammo but I lost confidence in this stuff for a match. In all fairness I love Winchester white box for its surprising accuracy and reliability (generally) . Will contact them Monday and see what they say, will reply on this post with the companies comments.
Mike Hughes