WWB... WTH?

[CanonLyles]

So, last day home I went to Wally World and bought a 9mm and .357 mag. The RWS 124 gr FMJ has come down to $13/ box and it's more accurate than WWB 115 gr. The only .357 they had was WWB 110 gr. SJHP. OK. Cool. Since I was home today, I decided to run out to the farm and relieve some stress by taking out the SR9 and SP101. I started off with the SP. I load in the first 5 rounds, and 5 booms. Sweet. Pretty accurate at 5 yards. (My SP is for home defense, and my home's not that big LOL) Next 5 load in. 2 booms, and I can't pull the trigger. I can't even open the cylinder with my hands. I had to beat the cylinder open with my palm. It took a little while, too. Finally get it open and inspect the brass while still in the cylinder. I pulled noticed the base on one round appeared to be slightly taller than the others. With the suspected round out, I was able to freely spin the cylinder with it just at the lock point of the crane. Normal. Popped in the suspect round, and it wouldn't spin. AHAH! I was right. Went back to shooting. The next 5 go off great. The next 5 loaded went boom, boom, click. Now, a FTF. This happened 5 times throughout a box of 50. 6 bad rounds total. 1 did fire after retrying it, so it was almost 7. 6 out 50. That's 12%. That's not very good. I have had nothing but great luck with WWB in my SR9. What the heck guys? Did I just happen to get a bad box or what?

 

[Jimbo357mag]

Bad batch of imported ammo. Might be ok for practice but don't rely on it for self-defense. Winchester in particular seems to get bad batches of stuff, ammo, or brass or primers. Me thinks they are trying too hard to save money.

...Jimbo

 

[reakin]

I'd send Winchester an email with that info, plus the lot # from the box and UPC code. Help them track a potentially bad lot of ammo, plus maybe they'll send you a coupon for your next box.

reakin

 

[Mobuck]

Did you happen to notice the rim thickness on the offending rounds? Three or four years ago, I got some foreign made ammo that caused lots of grief. I thought it was bad primers untill I noticed the rims on the FTF were much thinner than normal and a couple that caused drag were thicker.

 

[CanonLyles]

That's a good idea, reakin. What fired, shot great. I know that White Box isn't the top-o-the-line, but is still supposed to shoot most every time. I could understand 1 out of 50, maybe 2. 6 rounds is about $3.50... I think I derserve it. lol

Jimbo, WWB is made in the USA... :shock: It's actually called "USA Brand" by Winchester.

I use Winchester ammo 95+% of the time. So, this is a stick in my side after so much good luck with one brand.

 

[CanonLyles]

Did you happen to notice the rim thickness on the offending rounds? Three or four years ago, I got some foreign made ammo that caused lots of grief. I thought it was bad primers untill I noticed the rims on the FTF were much thinner than normal and a couple that caused drag were thicker.

I did on the one that stuck. I even have the box next to my set of dial calipers, just had to come back to work before I could get any specs measured. LOL But, I have it ready to go when I get back home. I'll keep that in mind whenever I get back to the house.

Thanks, Mobuck

 

[Sugar River]

Just a thought.....
Did you happen to notice if the FTFs all occurred in the same chamber?

It's something to consider, though it does sound like an ammo problem.

Pete

 

[CanonLyles]

I didn't notice, but I did have 2 FTF in one full load. So, I doubt it was the gun.

BTW, I did check for light strikes and they were all hit good.

 

[DGW1949]

That's a good idea, reakin. What fired, shot great. I know that White Box isn't the top-o-the-line, but is still supposed to shoot most every time. I could understand 1 out of 50, maybe 2. 6 rounds is about $3.50... I think I derserve it. lol

Jimbo, WWB is made in the USA... :shock: It's actually called "USA Brand" by Winchester. ................
...........

Maybe it is, maybe it aint.
Me thinks that the "USA" being used is more of a brand ID than a statement of where it is made. I don't know about their 9MM....but.... I encountered some .223 WWB-"USA" a couple of years ago that was made in Isreal, and so marked on the inside of the box flap.

Just saying.

DGW

 

[CanonLyles]

LOL. Right? I haven't seen any other countries on the box, but I've always wondered.

 

[Kevin]

Wow, you know I've experienced a similar sort of thing in my GP100. The Winchester White Box, right? Some, in fact, many of the rims were thick enough to cause the cylinder to bind. I don't shoot the gun that much and haven't given it a thought in a while. Perhaps I'll take it out of the safe and test it out again...Thanks,

 

[twobisquit]

I have a box of Winchester 333 .22's that do the same in my Single Six. I think all of them have thick rims. No problems with other brands

 

[CanonLyles]

OK. Just measured the rim of the fired, FTF, and sticking cartridge. I forgot to mention the rub marks on the back of the sticking cartridge in my original post. But, with my (most likely uncalibrated) dial calipers the rim thicknes on the rounds that fired good were .040" to .045". The FTF had the same specs. The jamming round is a hair over .060". So, my conclusion is, 5 bad primers and 1 janked up case. You can see raised beveling on it. I'll post some pics later today when I get the camera out.