[ac700wildcat]

I've been reloading for almost two years now and have used only Winchester brass for 30-06 and 300wm. I haven't had any troubles other than a few necks that weren't perfectly round, but that is taken care of when I size it. I recently got a 25-06 and bought some new Winchester brass to start reloading for it, but I've found a few problems with some of the cases. The biggest problem is that a bunch of the flash holes aren't centered in the primer pocket. The other problem is that there seems to be some spots in the brass that are kinda stained. Even after tumbling these cases for two hours these spots are still there.

 

[People]

The out of round will happen with any manufacture. A lot of that happens in transport. I bought 500 6mmbr Lapua brass and many of them had mouths that were not round any more.
Those spots are just watter spots from the final wash they give their cassings they do not hurt performance one bit.
The flash hole thing out of the last 1,000 .308 brass I bought I had 26 or 27 that had off center flash holes. Most of them were close but a few I think they were punched out by hand while heavily drinking.

 

[Csquared]

I had that same situation with some R/P .22/250 brass a few years ago. I called Remington, and they asked me to send a couple bad cases to them. A couple weeks later I rec'd a check to cover the cost of 100 more.

 

[ac700wildcat]

I guess I'm not worried about the out of round or even the stains. They won't effect performance. I'm wondering what kind of effect the off centered flash holes would have tho. I don't spose it will hurt anything to shoot them and see what it does or just throw the handful of them out. I'll get ahold Winchester and see what they say.

 

[NDTerminator]

Got a hundred bag of Win 44 Mag brass recently and they are fine...

 

[nesika308]

Try Norma..... I did and never knew life was this good. I am also getting more loads per case.

 

[ac700wildcat]

Only problem is there are only two companies that make 25-06 brass, Winchester and Remington. At least they are the only two that I could find. I haven't gotten ahold of Winchester yet. I haven't really looked to hard for a number to call, but didn't see one on their website, only an address.

 

[nesika308]

Got to thinking and nosler makes a great product, but its a bit thick for me.

 

[Centerfire]

I have had issues with Winchester brass. The problem I have had with 22-250 and 243 is the wall thickness at the neck/mouth being thicker. Shaves skin on outside of the bullet when being seated and chambers harder than Remington brass. I have never had this problem with Remington - I try to stay away from the no-name bulk brass

 

[duckslyr]

i have a 243 WSSM and a 7MM WSM and would stop buying win brass if i could find another company that made brass for those calibers. out of every bag i buy i have to throw away at least 5. they have really bad creases in the neck one of them actually had a hole in the neck.

 

[mike moss]

Dear Winchester May 12, 2011

On April 22, 2011, I purchased three fifty ct. bags of 25:06 brass from Gander Mountain, and as I started working up the brass, I noticed several quality assurance and safety issues. I had talked with Kathy at ext.3358 about these concerns and she recommended the best course of action for your company and for me would be to return the brass to you. Listed below are the defects I had noticed with the naked eye and some with magnification. Two bags containing 55 pieces each have no noticeable defects to the eye, but the other 40 slipped through your QA people somehow.
I am aware that the necked down 25:06 brass has its own unique set of issues, but these should have been detected. I use winchester products frequently, sometimes I'm shorted a case sometimes I get an extra, and sometimes even an unusable piece all - together, but this time I got lucky. Please take the time to read this entire letter.

I am a meticulous reloader and have about 6 hours invested into this brass tuning up primer ports, classifying, and eventually inspecting them three times to separate the defective pieces. Needless to say, I was disappointed when I realized I could not proceed. Please, if you can do something to reduce my frustration and doubt I have presently in the Winchester necked down brass, it would be deeply appreciated.

I have helped the Winchester lab and QA people by clearly marking with tape the pieces that are defective. The remainder of the bag of forty that have no tape have flash hole issues that I felt I could not correct. Lot Numbers 2CK80 and 1CL70 (Currently mixed)

• Flash holes irregular
• Cracked necks
• Neck ground down on side sometime in production
• Cracked shoulders that light can pass through
• Dented body (not a big issue for me)
• Brass length 2.473 to 2.493 (also not a big issue for me. These are in the two bags of 55 each that have no apparent problems)

I hope this time investment on my part will help in producing a better product for this lifetime reloader and for other reloaders in the future.