Winchester 308 brass with off center flash holes

C

christpher7

Private
Minuteman
Jul 20, 2009
72
0
52
Virginia
#1
Just got in a new batch of Winchester 308 Brass to try out. As I opened the bag and was looking at the normal dented necks I also noticed that the flash holes was drilled/pressed off center pretty bad. I have not measured how bad but it was very noticeable. I randomally picked a few out of the bag and allot was like this. How bad of a issue is this.
Thanks..
 
#2
Re: Winchester 308 brass with off center flash holes

Most American made cartridge brass has punched flash holes. Lapua is the only major manufacturer that drills their holes. But then all their standards are higher. And they are also imported. I have been told that some of the custom makers in the USA also drill theirs. But the big name makers like Winchester, Remington, Federal and others punch them. Sometimes they get off center.

For plinking or banging steel, you can probably live with it. Or if you don't want to, package it back and resell it. I promise someone will buy it.
 
#4
Re: Winchester 308 brass with off center flash holes

Just got in 500 today from midway. I was happy to see they was packaged in bags of 50 hopeing the necks wouldnt be banged all up, but they still was. The Lapua's that I got in was boxed in 100 qty and they was banged up as well. I was hopeing the Winchester, for the price differance would be ok to load.
I have been re-working Federal Match brass from the range
and outa the last 500 or so that I have loaded and worked I do not recall any off center flash holes like this. I think they need to go back..
 
#5
Re: Winchester 308 brass with off center flash holes

All bulk brass is gonna have banged-up necks.

Winchester is not the best 308 brass.

Off center flash holes don't affect accuracy at the least.
 
#7
Re: Winchester 308 brass with off center flash holes

Im going to look through another bag and see how many is like this. I would have thought that this would have affected the ignition of the powder which would affect accuracy but I dont know. I have never read anything on it.
 
#8
Winchester off center flash holes w/pics

I was going to start a new thread but decided to just add to this one. I have several bags of Winchester brass and just started to go through one. Quite a few have off center flash holes. Too many to just throw them out. I don't know if this is something to worry about or just ignore it. I want to load these for accuracy, not plinking. Please look at these pictures and let me know what you think.

Thanks,

Joe

Winchesterbrassout2s.jpg


Winchesterbrassout3s.jpg


Winchesterbrassout4s.jpg


Winchesterbrassin2s.jpg


Winchesterbrassin1s.jpg


 
#9
Re: Winchester 308 brass with off center flash holes

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 918v</div><div class="ubbcode-body">All bulk brass is gonna have banged-up necks.

Winchester is not the best 308 brass.

Off center flash holes don't affect accuracy at the least. </div></div>
That's a bold statement . Any inconsistancies from one case to another has the potential to affect accuracy.
The proof may be difficult to produce but it goes against the whole idea of sorting and uniforming cases.
These casese look like seconds to me , you should ask them to replace them .
 
#10
Re: Winchester 308 brass with off center flash holes

For my 1200th post here, I give you this little nugget of wisdom:

Forget the flash holes with Winchester .308 brass, check the neck lengths.

I reloaded for two buddies this time last year, before they got their reloading kits in and each bought 500 pieces of Winchester .308 brass during the Midway sale, which were sent to me.

I started reloading them and upon seating, I rolled the shoulders on maybe 15-20 out of the 700 I processed. I couldn't figure it out and thought maybe the necks were too tight, despite using a Redding carbide button to straighten any of the dented necks out.

I checked my Hornady inline seating die for crimp and it was fine, but I couldn't see what was causing the shoulder rolls until I noticed one with what looked to be a longish neck. Sure enough, the case(s) in question measured 2.845" and that added length was in the neck and not a 'full retard' body/headspace problem.

Once I knew what the issue was, I carefully culled out the remaining long ones and simply trimmed them down, but heck if I didn't have to spend some added time resizing those screwed up shoulders and look at each one individually as I pulled them from their bags.

Just be mindful of this and if you come across this problem without inspection, it's not your crimping step causing the issue, or tighter than normal necks.

Chris
 
#13
Re: Winchester 308 brass with off center flash holes

I had 2 cases out of my first bag of 50 win brass that looked as if th flash hole had been double punched, one centered and one off center.

Should I toss them or load them with the rest?
 
#14
Re: Winchester 308 brass with off center flash holes

What are the lot#'s on these?

I have a bunch of bags of Win brass in my cabinet. It what I have been using exclusively and almost all are on their second firing. I have not seen any off-center so far. I deburr the flash holes so I am sure I would have noticed it on the first prep.
 
#15
Re: Winchester 308 brass with off center flash holes

I use Win brass for my .308 and have seen a few oblong flash holes...Maybe double punched. But I have never seen an off-center flash hole like in the previous pics.

In the sake of uniformity I would set them aside. If more than 5% are like this I would send them back to where you bought them. Let the retailer mess with Winchester on this one.

As far as long necks go you should always trim new brass regardless of brand...Again looking for uniformity/consistency.
 
#16
Re: Winchester 308 brass with off center flash holes

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: LoneWolfUSMC</div><div class="ubbcode-body">What are the lot#'s on these?

I have a bunch of bags of Win brass in my cabinet. It what I have been using exclusively and almost all are on their second firing. I have not seen any off-center so far. I deburr the flash holes so I am sure I would have noticed it on the first prep. </div></div>

I'm not sure which numbers are the lot numbers. Looks like: CH60
 
#17
Re: Winchester 308 brass with off center flash holes

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: baschu</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I use Win brass for my .308 and have seen a few oblong flash holes...Maybe double punched. But I have never seen an off-center flash hole like in the previous pics.

In the sake of uniformity I would set them aside. If more than 5% are like this I would send them back to where you bought them. Let the retailer mess with Winchester on this one.</div></div>

The amount that the holes are off center vary. At least 20 out of a bag of 50 were noticeably off center. I purchased them from Midway USA. I think I will give them a call and talk to them about it. I have not opened any of the other bags I got at the same time.

Joe
 
#18
Re: Winchester 308 brass with off center flash holes

Winchester brass in the past years has been very good quality.
But recently I've found that you have to look very carefully before you buy any.

The usual problems that I have seen include the inside of the necks scratched when they expanded the necks.

This is the last lot of Winchester .220 Swift brass that I bought last year in Canada. None of the flash holes were centered. The Winchester area rep sent Winchester vouchers to replace it. But it's hard to shoot vouchers...

The lot that I checked before this one was benchrest quality in case run out and weight.

Canadian prices for brass are quite expensive now .
100 Winchester Swift brass =$100 CDN.....
Norma cases are impossible to find.
P8182427.jpg



Glenn
 
#19
Re: Winchester 308 brass with off center flash holes

Trimming all cases to size should be a normal part of good case preperation. You must have a square case mouth before you can produce an even case mouth chamfer.
 
#20
Re: Winchester 308 brass with off center flash holes

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TN-MadDog</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: baschu</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I use Win brass for my .308 and have seen a few oblong flash holes...Maybe double punched. But I have never seen an off-center flash hole like in the previous pics.

In the sake of uniformity I would set them aside. If more than 5% are like this I would send them back to where you bought them. Let the retailer mess with Winchester on this one.</div></div>

The amount that the holes are off center vary. At least 20 out of a bag of 50 were noticeably off center. I purchased them from Midway USA. I think I will give them a call and talk to them about it. I have not opened any of the other bags I got at the same time.

Joe </div></div>

Just an update for anyone that is interested. I called MidwayUSA and talked to them about it. They agreed to take all the brass back including the 50 rounds that I had processed. I got an email today saying that they had received it, had credited me for the full amount including my shipping costs and had my order of Lapua brass on the way. I am only out the difference in price.

One other good thing about MidwayUSA is that they have a record of all my purchases. I did not have a receipt for the brass and it had been almost 3 months since I had ordered it. I was able to go to "my account" and print a receipt to go with the return. If it was not for that, I really wouldn't have been sure where I purchased it.

I feel that is pretty good customer service from Midway. Especially since it was not their fault that there was a problem with the brass.

I know that a lot of people have been happy with Winchester brass and this was probably just a bad batch but I will be hesitant to purchase any more. Hopefully, the Lapua will live up to it's reputation.

Joe
 
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