OT- Mismatched bullets from Winchester

[J Miller]

Dear Midway customer service.

I received the order referred to below several days ago. It was well packed and complete, no complaints there.

However tonight (1-12-07) I loaded the Winchester Bullets; Product #467431. Since these bullets were intended for a bolt action sporting rifle in 30-06 I did not intend to crimp them. I used a factory loaded round to set the bullet depth and proceeded to load them. As I had no intension of crimping the bullets I wasn't paying attention to the cannelure location at first. After loading about a half dozen I noticed some of the cannelures were totally exposed and some were completely in the case. I also noticed a great variation in the bullet seating depth. Two separate problems.
After checking the bullets I noticed there were two distinct groups of bullets in the group. To levels of cannelures, and two different ogives. One a spitzer and the other very nearly a spire point.
Well, since I'd already spent time powdering the cases and had seated some of the bullets I finished the package.
These will be plinking loads at best.
I'm not expecting anything to be done about this as I have seated the bullets, but I thought you might want to know just how Winchester is sending the bullets out to you.
Oh, the package was indeed factory sealed, so it was a factory screw up.

Thanks for listening.

Joseph Miller

I'm not sure why this happened, two different types of bullets in the same package, but if Winchester is sending out the dregs and seconds to us reloaders and cherry picking the good ones for their factory loads, they'll loose a customer.
I also ordered a package of Winchester 150gr 30-30 bullets. I checked each and every one of those and they were OK.



Joe

[Rusty]

We HOPE they are loading better ones in their own ammo than they are sending you.

Rusty <><

[cnjarvis]

I just got a bag of the 30-30 cal. 150 grain Win. Power Points from Midway just as you did Joe and I haven't found anything odd. Fluke?

[J Miller]

cnjarvis,
My 30-30 bullets were OK, the bullets for the 30-06 were the ones all mixed up. Could be just a mix up in packaging, they were all 150grs, but two different versions of it. Hard to see the difference if you didn't put them side by side. But it sure did show up when I loaded them.

Rusty,
At the cost of factory ammo now I sure hope so too.

Joe

[Scott64A]

Dood, it's liek toetaly hardd to fine gud halp thees days?

[J Miller]

Dood, it's liek toetaly hardd to fine gud halp thees days?

LOL, no kiddin man..........

Joe

[gcs]

Why don't you send that same message to Winchester?
See if they can explain that, and maybe send you a new box of bullets for your trouble.

[J Miller]

gcs,

I thought about it. But haven't carried through yet. Not even sure if I'll get a response. The last time I emailed them on something I never heard back.

Joe

[Bronco]

Hey JM
Would like it if you would share the response, if any, from Midway.

John

[Terry Murbach]

HEY JOE,
YOU SEND THIS SAME INFO TO W-W AND RUB THEIR NOSE IN IT. YOU PAID GOOD MONEY FOR THEIR STUFF AND YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO GET EXACTLY WHAT YOU PAID FOR !!! YE GADS, IT AIN'T LIKE WE'RE DEALING WITH POTATO CHIPS OR PANTYHOSE HERE, THIS IS MUNITIONS AND IT DAMNSURE SHOULD BE RIGHT, PERIOD. YOU ASK THEM, VERY NICELY, TO REPLACE IT ALL. IF THEY WANT YOU TO RETURN IT HAVE 'EM PAY FOR THE SHIPPING FEES WITH A BUNCH MORE BULLETS.

[victor]

Joe,
I bought a box of hornady bullets awhile back that had 2-3 bullets with
missing cannalures.I sent the bad bullets with a short note to hornady
and about a week or so later had 2 boxes of bullets in the mail box.
They treated me right and I'm sure W-W would do the same.You just got to
let them know.
Vic

[Mike S.]

I buy a lot of Winchester ammo & components too. Last fall I had one round out of a new box of .270 that wouldn't chamber in my rifle. I need to take the mic to it to see what the problem is. I'm guessing it's not a bullet issue, but probably something with the case. Evidently, they're getting too sloppy somewhere along the line.

[Ram Hammer]

I ordered some Norma 6.5 X 55 brass from Midway a few years ago and got 100 pieces of brass but there were 3 or 4 pieces of 6.5 X 284 in the mix. They wanted me to send the whole lot back to get replacement of the 3 or four pieces. I talked them out of that and they just shipped me the few pieces. Don't accept the first response if you don't like it. Work them a little and they usually see it your way. The online reloading market is getting more competitive and they need to keep customers.

[J Miller]

I will contact Winchester. However I can't send the bullets back, I've already loaded them, and I'm not gonna pull 100 rounds down now.

I will let you all know what response I get from Midway or Winchester.

(NOTE: I've been all over the Winchester site and cannot find email contact info. Does anyone know where on that site to find it, or have it? Thanks.)

Joe

[J Miller]

I got a response from Midway this after noon. Here it is:

Dear Mr. Miller,

Thank you for your recent email. I apologize that those Winchester bullets arrive in those conditions and we also thank you for bringing that to our attention for we can look at the rest of the Winchester bullets we received to make sure those are not the same way. Again, I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you.

If you have additional questions or comments, please contact us at 1-800-243-3220. Our hours of operation are 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM Monday through Friday and 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM on Saturday and Sunday (CT). You may also email us customerservice@midwayusa.com.

Thanks for your business,

Angel M.
MidwayUSA Customer Service Associate

Since I didn't ask them to do anything about this, I'm pleased they responded to my email.
And I didn't know they were open 7 days a week.

Joe

[txpete]

a few years ago I went in with a bud on 500 starline 44/40 brass direct from starline as it was cheaper.when I opened the box several of them were crushed flat like someone stomped on them.
I called starline about the brass and just got blown off.
oh thats what happens in transit
we just hired a bunch of new people

then they told me to mail the brass back(all of it) on my dime and they would sent out some new 44/40 brass.long story short I was nice and just bit the brass loss but that the last brass I will ever buy from them.
starline service stinks

rant off
pete

[Hobie]

That is NOT my experience with Starline...

[txpete]

well its MINE and it happened.

[John in MS]

Sadly, Winchester's QC has gone down the tubes, in many of the components I have been seeing. Example: Folds (structural defects, not dents) in the necks/shoulders of .22-250, .348, .300 WSM brass and probably some other calibers I can't recall right now -- at least a couple per bag, sometimes several per hundred.

Checking headspace of different lots of new .300 WSM brass, the headspace varied widely. Some lots were within spec, and would chamber right out of the bag. Others were several to many thousandths too long, and would not chamber without setting the shoulder back first.

Winchester's .22LR ammo used to be excellent quality, for high-velocity standard over-the-counter fare. Now we've seen how many recalls for double powder charges in various lots of their ammo?? I now refuse to buy any Winchester .22LR ammo -- I prefer not to damage my rifles just because they are being sloppy to save a buck. Lemme see here, they've only been making .22 ammo for over 100 years -- how freaking hard is it to avoid double charges???

A few years ago I got some old (early production) .22LR Winchester Power Point ammo, which had made a good reputation for itself as a very effective small-game getter. Tested it in a couple of good .22 rifles and it shot very well, as HV ammo goes. Ran out and bought a brick of newer-production PP's -- powder charges were very obviously not consistent, as I would actually HEAR differences in report and on the "different" sounding shots, I got fliers 1" out of the group even at 25 yards! "Bad batch", thought I, and went and got a brick of another lot. Same result!!!
So, my last 3 boxes of the early PP's are carefully hoarded away for hunting use only, and there seems no point in bothering to try the newer ones again.

This is really a shame as Winchester components, etc. were always my favorite due to consistently high quality. Now I actively avoid buying Winchester "anything" unless there's no choice or I know that a particular product hasn't been wrecked (yet).

So, if that's their attitude toward "customer satisfaction," I suspect they hardly give a flip about your bullets being mixed up. Joe, I'm surprised Midway didn't offer to do something for you on the bullets -- my experience with them has been great. It's a no-brainer that you didn't get what you paid for -- I'd consider asking them to make good on them.

I will be curious to hear if you get a response from Winchester, and what it might be. I have a sneaking suspicion that the company is being run into the ground with poor QC to make a few bucks for somebody while riding on Winchester's formerly excellent reputation. Then, when they've alienated enough customers so it's not profitable any more, they'll sell off the remains or let it go under.

John





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