Thanks, Winchester

[ray1970]

Opened one of those 100 round "white box" value packs today to load some magazines. Seems this batch was loaded a bit long. Tried to load some Beretta 92 magazines and the rounds were so long they would start jamming up in the magazine once you got about four or five of them in there. Didn't take the time to measure them but you can tell by looking at them that they are a bit longer than the rounds in some of the other boxes I have. Nice quality control.

Fortunately, they do fit in my Sig magazines so they won't go to waste.

[SideShow Bob]

Counting on the forward force of the slide to set the bullets back for proper chambering ? [facepalm]
Might want to check to see if they chambering your pistols, you may want to contact Winchester if they don't. [Tooth]

[ray1970]

Sound advice for sure.

I promise I'll be safe.

Was just kind of posting up my findings as sort of a public service announcement more than anything.

[Great-Kazoo]

In a bulk 100 box of 9mm i have found 1.120 - 1.165 OAL the average norm. If you do some OAL checks between mfg, the spread is interesting. Using the 115gr as a baseline.

[ray1970]

This is the first time I've ever had factory ammo that wouldn't fit in a Beretta magazine. Mostly found it odd and interesting. I was kind of anticipating the ammo manufacturers letting quality control slip a bit trying to keep up with demand.

They are probably just loaded too long because there is twice as much powder in the case as there should be. [facepalm]

[cstone]

I have a nagging suspicion that the panic/shortage has caused the quality control in many manufacturers to suffer.

Thanks for the PSA.

[NFATrustGuy]

This discussion is very timely for me. I just finished loading up some new 9mm test rounds... I don't remember the target OAL off the top of my head, but I checked every round of the 60 test rounds I loaded up. I rejected anything that wasn't within .005" of the target OAL.

After hearing of the variance in the Winchester white box, I guess I might have been a little too picky with my reloads...

[Zombie Steve]

This discussion is very timely for me. I just finished loading up some new 9mm test rounds... I don't remember the target OAL off the top of my head, but I checked every round of the 60 test rounds I loaded up. I rejected anything that wasn't within .005" of the target OAL.

After hearing of the variance in the Winchester white box, I guess I might have been a little too picky with my reloads...

Probably a bit much. Make sure the long ones don't cause any issues and fire away. You'll find .005" variation in length with match rifle bullets. It's nothing that will matter at 25 yards anyway...

[Great-Kazoo]

This discussion is very timely for me. I just finished loading up some new 9mm test rounds... I don't remember the target OAL off the top of my head, but I checked every round of the 60 test rounds I loaded up. I rejected anything that wasn't within .005" of the target OAL.

After hearing of the variance in the Winchester white box, I guess I might have been a little too picky with my reloads...


WAY too anal............................. If you're going to adhere to that spec, i suggest you mic all the bullets in the box before reloading. The ones that are not of equal OAL, i'll be happy to procure from you.
Short story long.... trying to maintain a specific OAL (EXCLUDING SOME MATCH COMPONENTS) is futile. If you have a box of factory ammo, mic a few rounds, shoot the box, mic the brass. Same lot #, same gun, guarantee there's variance within it. Bullets, [facepalm]. Of course this is based on my experience with factory ammo and various components from "reliable" mfg's. YMMV.