"Winchester Has Been 'Walmartized'"

[The Rabbi]

I am putting together a deluxe carry package to offer the public (to be advertised here later in the week), of a Smith 386Sc, holster, speedloader, and box of Winchester Silvertips.

The guy supplying the holster writes to me as follows (unsolicited, in best gun guy fashion):

Nice package - except I would loose the silvertips and convert to Federal

Hydroshocks or Speer Gold Dot.... the silvertips are NOT what they once

were. Winchester has been "walmartized" to the point that their quality

control is GONE. They are no longer a viable or reliable manufacture of

ammunition - or anything else carrying their once good name for that matter.

Now, I could understand that in regard to the white box stuff. Last time I bought some .38s I had failure to fires and they were dirty as Democrats.

But is that the case with their premium self-defense line, the silvertips? I bought some 9mm some time ago and really liked it: very hard hitting and fed well. I welcome people's experiences with the premium stuff.

[btw and fwiw, I decided on the Silvertips even though I normally carry Speer GD and carry that myself because you rarely see silvertips in stores. At least I do. And the ballistics on the STs look pretty good]

[Guest Mugster]

I don't know, but I'll tell you this. There is reality and then there is perception. My guess would be that winchester ammo is at least as good as federal's premium stuff, but I don't know that for a fact. I've never had a misfire or squib from any factory ammo i've ever bought, although its been years since i've bought much of it. Box or 2 here and there.

I've been pretty unimpressed with federal 230gr hydroshok in .45acp. It's loaded at about the minimum of most of the powder's available in .45acp. It also doesn't expand very well under alot of conditions.

[GhostDog]

I shoot WWB all the time w/o problems. IMHO 9mm Silvertip is still an excellent choice for anyone looking for a good NON +P round.

[creeky]

I buy "WhiteBox" .357 sig at Wal-mart and run through USPc all the time.

Never had a problem.

[musicman]

Sounds like unfounded gossip to me. The only winchester ammo I've ever had problems with is their cheaper 12 gauge stuff. It sticks in the chamber of my maverick 88 about 30% of the time, causing trouble while clay shooting. The cheap federal does fine for me. But, I'm guessing it's the $130 shotgun, as the winchester works fine in all my buddies' guns.

[Guest EasilyObsessed]

I spoke with someone several months back and they informed me of a conversation they had with a Winchester rep at the SHOT Show. The Rep basically said that everything Wal-Mart gets is a separate line of product that just happens to be in the same box? I.E. If you buy WWB from midway it may be more expensive but it goes through more QC that what walmart sells in the same package.

I didnt put much faith in it as I have over 6k rounds of WWB through my 92FS without a single solitary problem.

[creeky]

I don't think any manufactor would want the liability of using less QC in production. If anything, like wal-mart does with all vendors, they have a set price point they want to sell at and if Winchester can meet it they will buy "X" number of boxes per year. That would make more sense to me. Winchester would have a set sells figure they could count on. What things they did to offset those costs could be anything. Buying raw components in a larger bulk, maybe transfering production to a plant that has less labor costs, etc.

Who knows what they are doing to shave costs.

Now that I think of it, the only problem I have seen (around me) was a friend shooting that Yellow box bulk ammo (UMC?). I think it's remington. His smitty

wouldn't cycle that stuff for crap. Kept jam'n left and right. Tried different ammo... and no porblems.

I mainly shoot "White Box", Sellier Bellot, and carry Speer gold dots.

[Guest canynracer]

"white box" Sellier and Bellot wont cycle through my Sigma 9mm for crap ( I have 750rds left, wanna buy em?? LOL) ...BUT, the Sigma LOVES to eat the Winchesters, and TN cartridge reloads up...

[Guest Mugster]

"white box" Sellier and Bellot wont cycle through my Sigma 9mm for crap ( I have 750rds left, wanna buy em?? LOL) ...BUT, the Sigma LOVES to eat the Winchesters, and TN cartridge reloads up...

The S&B brass cased stuff will work. Of course it costs as much as buying the plinking stuff at walmart.

[fury2neon]

Yeah but Walmart is the only place left to shop in Winchester...

Oh, sorry wrong Winchester.

[Beretta Racer]

I have shot many thousands of rounds of Winchester with zero problems. I have a box of .357 Silvertips on my desk right now.

Hey Bill, got 9mm Silvertips?

[molonlabetn]

Silver-Tips are not Winchester's premium SD cartridge lineup... SXT and Ranger are.

The Winchester cartridges which Wal-Mart sells certainly seems to have been produced with component 'seconds'... I don't see any reason to complain much, ya' get what you pay for, especially at WM.

[The Rabbi]

Silvertips aren't premium cartridges? Have you looked at the price?

[molonlabetn]

Silvertips aren't premium cartridges? Have you looked at the price?

I suppose it depends on the definition of 'premium'...

They are indeed priced comparably with the majority of SD ammo, I agree.