Today I decided to go have a little target practice...one of the pistols was a Browning 9mm High Power. I took 100 rounds of Winchester white box FMJ ammo to plink.
The box was bought about a year or so ago. I had meant to fire it up earlier but didn't have the time. Today I did and with some interesting results:
1 Squib load which caused the usual failure to cycle. I checked and had rechecked the barrel: no obstructions or damage;
1 Overpressure round whuich blew out the bottom of the casing while in the chamber. First thing I though about was a bulged barrel and other barrel damage...fortunately, this did not occur. All of these happened with the same box and were not reloads.

Luckily, the Browning is a tough and strong piece of ordnance.

Now, to who ever at Winchester ammo who oversees the making of this stuff...START PAYING ATTENTION TO YOUR FREAKIN LOADING MACHINES!!! I can understand that mishaps do happen, but twice with the same box from the same lot?????????

(end rant)

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The Last Standing Knight

Most likely the powder (or at least some of it) that was missing from the first round found it's way into the overpressure round. That can happen when the powder clogs up or "bridges" in the measuring machine.

I used to shoot Winchester Super-X 165 grain in my .30-06.
I used to achieve three shot groups of under 2" at 200 yards, with a 100% factory rifle. For a couple seasons, I couldn't find the 165 grain bullets, so I changed brands. Last year I found the Super-X 165's again and bought a few boxes - what a mistake! I couldn't shoot a group for anything, even at 100 yards.
I looked at the cartridges, and I saw that ALL of the bullets were at different seating depths. They were off so bad that you could measure the difference with a TAPE MEASURE, forget a micrometer! I wonder, if the seating depth is that far off, how bad is the powder charge off? You can't hope for consistency with ammo like that. Quality control is obviously lacking.

Needless to say, I gave up on Winchester as my hunting load.
I now shoot Federal ammo loaded with Sierra Gameking bullets.

Did you hear that Winchester? Are you listening? I Shoot Federal ammo now!

Were those factory rounds purchased from a retail store or at a gun show?

I'm not sure if you were asking me or the OP.
If you were asking me, my Winchester ammo was factory new ammo purchased from retail stores.

Purchased at Wally World about a year ago.

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The Last Standing Knight

of 41 Mag Winchester Silver box purchased from a retail store and one of the silvertips is upside down. Sigh..

Interesting. Is this a reason to be leery of progressive reloaders?

Happened to me last year with a box of Winchester .44 Special cowboy loads. One round wouldn't go in the cylinder. When I looked more closely I realized the projectile was loaded backward in the case. First time in 35 years that I have had a problem with a factory round.

Sounds like a good reason to stay away from Winchester. Consider it taken under advisement.

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Hold on. SWAT's at my door.

I'm in the midst of loading 1000 rounds of 45 ACP with 180 gr cast SWCs. I'm going to b VERY sure that none of this occurs with my reloads.

White box is getting a real bad reputation. Too bad, because I've got about 2000 rounds of .45 acp........

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Even older, even crankier....

No... Only be leery of poor progressive reloader techniques.

Progressive reloaders are faster, but still require much attention to detail.

Edmo

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TRUTH: Don't delete my posts!

I would think it may be a reason to be leery of progressive reloaders operated by minimum wage types who are pressured to turn out as many rounds per hour as is humanly possible and have no stake in the outcome.

My own progressive reloading practices border on the obsessive.

To My Ammunition I Trust My Life.

Walk up to the machine, look at the machine, look at the floor, look at the camera, walk away, return in a few minutes when the machine stops and a red light blinks on the control panel...
Ammo Load Worldwide - Automated Ammunition Loading Machine - YouTube

Hi, I registered here to mention that on Saturday I had two failures of WWB 9mm which jammed my Glock 19.

I posted the details and pictures at the PA Firearm Owners Association website: Winchester white box 9mm duds

If you haven't already, I suggest contacting Winchester. In my case they requested the lot numbers from the boxes I was using (it was embossed on one of the flaps) and asked that I send them the boxes and the bad rounds.

Twency, welcome to the forum!! Thanks for the info, I have also had trouble with WWB 45 ACP.

I have had several Win AA 12ga rounds fail to go off over the years. Some of them occured during registered shoots and if you sent the bad round to Win, they would send you a case of shells in return.

According to another user at PAFOA, the description and pictures I posted there suggest that the brass in my two bad rounds did not have a flash hole. So the primer ignited but was unable to ignite the main powder charge. Instead the force of the primer burning pushed the primer back out of the case. Because Winchester wanted the rounds I didn't attempt to disassemble them to verify this, but it seems like it could explain what happened.

Winchester WB comes up fairly often on the forums. I have no reason to think that it's any worse (or any better) than other brands with a similar price point.

I have had defective rounds from just about every major (and some minor) domestic ammo maker.

Federal HydorShocks missing the post.
Federal Nyclads with the nylon coating pealing off the bullets.
Remington 38 Super that split from neck to web on the first firing.
Hornady 38 SPL cases with no flash hole.

Those are just what I can remember off the top of my head. There have been others.

I usually notice one or two recalls on ammunition per year. There was a large recall of 45 ACP from Federal, what last year?

Centerfire ammunition is produced in huge lots. For the high demand calibers, the numbers are astronomical, far beyond what an individual could load in a lifetime. The thing that surprises me is how little of that ammunition is defective.

My concern is not so much about the quality of ammunition now, but in the future. Demand his been very high for a decade or more. For one thing, we have been at war for more than ten years. Governmental demand for 9/40/5.56 is huge. The rest of us are, I think, consuming a whole lot of ammo. Machines wear out and there are, from what I can tell, a very few companies that manufacture components. For example, I have read that most cases come from a single source. If demand is being driven by circumstances that could easily change (peace breaks out; the amount of ammo an individual can buy is restricted), it makes more sense from a business point of view to run what you have into the ground to max out profits today. Let an uncertain tomorrow take care of its self.

I load, and not by machine, by hand.

I used to buy WWB occasionally, but now I completely avoid it. Dirty, inaccurate, and too many bad reports lately such as the OPs. Federal is cheaper at Wal-Mart anyway.