Winchester Bad AMMO!!?

Question

I took my Baby Eagle out a couple months ago and fired Winchester White Box ammo (WWB). I had at least three jams where that slide wouldn't go all the way forward. And this was only shooting 100 rounds. I took it out a little while later with more WWB and had about 4 jams(this out of 70 rounds), one where I had to put all of my force into it just to eject it. I was cleaning in between shootings and lubing so I new it wasn't that. All this was with WWB 115gr from Walmart.

Well anyways, today I took it out again with 100 rounds of Federal American Ammunition; one box of 115gr and one boxof 147gr. It shot flawlessly and EXTREMELY accurate. Also to mention, tonight while cleaning my handgun, it was FAR less dirty than when I shot with Winchester. After shooting with Winchester it even stained a portion of my barrel black even with a very good cleaning.

I know which ammo I'm shooting my 9mm Baby Eagle with now!

Answer 1

Different strokes for different folks and different ammo for different thundersticks. Some individual thundersticks prefer certain ammo; it is almost like they have personalities. I have an old GMC suburban that plain doesn't like certain people; the passenger door won't latch shut for them. Everybody else can shut it just fine, I observed this over the years and decided that she displays her dislike by her actions. It always happens to somebody who makes a disparaging comment about her.

Answer 2

Can't blame this on JAMS, Same ammo brand Colt 45L in 20 round WWB box had 5 missfires, in my Judge. Primers were struck. Shot 30 more rounds different brand ammo NO PROBLEM. Same day brother was shooting with me and had a box of 22 cal Winchester that had a light powder load (sounded like a cap gun ) and wouldn't even cycle the bolt on his semi auto. No Winchester ammo for me !

Answer 3

although normally, Winchester is top of the line in ammunition quality, like all other manufacturers, it is done on an automated system. The system does have multiple safety and quality checks, however, with any automated system, there are malfunctions. I was shooting factory Winchester ammo many years ago in my 1911 style pistol. I fired a round and had my gun explode in my hand. It blew the magazine out, blew both grip panels off and cut the heck out of my hand. Turned out that a double charged case got thru the process. It can happen. You may have gotten a bad batch. If it doesn't do the same thing with other ammo, contact Winchester and have them examine the ammo, they may need to do a recall, or make some tweeks to the equipment.
Shoot safe

Answer 4

I have the "Baby Eagle" in the .40S&W. I've shot countless rounds of the Winchester White Box ammo out this gun. I have never had any trouble shooting the 165 gr. FMJ Target/Range bullets. It is a little more dirty than the PMC Ammuntion .40S&W 180gr. FMJ/FP ammo that I also shoot out the the Baby Eagle. But I'm not concered about how dirty it gets. Cleaning the Baby Eagle is a breeze. I've also shot the Federal American Ammunition out of it too, without any problems. The only ammo I that I've tried and didn't like was the WOLF .40S&W 180gr. FMJ. It did jam on me once. Thats all it took for me to never shoot that brand ever again.
I would guess that your problem is common among shooters. Not all ammo are going to shoot well out of every gun.

Say like...... If we both have a Ruger 10/22 with an Eagle 30 round magazine. I shoot hollow points and you shoot FMJ for awhile. We switch ammo, you have problems with the gun jamming.....While I didn't have any trouble shooting hollow points.

Each gun will act differently than the next gun, regardless what kind of ammo we shoot.

Answer 5

I agree with nikomat7,

WWB has always been great in my experience.

It is probably a fire-arm break-in thing.

I had a break-in period with a $2300 Wilson Combat pistol

200 rounds later it is absolutely flawless. There is no reason to blame WWB for your initial hitches.

By your description you've only fired 270 rnds through your pistol.
This is why you should fire any gun intended for self-defence at least 500 round before trusting it with your life.

Yes some guns are ammo picky but in my experience the Baby Eagle isn't one of them. I own 2.

Give WWB another try now that your pistol has had a couple hundred rounds through it.

If it doesn't function flawlessly I would be surprised, But If it doesn't then stick to Federal, as you have an ammo sensitive gun.

This is not a bad thing as long as you understand what will and will not cycle properly in your individual pistol.

Answer 6

I personally haven't had any issues with WWB and I've shot god knows how many thousands of rounds.
however some firearms can be picky about ammo, my Sig Sauer p220 doesn't like federal american eagle ammo, my p226 and pro 2340 have digested anything they've been fed. is your baby eagle new? many well built firearms have a break in period, usually between 200-500 rounds, this is to loosen up the tight fitting parts and may be partially causing this problem, my sigs had a few failure to feeds within the first 200 rounds as did my kahr. if you've fired lead bullets they may have been waxed and left residue in the chamber that can cause feed problems. I suggest you carefully examine the stuck shell and check for bulging in the case and check random spent casings for over expansion i.e. a miss shaped chamber. make sure you not lubing the inside of barrel and chamber.
WWB is cheap ammo and as such is not the cleanest burning round, it may just be that your handgun doesn't like WWB. baby eagles are usually great handguns and are certainly one of the best CZ 75 clones but no manufactures are without an occasional hiccup.

Answer 7

I have had problems with the 9mm white box ammo from Winchester also. I have had 3 duds out of 200 rounds and a damaged shell case luckily I caught the bad case before It was loaded into the magazine. Winchesters quality control leaves something to be desired. No problems with the Remington or Federal ammo.

Answer 8

I have a springfield xd .45, and I bought 100 rds of Winchester target ammo from Walmart at a great prices, and I have no problems!! It had a little more snap to it than the Wolf ammo i was also using(the Wolf worked great also), but it performed great. I went through all 100 rds in no time. My gun cleaned up well as it wasnt to dirty. I believe also that you just happened to get a bad batch.

Answer 9

Take this info for what it is worth.

Winchester ammo ( metric stuff - 9mm included) is made by Sellier & Bellot in the Czech Republic for Winchester. S&B has had quite a few quality control issues with their 9mm ammunition in the past. I wouldn't put it past them to have trouble again.


Because of this, I use Remington UMC or Federal in my guns that are in more common calibers. For the odd balls, I use Wolf Gold or handloads.

Answer 10

I never had a problem with Winchester ammunition in any caliber in any gun. Staining your barrel? How long have you been shooting? And why did you pick a Baby Eagle over the real mccoy (the CZ-75)? I used to own a CZ-75B SA and it ate all brandfs I shot out of it flawlessly with no jams.