Greetings fellow 2a members.

Would like to solicit your reviews on this particular type of ammunition.  I recently purchased a bunch of this ammo.  Upon inspection the ammo brass is not "clean" meaning a bit tarnished and there is a whitish discoloration at the neck of the cartridge where the bullet is seated.

Overall the ammo just looks grungy and "old" if you ask me.  Is this normal for this type of range pack?

Frankly I've been shooting Federal bulk range ammo and American Eagle ammo and this Winchester stuff is the first time I purchased it.

Worry?  No worry?

Thoughts appreciated.

Never had that with Winchester.  Were they bought from the classifieds or old stock?  Probably fine as long as it's discoloration and not corrosion.

I have a box of those left over for several years.  its not my favorite to shoot.  it does have the tarnishing, and looks dirty, some of the rounds don't fire, but most do
I would say there are a lot of 22 ammo that is better, but nowadays you gotta get what you can.

I have a box of those left over for several years.  its not my favorite to shoot.  it does have the tarnishing, and looks dirty, some of the rounds don't fire, but most do
I would say there are a lot of 22 ammo that is better, but nowadays you gotta get what you can.

.223, not .22lr
focus

.223, not .22lr
focus

haha!
now I get the "focus"   
I didn't read the OP very well

Seems like most guys I know don't particularly like Winchester ammo.

I don't have any white box, but did have much if not all of the brass on  boxes of UMC by Remington 9mm have tarnish on them.  Like wasn't shinny like other brands.  And some had hardened glue on them as well.  Probably from when sealing the box.  No biggies, cause I caught it while loading mags and was very easy to remove.  All ammo that had the tarnished look fired fine. 

IDK anything about that white discoloration.  Never seen that before.

Seems like most guys I know don't particularly like Winchester ammo.

That's the general consensus when I surf the YT channels, although many are now saying that it's ok for range ammo, probably because with the ammo shortage one can't be too choosey.

Never had that with Winchester.  Were they bought from the classifieds or old stock?  Probably fine as long as it's discoloration and not corrosion.

Yes, it doesn't look like corrosion.  But doesn't quite look like the annealing you'd see on Mil surplus but what do I know, lol!  Maybe it is.

I Googled around and found out some manufacturers polish the neck area after annealing.  Which would explain the lighter coloring in the neck and shoulder area compared to the rest of the casing.

The ammunition was bought through a reputable supplier.  The boxes look brand spanking new which is why it threw me off a bit when I opened them. 

Idk if this will help. The only time I ever seen white crap where the bullet meets the case was rummaging through my dad's old very fucking old 38 s&w ammo. When I saw it, I asked how old it was and iirc it was bout 30 years old. He was never into firearms as a sport, prepping, sorta thing. He was a LEO (retired now) so he was required to have firearms.

Anyways, upon inspection I think it was exposed lead or something. I mean I have soft points (223,) 38 spl sjhp/ round nose etc.  and all but I keep them in ammo boxes with silcia packs and they dont have that. Some of My 38 spl is prob bout 9 years old and still nice and gray. He didnt keep it in ammo boxes. It was in a leather (cowboy style) pouch. Like the kine you see in cowboy movies on a belt but this pouch could only hold 6 rounds. I can only assume exposed lead cause it was at the case mouth and the white shit literally ran up to the tip of the bullet and on top the pouch. Or vice versa. Of course I turned it into the range officers at kokohead many many moons ago. To expose of it properly.

So I think it could be a mixture of things, possible exposed lead, chemicals on the lead, a blood red moon and the changing of the earth's solstice. Lol. Ok seriously, lead and sulfur. Isnt there sulfur in primers or powder?

Oh and btw it was pitted under the white crap. I wasnt gonna let him keep it nor did we have a pistol to shoot it with so I dunked them in water and scrubbed them. Others that looked alot better I rubbed oil on the brass to clean them. This was just me being curious.

Sorry I don't recall the maker.

I was taught, if it ain't pitted... Shoot it.

Does it look like this?

Also I know winchester white box changed its appearance. Do you have a pic of the box. It changed several years ago. I still got the old style box of 9mm left. Just 1 box. I dont even wanna shoot it lol.

Does it look like this?

Also I know winchester white box changed its appearance. Do you have a pic of the box. It changed several years ago. I still got the old style box of 9mm left. Just 1 box. I dont even wanna shoot it lol.

OMG. That's some nasty stuff, lol!

No, it doesn't look like that.  I was inspecting the ammo more closely last night and the discoloration doesn't look like it's from corrosion.  Honestly, the overall appearance of the cartridge makes one think that it's used brass.  Aside from appearance, out of 1 box of 150 I noticed some pinpoint dents and dings on the neck and shoulder on about 15 to 20 of them.

For bulk ammo, do manufacturers utilize used brass? 

I shouldn't expect much from bulk ammo, I actually was hoping there were some members who have used this white box ammo before and can attest that what I see is normally what one would get with this type of ammo.

The ammo just looks dated.  Like it was sitting around for a while.  The box itself looks new.  Sorry I don't have a pic, I'll ask my daughter to show me how to post pics, lol!  But the box looks just like the ones you see on Ammo supply websites.

OMG. That's some nasty stuff, lol!

No, it doesn't look like that.  I was inspecting the ammo more closely last night and the discoloration doesn't look like it's from corrosion.  Honestly, the overall appearance of the cartridge makes one think that it's used brass.  Aside from appearance, out of 1 box of 150 I noticed some pinpoint dents and dings on the neck and shoulder on about 15 to 20 of them.

For bulk ammo, do manufacturers utilize used brass? 

I shouldn't expect much from bulk ammo, I actually was hoping there were some members who have used this white box ammo before and can attest that what I see is normally what one would get with this type of ammo.

The ammo just looks dated.  Like it was sitting around for a while.  The box itself looks new.  Sorry I don't have a pic, I'll ask my daughter to show me how to post pics, lol!  But the box looks just like the ones you see on Ammo supply websites.

Ah I see I see. Sorry I always stayed clear of wwb. I only got it cause of a trade I did long long time ago. I should inspect it tho lol.  Fwiw, I sometimes got dinged up brass from fiocchi tho. It was brass case x39 ammo. I even got some 9mm ammo that wasnt seated properly from them too lol.

For bulk ammo, do manufacturers utilize used brass? 

Winchester whitebox is new production.  That's why I wondered where you got it from, if someone reloaded it and put it in the winchester box.  If so it could be excess bullet lube, tumbling solution/polish, or some kind of bullet sealant.  But new WWB 223 wouldn't have any of those.

There were several forums I checked out on the web that mentioned Winchester White Box ammo having a less than stellar appearance wise.  Some of the comments mentioned the ammo brass looks dirty or tarnished.  So it's highly possible that I just expected too much out of what is normal for bulk type ammo.

As far as performance, the reviews were 50/50.  Some mentioned the ammo performed fine for bulk ammo and fired without a hitch while others reported having feeding problems and noticeable differences in muzzle report.   

Next outing at the range I plan to shoot this ammo, along with some other brands of .223 that I have.  All of them are considered bulk type ammo.

My firearm is rated for 5.56.  I'm anxious to compare the muzzle reports between 5.56 and Winchester .223 and also between the different brands of .223 that I have.  The forums I checked complained that Winchester .223 has a relatively weak report compared to other .223.

FWIW I'll report back with my impressions.      

Here is YT video link of someone shooting really old crusty ammo.




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Here is YT video link of someone shooting really old crusty ammo.

I'd be afraid of giving someone tetanus if I shot them with that ammo!   

I'm pretty sure this ammo was bought from us.  From our end, the history of this ammo was it was purchased from a distributor in early-mid September 2021.  The cases look to have 2021 case date stamps.  We left the cases sealed when we sent them.  I don't know for sure how long that distributor had these cases on hand, but I know they tend to turn inventory fairly quickly so I doubt if it was sitting very long in their inventory.

FWIW, Winchester ammo (well Remington UMC too and others) aren't the prettiest of rounds.  The bulk ammo we've seen since mid-2020 has not been nearly as eye pleasing as years past.  Its almost as if these companies are trying to push through such high volumes that the annealing part has been less eye pleasing as the months go by.  Pre-covid, the annealing we were used to seeing was more uniform and slight in color.  Late 2020 onward has been more "colorful" annealing for lack of a better adjective.  Like the other replies mentioned, its Winchester... but its probably cosmetically different annealing on those rounds.

There were several forums I checked out on the web that mentioned Winchester White Box ammo having a less than stellar appearance wise.  Some of the comments mentioned the ammo brass looks dirty or tarnished.  So it's highly possible that I just expected too much out of what is normal for bulk type ammo.

As far as performance, the reviews were 50/50.  Some mentioned the ammo performed fine for bulk ammo and fired without a hitch while others reported having feeding problems and noticeable differences in muzzle report.   

Next outing at the range I plan to shoot this ammo, along with some other brands of .223 that I have.  All of them are considered bulk type ammo.

My firearm is rated for 5.56.  I'm anxious to compare the muzzle reports between 5.56 and Winchester .223 and also between the different brands of .223 that I have.  The forums I checked complained that Winchester .223 has a relatively weak report compared to other .223.

FWIW I'll report back with my impressions.      

Well, I finally made my way to the rifle range this past Thursday (2/10/22).  I posted the above back in Oct. 2021, Lol!!

I brought 100 rounds of Federal XM193 55 gr. FMJ, 100 rounds of 5.56 Winchester White Box 55 gr. FMJ, and 100 rounds of Winchester White Box 2.23 55 gr. FMJ.

Couldn't tell the difference between all 3.  The muzzle report and  recoil felt the same.  No noticable difference in groupings.

And all 3 types shot reliably with no FTF or FTE's.  The Yoo Toobers mentioned that the White Box .223 had a weaker report but I didn't notice that at all.  They also mentioned failure to feed and stove pipes but I didn't experience neither and I shot almost all of the 3 types of ammo.

I was worried about the Winchester White Box ammo but not anymore.  Shoots great in my gun!

As far as accuracy all I can say is the gun shoots better than me.......

Thanks for the report back.