Exploding Winchester 333 ammo

Dexter Morgan

Dexter Morgan

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I had some Winchester 333 ammo explode today.

It did significant damage to my Smith and Wesson 617 revolver.

I had gone through about a hundred rounds without a problem.

Reloaded another ten into the cylinder. Fired off seven rounds normally, but the eighth round exploded upon firing.

It exploded as if it had a double charge of power (at least double).

The blast blew out the back of the cylinder. Luckily most if it went sideways across my left hand, and not much up towards my face.

It bent the revolver pretty good. I could not operate the cylinder release latch, because of the bent area.

I had to remove the sideplate and take the entire gun apart to remove the cylinder. (It still had two live rounds in it.)

Has anyone else had trouble with exploding .22 Winchester ammo?
 
333 ammo

hi there, ive been shooting this on occasion, where id be doing some high volume shooting," the price is right" on the stuff, generally never had any problems, odd one that didnt go off, but nothing unusual for cheap 22 ammo
My advise is to email winchester, send along photos, and a detail description of the event, and if you had a whitness or 2 that would probably help, if you still have the box with a batch # on it, they will want that to,
You should get a response from someone there, had a friend have an issue with kent shotgun shells, wad from previos fired round stuck in barrel, then another fired, blew his browning apart, he got the gun replaced, and 6 cases of new ammo shipped to his door from kent ammuntion

hope you fair out good with this, but look on the bright side, you didnt get hurt, you can replace a gun
 
Upload to photobucket, copy the link and put it in code.

 
I had a bullet from a 333Win. round, lodge in the barrel of my CZ Kadet. Lucky I had noticed, before firing another round. Still use them, but I'm more carefull now.
 
I used the 555 ammo all summer last year, in at least 3 different rifles and didn't have any issues. Not even a misfire. I blew through better than 3 bricks. Hopefully yours is an isolated incident.
 
bassman said:
I used the 555 ammo all summer last year, in at least 3 different rifles and didn't have any issues. Not even a misfire. I blew through better than 3 bricks. Hopefully yours is an isolated incident.
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If by brick you mean 500 rounds, #### I go through that in a month.

Regardless, if it was an ammo issue, and they confirm that I think you will be compensated.

It is just a matter of them taking responsibility, and you being able to get them to.
 
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In fact the only rimfire ammo that I have ever had blow the rim was a winchester xpert. At the time I didn't think to keep the faulty round which is what they asked for when they returned my email, so I let it end there. Glad you weren't hurt.
 
mlehtovaara said:
If by brick you mean 500 rounds, s**t I go through that in a month.

Regardless, if it was an ammo issue, and they confirm that I think you will be compensated.

It is just a matter of them taking responsibility, and you being able to get them to.
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Firstly, congrats on all that shooting you do. You might however want to re-do the math in your head. You= 1 brick/ month. Me= 3+ bricks last summer. Last time i checked in my neck of the woods, summer barely lasts much more than 3 months. So, i may have actually shot more bricks per month than you...:kickInTheNuts: Plus, i shot 2 bricks of Rem Yellowjackets and 1.5 bricks of Fed bulk.

Secondly, the rest of your post does not apply to me, as a quick check clearly shows that i'm not the OP.
 
bassman said:
Firstly, congrats on all that shooting you do. You might however want to re-do the math in your head. You= 1 brick/ month. Me= 3+ bricks last summer. Last time i checked in my neck of the woods, summer barely lasts much more than 3 months. So, i may have actually shot more bricks per month than you...:kickInTheNuts: Plus, i shot 2 bricks of Rem Yellowjackets and 1.5 bricks of Fed bulk.

Secondly, the rest of your post does not apply to me, as a quick check clearly shows that i'm not the OP.
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I love this... it's like we're comparing the size of our brass.




Anyway... For the OP: I've had it happen... I would say it happens once in every 5-10 cases of 22LR I go through [1 Case = 10 Bricks of 500-550/ea; I just wanted to compare my brass to everyone else's ;) ]... Bottom line, it just happens. I've had it happen with Remington and Blazer's mostly. Like I said, it is what it is. I happens, though it does suck.

I would contact Winchester and see what they have to say... I've never bothered in the past, because its typically been 1 round out of 25-50k that has an issue and WHEN damage has been caused... the parts were so cheap I just fixed it and chalked it up to being a maintenance expense.
 
"the parts were so cheap I just fixed it and chalked it up to being a maintenance expense."

No such luck for me. The damaged/bent area is part of the revolver frame. I'll need to heat it up with a torch and bend it back. Hopefully without destroying the gun.
 
I hope it all works out for you...Glad your have fingers to type with and, eyes to read too!

I don't think it's possible to "double" load a .22...they seem pretty full. Just starting to learn (very low on the curve) about reloading and, too little powder can cause a "flash over" but again...pretty small case for that too...standing by to read from the clever folks.

One thing that pops to mind...is it possible there was issue with the gun? Maybe timing off? Previous squib? I (again...very low on the learning curve...) thought revolvers would let pressure off easier with the little gap between chamber/cylinders and, barrel.
 
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