New Style AA With An Interesting Crack

I've been loading new style AA's lately and still looking for that infamous base wad separation so often talked about. I visually inspect each case after firing and noticed a small crack around the primer pocket in one case. These are the latest batch-not the original boxed ones and were loaded 3 or 4 times. Kinda makes me wonder if this is the beginning of a complete case failure somewhere down the line.

 

After 3 consecutive years of showing the Winchester Reps shell and wad problems at the Grand American, they finally drove this customer away. Every year I got, "Gee, that's the first we've heard about this?"

I took in once fired shells split down the sides, Super Handicaps with the spent primers dropped out, box of wads with a part of the flute cut off and boxes with stringy plastic that had to be separated from the wads before reloading.

Each time I explained that I was a Winchester fan and just bringing it to their attention to improve their quality control, but if you don't do something to correct it, you will drive me away.

They drove me away fifteen years ago and I haven't seen a reason to go back.

HB

 

The latest AA's seem to reload better than the ones a few years back, for me anyway. I took advantage of the rebate program and ended up with a lot of hulls, so switched to Winchester for my reloads. I too, have read about the base wads coming loose, but have never had this happen personally. When using this hull, I blow the smoke out and look through the barrel after every shot. I load these hulls five or six times and discard them. Never any trouble.

 

When they first came out, I reloaded a few. On one occasion, I luckily happened to find the base of the wad had risen UP in the hull. When deprimed, the inner base stayed up, probably from friction against the primer decapping pin and when powder was dropped, some of the powder flowed down through the primer hole and UNDER that base.

The finished shell looked funny so I did not use it.

Upon dismantling I noticed the above. I think that had I fired the shell, the wad could have stuck in the barrel and a second shot may have made for an interesting experience.

I have always gotten into the habit when shooting ATA on a warm day to blow out the barrel. I've done this for years, not to look in the barrel, but thinking I was getting the hot gasses out of the barrel to alleviate heat waves.

I sent the shell to Winchester in E Alton and never heard back from them. I had some guys on the "other site" try to tell me I was nuts that this didn't happen. I didn't argue with the idiots...

WW

 

I believe it and have seen the same problems WW &HB hAVE SEEN OVER THE YEARS, and it has cost WW sales, lots of sales and loss of being #1 in shell sales

GB....................................DLS

 

This was a scary day at a registered shoot, and the lady next to me was shooting Factory AA's. She could not get her gun closed, her shell would NOT go all the way in.

I asked for some time from the official, took her gun from her and looked down the barrel. Here ALMOST to the forcing cone was this base wad.

Good god, IF she had slammed that gun shut Lord knows what would have happened when she fired...

Something I would not have wanted to witness.

Scary !