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Winchester Repeating Arms is possibly one of the most widely recognized names in the world of firearms. Throughout its history, Winchester has ridden a roller coaster of wild success and near misses. The company is famous for its lever action rifles, bolt action rifles, and shotguns, and is nearly synonymous with the Wild West. They made excellent firearms that saw action in both World Wars, but they struggled in the years between and after.
Winchester emerged from the failure of a lever action rifle called the Volition, an offering available from the partnership of Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson (yes, that Smith and Wesson), which resulted in an improved lever action rifle designed by Benjamin Tyler Henry (yes, that Henry). Smith and Wesson incorporated as the Volcanic Repeating Arms Company to sell their improved lever action rifle. The Volcanic rifle had limited success, so in 1860, they released an improved version known as the Henry rifle and reorganized the company under a new name – New Haven Arms.
The Henry rifle came to be regarded highly during the Civil War, and the rifle's popularity boosted the reputation of New Haven Arms. Benjamin Henry was upset about how little money he felt he had been paid for the rifle that bore his name, and the resulting spat with New Haven Arms was handled when the company’s chief stockholder, Oliver Winchester, intervened and reorganized as the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. During the American Civil War, the Confederate Army troops referred to the Henry rifle as "that damned Yankee rifle that they load on Sunday and shoot all week!"
Winchester modified and improved, yet again, the Henry rifle, and forever changed how the world viewed firearms. The lever-action Winchester rifle is almost synonymous with the Winchester name. It is widely known as “the gun that won the West.” In fact, the Winchester rifle is not a single rifle, but is no less than nine different models:
Winchester was known for their lever-action rifles, but produced other famous firearms in the late 19th Century. The Model 1897 pump-action shotgun designed by John Moses Browning is a notable example. Browning worked with Winchester through WWI, during which he developed the Browning Automatic Rifle and the .50 Caliber Browning Machine Gun. While they had achieved impressive production capacity during WWI, the accompanying Depression forced the Winchester company into receivership. The .32 Winchester Special was the only bright spot during this time.
Winchester’s specialty was innovation. They won the race for the first self-loading rifle with the Winchester Model 1903. The company worked hard to navigate around self-loading shotgun patents by Browning, including having patent lawyers work closely on the design.
WWII saw Winchester utilizing their high-productive capacity once again. The company regained some of the ground they lost in the years between the wars with M1 Garand and M1 Carbine rifles. And the .308 Winchester, released in the 1950s, became the company's most influential cartridge to date. In 1964, Winchester formed a new design group in order to take advantage of new technology in manufacturing. This date created a line of demarcation, and firearms came to be called “pre” and “post” 1964 models. “Pre-64” models are perceived as higher-quality firearms, and are valued much higher by collectors of Winchester rifles and shotguns.
Though Winchester sold many popular firearms – among them the well-known Model 94 lever action rifle, the Model 70 rifle, and the Model 12 pump shotgun – they were unable to keep pace with increasing labor costs. The company was sold to its employees in 1980, and incorporated as U.S. Repeating Arms. Winchester’s parent company, Olin, retains the rights to and still manufactures ammo under the Winchester name.
The historic New Haven plant finally shut its doors in 2006, and the building is now home to lofts, as are many of the erstwhile manufacturing centers of New England mill towns. The Olin Corporation, current owner of Winchester’s intellectual property, licensed old rivals Browning to make Winchester firearms in 2006. FN Herstal owns the U.S. Repeating Arms Company today. Several gun cleaning kits, knives and other goods are manufactured and sold under the Winchester trademark.
Winchester as such remains a significant force in the market for ammunition, with products that fit in practically every niche of the firearms industry. Their newest cutting-edge ammo includes the AccuBond CT and the PDX1 Defender. For shooters who like their traditional ammunition, the Super-X line is a popular choice.
One reason for Winchester bulk ammunition sales is the variety as well as the quality. Some of the more popular Winchester rounds include:
The history of the Winchester company has cycled up and down many times. It's impossible to predict how the company will fare in the future, but their resiliency seems to suggest that Winchester will find a way to be a top manufacturer of ammo for many years to come.
Most Winchester ammunition is manufactured in Alton, Illinois, which is located just outside of St. Louis, Missouri. Some Winchester ammo is made in Oxford, Mississippi.
Winchester Service Grade ammo is designed to provide military performance at an affordable price. Made for the high-volume shooter, this Winchester ammunition features full metal jacket bullets that are accurate and reliable for target practice. All new productions, Service Grade cartridges are non-corrosive and have reloadable brass cases. They’re available in various calibers, including handgun rounds like .380 ACP, 9mm, and .45 Auto, as well as rifle cartridges like .30-06 and 5.56x45mm.
Winchester is owned by the Olin Corporation, an American manufacturer based in Clayton, Missouri. It is a global distributor of chemical products and one of the leading ammo manufacturers in the U.S.
Winchester has different lines of ammunition that vary in quality. The economic Winchester lines tend to be less accurate, while the more specialized rounds are high quality, reliable, and consistent.
Winchester Forged ammunition is the company’s line of steel case cartridges. Made from 100% USA steel, these rounds feature brass jacketed projectiles, allowing their presence on gun ranges and making them safe for all firearms. The ammo is currently available in 9mm.
Winchester ammo is non-corrosive. Many of the Winchester cartridges have a sealant applied to keep out moisture and ensure an extended shelf life.
Winchester stopped making guns in 1980 when it sold the company to its employees and incorporated as U.S.Repeating Arms. Olin, Winchester’s parent company, still owns the rights to Winchester and manufactures ammunition under the brand name.
"We shot 15K of 9mm ammo over 4 months in a handgun training course, including 5K of Winchester 9mm. Remington, S&B, Federal, and a other brands all ran flawlessly in all weapons. We were therefore very surprised when we had consistent problems with Winchester. The issues seems to be depth of the primers. With one Glock 19 (modified to a 4lb tirgger pull with a Pyramid striker spring,) 1 round in 5 failed to fire. The primers would show a dent from the striker pin but would not ignite. The dented rounds could often be reloaded and fired in other weapons (factory standard Glock 17, HK, and Sig) but even there about 1 in 4 of the dented rounds would fail (now showing two firing pin dents in the primer). In other weapons, this Winchester 9mm failed about in 1 round in 50 (roughly one dud ~every 3 magazines). Every shooter had more than one failure, regardless of what weapon they were using (Sig, HK, Glock, S&W, Ruger, etc). Winchester has been one of my preferred brands for years, but after this consistent level of failure I will not purchase Winchester 9mm again. Again, NO OTHER BRAND FAILED TO FIRE in any of the weapons used at this course. "
"Your have my business! That says it all. "
"My wife and I both love this ammo for range ammo. We have never had a failure or jam in either of our pistols. And unlike our local stores it seems to be always in stock here!"
"I shot several rounds and didn't have any problems....worked just fine!"
"Performs great in my XDM 3.8! No ftf, jams or any other type of problems!! Great practice ammunition!!!"
"Worked every time with my 672- Sr1911.. some rounds gave extra smoke .... but noFTF "
"I was 100% satisfied from purchase to range. Thank You Peter"
"I'm happy with the prices and delivery times; My only complaint is i would rather the products come in unmarked boxes, since I am in the process of stockpiling ammo against the future laws of our state., I would rather no one knows what I'm purchasing, and having delivered."
"Prompt service on my order and the ammo performed as expected. Great savings buy from ammo.com as opposed to retail."
"Very good ammo. Brass ammo worked very well, no jams, or misfires. "
"Order was easy, arrived quick, ammo shoots good"
"Modern Super-X 44-40 hunting loads only get 1,190fps advertised, limiting this cartridge to only 100 yards. Mine chronographed 1,025fps. Original black powder factory loads achieved 1,325fps and were killers out to 300 yards, later reduced to 1,245, then back up to 1,325fps with smokeless loads. By the1960's they were reduced to 1,310fps when rifle powder was replaced by ball powders. By 1978 Winchester started using flake pistol powders, further reducing performance down to the now 1,190fps advertised velocity. Not to mention from 1903 to 1941, Winchester manufactured 1,565fps High Velocity loads used for the Model 92' Winchesters and other like rifles like the Marlin 1894. Winchester further nurtured the 44-40 with the mouse fart "Cowboy" reduced loads of only 900fps from a rifle. Thus I give the modern factory loads a 2 for performance, a 2 for value since folks are paying an arm and a leg for neutered ammunition. I give 4 stars for quality since since they do go boom every time and are accurate. https://sites.google.com/view/44winchester"
"Have only gone through 6 rounds but seemed to perform well. Will let you know when I get out and get serious."
"I bought 350 round and in my new 17 Savage I got 2 out of every 10 to fire sorry batch of ammo I ever bought"
"Bought several boxes. Just now got around to firing some in my Henry Golden Boy 17 HMR. Shot 100 rounds. 15 failed to fire. Good strike marks on rim. Just failed. Bad!! I have never had any other 17 cal brand do this. In fact, since I have had my Henry, I have had no failures until now. I read some other reviews around the internet and some had more failures per 100 than I did. Very disappointed in Winchester. Once I get these boxes used up at firing range, I will buy no more and I sure would not use these loads if I were out coyote hunting. - "
"worst ammo I ever tried ammo misfeads, duds & jams. No power junk."
"This ammo has performed as I expected. Great value. "
"This is my first time to order from Ammo.com. i could not be more pleased with the quality of ammo, the value and the great customer service I received. I like the fact that they donate to such worthy causes. I will purchase from Ammo.com again!!! "
"I have a Kimber pro 45 cal. And the ammo is great with it. No jams, no problems and very consistent. Will definitely be coming back for more. Can't beat these prices for quality ammo."
"This is great low recoil buckshot, it's perfect for pistol grip only shotguns because of its low recoil. The pattern is also very tight. The crimp is also better than what I usually see on other brands so the buffer wont leak out into the magazine tube. You can't go wrong with this ammo and I plan to order more when its back in stock."
"I fired these rounds using my mp 40. I will definitely use these again."
"This was my first purchase from Ammo.com, but it will not be my last."
"My favorite jhp ammo! Accuracy and power unmatched!"
"At 200 meters can hit a quarter from either a TCenter or Savage rifle. Kills buck deer with just one hit in the chest, same killing power as any 7mm or .30 caliber but with much less recoil. The 6.5 mm CM is the new standard to displace the .308 or .3006 ; why suffer more recoild with no more killing power? "
"Ruger Security 9- I've recently just got into shooting within the past two years. So I'm still learning but...THESE are the greatest rounds I've ever used. I usually use 115 grain so I'm a little baffled that the 124 which have more power have LESS recoil. I was hitting every target whether it was the silhouettes, cans, bottles, I'm talking aim and pull in consecutive motion. I haven't had this from other brands (not downing they're great as well). Does ammo really make that much of a difference?"
"I HAVE USED 150 SO FAR--SEEMS GOOD FOR ME"
"Researched 12 ga 00 Buck ammo. availability and price locally and on-line before finding Ammo.com. (referred by a friend). Pleasantly surprised by the stock and price of this and other cal. of ammunition at Ammo.com. Order arrived super fast and I am very pleased with selection, price, and delivery of my order. How pleased? Well I sent a link to all my friends and associates about Ammo.com. Great to know that 1% of my sale went to a 2nd Amendment - Pro-Gun organization of my choice too! Keep up the great work Ammo.com."
"Quality ammo MADE IN AMERICA! Every round went bang and cycled perfectly. For bulk orders they should cut down on the excessive packaging. 50 or 100 rounds per box instead of 5 rounds per box."
"This is good ammo at a good price. Really just glad to find it available without spending an arm and a leg!!"
"This stuff makes my Judge talk to me. It makes a rather heavy gun jump. I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end."
"Ammo fired without any jams, misfires or problems of any type. Ammo feed was smooth and no ejection problems. All spent casings cleared weapon cleanly. "
"ammo arrived in good shape, like new...all rounds fired in good shape...quality was worth the cost easily..."
"I just bought a Colt LE6920 5.65 caliber. The closest thing I ever shot was my M16 when I was in the Army during the Vietnam era -- a long time ago. So my review is not based on a comparison with any other ammo brand in this caliber. I bought Winchester because it is a known brand, is labeled for target use, and I feel it was available for a good price here on Ammo.com. I know there are some premium brands, which I will try eventually, and there are lots of brands I never heard of. Some of them may be good, I just don't know anything about them yet. I'm giving the Winchester 5.56 target ammo five stars in each category because my shots were consistently within one inch of the bullseye at 25 and 50 yards. That I hit the target at all at 100 yards I will count as okay because I didn't have a scope and I could just barely make out the 100-yard target with my not-so-good-as-when-I-was-20 eyesight. I qualified "sharpshooter" when I was in the Army, having missed "expert" by one shot. It makes me happy that this Colt M4 is as accurate, if not more so, than my Army M-16. Good ammo should give consistent results. This Winchester target brand delivers for me."
"Great ammo for target practice."
"arrived quickly"
"Greatest ammo on the market, great quality and value"
"I've used this in my Taurus Judge with great results. It's quality and won't lead up your barrel. I highly recommend this product."
"Awesome bang for your fed-rsrv notes! These go through my Ruger SRc9 like buddah, no hang, clean firing, pretty accurate even w/out my laser. Ordering a 1000 more now! Thanx Ammo ppl"
"Shot very clean was well pleased"
"very pleased with the ammo and how fast it shipped."
"These are good shells, and high quality from a name you know. Pretty good valve as well, so you can probably afford to shoot all day!"
"The ammo shoots perfectly out of my picky 1911. I had zero malfunctions out of 500 rounds shot. Fiocchi ammo gave me an average of one malfunction / 50 rounds shot. My only gripes are that the bullets look a little dirty, which of course had no issue with performance. And mostly the only thing I didn't like was that the tray the bullets come in is made out of Styrofoam so it leaves little foam bits all over the counter at the range.... All in all I would buy again."
"BEST OF THE INEXPENSIVE AMMOS THAT I HAVE TRIED IN MY SAVAGE MARK 2. CONSISTENTLY SHOT AROUND 3/4 INCH GROUP AT FIFTY YARDS AND MOST WERE CLOSER THAN THAT. ,PRICE RIGHT, QUALITY GOOD. MORE ACCURATE THAN MORE EXPENSICE AMMO IN MY GUN AT LEAST. SINCERELY, TBA"
"Very happy with this ammo"
"No complaints with the rounds, performed as promised. Prices were a little high for 9mm but hey supply and demand. I would recommend them. "
"Shot this through a VR-80 and another auto-loader. Never cycled in the VR-80 and sometimes it did in the other one. "
"Punched right through 1/4 inch steel plate like hot butter. Same plate easily stops steel core .223 rounds."
"Adequate for target and home defense."
"Shot a box of 150 rounds. Dirty but no problems. Dirty as leaves black on hands and dirt in barrel. "
"Good range ammo for high capacity drills without breaking the bank."
"Bought 2 box's of xp 130 grain for deer season this year. I did shoot a Buck at 250 yards and a Doe at 170 yards using this ammo. Both deer dropped in their tracks and I was impressed with the knock down power and accuracy of the loads. My problem with these shells is that between the 2 box's I bought I have now fired 27 of the 40 rounds and have had 3 shells jam in my gun, 1 of which was out in the field while hunting. Fortunately it would have been my 2nd shot if it was needed. My rifle is a brand new Tika bolt action. I have also fired Remington and Hornady rounds through this gun at the range with no problems. I have had no problems with Winchester ammunition in the past, but this problem seems to be a quality control issue at Winchester. Hopefully they can solve the problem as otherwise I like the ammunition. Will not more for at least awhile due to the above issues."
"first time I used this ammo, started out good but then it started jamming, Used 5 different clips but the rounds would not cycle all the way. I had 350 rounds of cci brass, Shot the full 350 with no hang up."
"Awful! On a Glock 19 experienced a phenomenal about one misfire in ten (primer dented, but not firing). Same round could then be fired (most of the time) in a Glock 17, where the misfire rate was only about 1 in 25. Experienced same (1:25) error rate shooting in both a Sig320 and HK MP5K. This is the ONLY band ammo we have had any problems with, including cheap CHinese stuff. Same guns fired 10K rounds of Remmington in the months prior this purchase and experienced NO misfires. "
"Terrible ammo. Almost every one jammed. Do not buy"
"Rounds poorly made. Bullets spin and bend inside casing. CCI rounds are rock solid by comparison. These rounds jam frequently, have multiple duds per magazine, and are generally unreliable. Not happy with my purchase and will not ever purchase again."