Winchester USA Forged 9mm Steel-Cased Ammunition

By Will Dabbs, MD
Photos: Sarah Dabbs

Winchester White Box is the colloquial term for bulk-packed Winchester brass-cased FMJ training ammo. Typically packed 100 rounds to a non-descript cardboard box, I could not count the number of these things I have burned through over the decades. Even running submachineguns, a couple of these generic boxes will keep you squeezing triggers on a lazy Saturday afternoon long enough to make the trip to the range worthwhile. While I want it to be reliable, for simple training ammunition cost is paramount.

Brass is a metallic alloy made up of copper and zinc and the relative proportions of these components determine the characteristics of the resulting material. Brass is fairly malleable and has been used to build metallic cartridge cases from the very earliest days of cartridge-fed firearms. However, iron is the most common metallic substance on earth, comprising, among other things, the earth’s magnetic core. When alloyed with a bit of carbon iron becomes steel, a cheap and robust metallic material suitable for literally countless industrial applications.

Brass is softer than steel so it expands readily to form a tight gas seal when fired but contracts immediately to ease ejection. By contrast, steel is stiffer and does not seal as tightly within a firearm’s chamber. This allows incrementally more gas to escape into the action and results in increased fouling. Steel is also more prone to corrosion than brass.

Steel-cased ammunition earned a negative reputation here in years past based upon excessive fouling resulting from the lacquer coating applied to minimize corrosion. This coating built up in chambers making cleaning and maintenance more difficult. Nowadays, however, steel cased ammunition employs a polymer coating no more deleterious than its brass counterparts. While there will be a bit more fouling for the reasons previously described, steel-cased ammo will not harm your guns.

The new steel-cased USA Forged 9mm ammo from Winchester
offers prices comparable to the cheapest imported ammunition
along with clean powders and proven bullets. It is the
perfect fodder for plinking, target shooting and practice.

Winchester is arguably the premiere ammunition manufacturer in America. With a pedigree dating back to the Civil War and an unmatched commitment to innovation, Winchester ammunition stokes Law Enforcement weapons, American civilian defensive guns, hunter’s rifles and the military weapons of our soldiers. When Winchester launches a new product it is fully tested, reliable and built to an exacting standard.

Winchester’s new USA Forged line of steel-cased ammunition is boxer-primed, packed 150 to a box in three Styrofoam trays, and less expensive than their brass-cased offerings. Pushing the same proven brass-jacketed, lead-cored 115-grain roundnosed FMJ bullets used in classic Winchester White Box, USA Forged rounds offer the perfect balance of reliability, effectiveness and economy at a price comparable to the truly bargain-basement imported fodder. These bullets are safe to shoot in all ported, vented, or suppressed weapons.

Time will tell whether Winchester expands its steel-cased offerings to other calibers but for now USA Forged 9mm really is a game changer. Offering a price comparable to cheap imported ammo along with American-made quality and clean-burning powders as well as tried and tested bore-friendly bullets, USA Forged ammo will ably and safely feed your smoke poles without breaking the bank. You also get the satisfaction of knowing your shooting dollars remain in America where they should. When you need simple basic blasting bullets to keep your skills sharp or just while away a lazy Saturday afternoon, Winchester’s new USA Forged line of 9mm ammo has you covered. It is the rightful heir apparent to classic Winchester White Box.

Winchester Ammunition
600 Powder Mill Road
East Alton, IL 62024
www.winchester.com

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