WWB .380 Ammo Question - Grain and Profile

[UpTheIrons]

Anyone know why WWB .380 is 92 grain round nose FMJ (gold colored) now, and it was 95 grain flat point FMJ (copper colored) not long ago? Or is that a function of the 95 gr. flat points being in the 100 round value pack and the 92 gr. round nose being in the 50 round boxes? Or is it different manufacturing facilities? Curious minds want to know...

[Oldgringo]

Maybe, you should be thankful that you have so many when others have so little. Back to your question - I dunno'.

FWIW, there are several reload tables that go up to 115 gr. bullets in .380 acp. Inasmuch as .380 ammo is so scare, for whatever reason, this might be a good time to think about reloading these little buggers.

[UpTheIrons]

Believe me, I am thankful for what I find, when I find it.

Now, to the answer - I finally looked on the box. The 92 grain gold-toned round nose is made in the Czech Republic, and the 95 grain copper-toned flat point is made in the good ol' USA. As rare as this stuff is, I am planning on reloading the empties as soon as I need them. I saw 500 or so rounds on the shelf at Bass Pro in SA on Thanksgiving Day, and I left 400 of them for others.

I also really like the new packaging Winchester is using. The plastic tray is a big improvement over the old styrofoam trays, IMHO, and the .380 ones are packed as 2 25 round trays per box. I guess it makes it easier to ship them from overseas that way - not as much bulk.

[Mike1951]

Found a supporting comment on the Glocktalk forum.

JonInWA 04-29-2009, 07:37
I have heard from multiple reputable sources that current Winchester White Box Value Pack ammunition is produced in at least two, and possibly three (or more) factories-one in the US, one in either the Czech Republic or Slovakia, and one in Mexico. There have been repeated reports that the Czech-produced ammunition is often sub-standard and rife with problems-to be avoided if at all possible. I'm not certain if a consumer can discern this; whenever Wal-Mart gets stock in, it's in relatively sporadic and in such low amounts that it gets gobbled up before I can get there in my neck of the Seattle metro area neck of the woods. On previous boxes of non-problematic WWB, I noticed a "USA" in the product code on the exterior of the box; on a problematic box of .357 SIG the "USA" was nowhere to be found, so that might be the best indicator.

Best, Jon

[UpTheIrons]

Further info:

On the 100 round value pack (95 grain FMJ flat point) there is a badge on the end flap of the box (and on the top of the box, too) that says "Made in USA". Under that is the item's product code which is USA380VP (US made .380 value pack, I guess). On the bottom of the box it says "Made in U.S.A. Olin Corp."

On the 50 round boxes (92 grain FMJ round nose) there is nothing that says USA on the end flap. The item's product code is U380A92 (.380 92 grain, I guess). On the bottom of the box it says "Distributed by Olin Corp. MADE IN CZECH REPUBLIC" (All caps on box).

Again, the Value Pack I have (which I got at Academy) was made in the USA, and the 50 round boxes (which I got at Bass Pro) were made in the Czech Republic.

Based on Mike's note, I'll be looking a little closer from now on.

[USA1]

Is there a preference between the round nose or the flat nose as far as performance (feeding, ect.) ?

I always liked the round nose just because it looks like a traditional style bullet.

[UpTheIrons]

There was a discussion of that on THR that I glanced at last night: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=488892" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Something about the flat point being developed for lever guns, and also some .38 loads using a flat point for a Colt revolver that had a cylinder than the standard .38 S&W rounds overall length.

As to their preferential use/performance in autoloaders - I am clueless. I suppose the FP works better for a target load - more like a wadcutter, but one would think the RN would almost always feed better, all things being equal. I also like the 'traditional' profile of the RN over the FP.

I'm just stocking up on .380 rounds now in anticipation of having something to feed them to (SIG P238 ?), but I've had no problems with either RN rounds or WWB JHP rounds feeding in my 1911.

[WildBill]

As to their preferential use/performance in autoloaders - I am clueless. I suppose the FP works better for a target load - more like a wadcutter, but one would think the RN would almost always feed better, all things being equal. I also like the 'traditional' profile of the RN over the FP.

I'm just stocking up on .380 rounds now in anticipation of having something to feed them to (SIG P238 ?), but I've had no problems with either RN rounds or WWB JHP rounds feeding in my 1911.

A friend of mine owns a Sig P238, which will not reliability feed the flat-nosed bullets. He gave me what was left of his box.

[UpTheIrons]

A friend of mine owns a Sig P238, which will not reliability feed the flat-nosed bullets. He gave me what was left of his box.

That's good to know. I only have 100 of the flat nosed rounds - we'll see what happens when the day comes. Looks like I'll have to look closely from now on. Thanks for the heads up.