Winchester WinClean .380acp?

3120 Views 8 Replies 5 Participants Last post by pff, Jan 5, 2007

Josh Smith

Discussion Starter · Jan 3, 2007

Hi All,

I broke my "no Walmart" rule last night after I wrote the article on the Carpati as I was out of .380 practice ammo, and I as a bit impatient.

They were out of all .380 except for one box of WinClean.

I have a couple questions regarding what I bought.

First, it has a meplate with an exposed lead core:

Why is this? Why didn't they cap it off? Does it "splatter" better against backstops, reducing ricochet? Maybe I should hold a few back as test ammo.

Second, what are the differences between WinClean and the regular stuff? I know it has reduced lead, but are there any physical differences? It seems to me that if the primers were as good as the regular ones, everyone would have switched to these clean primers. Is there perhaps a bigger flash hole and not as much flame produced, or something along those lines?

At any rate, I will try to get out and accuracy test this stuff. My hand is still a bit tender so we'll see after a while. I may radius off the other side of the slide a bit as I did on the right side. Must be winter; I wasn't cut on the left side last time I did extensive shooting with it!

Josh <><

See less See more

Save

1 - 9 of 9 Posts

dogtowntom

· #2 · Jan 4, 2007

That WinClean bullet looks a lot like the bullet in my Spanish Santa Barbara .380 rounds.

It is far easier and cheaper to make a bullet jacket with an open end. There are "total" metal jackets that have no exposed lead. I think you are correct on the less ricochet than a FMJ tip.

Winchester says their WinClean are cleaner because they use lead free primers and the rear of the bullet is copper rather than lead. Thereby preventing vaporization of lead from an exposed base.

I love the WalMart WWB .380 100 round value pack for trips to the range- flat point makes real pretty round holes in paper.

Save

oldgranpa

· #3 · Jan 4, 2007

WinClean was a result of demand by indoor ranges for ammo with jacketing on the back of the bullet to reduce lead vapor in the air. Very few FMJ bullets have "full" jacketing and usually the back has exposed lead. It is more expensive to make "full" jacketing, and, if you looked at a "FMJ" under magnification you'd find all they did was use a little longer copper tube and "swage" the copper over the bullet after the lead was poured in.
Win white box has exposed lead on the back of the bullet. Otherwise, they're both the same. However, in a wetpack comparison several years ago, the WinClean got 1/2 inch more penetration than the WWB. Whatever that means.
og....actually I don't use either. Rem UMC is all that the WalMart here carries. Bare lead back.

Oh, BTW, neither of the Win bullets mushroomed or distorted at all in the wetpack.

Save

pff

· #4 · Jan 4, 2007

I pretty much use WinClean in a couple of guns that are sensitive to dirty ammo; the 1908 Colt .380 being one of them.

I also use it as a calibration standard of sorts for chrono work in some calibers as it usually exhibits a very low standard deviation.

After the work OG did showing low penetration of Silvertips in .380 I've considered changing to the WinClean for carry in the little Colt. I feel the flat nose is less likely to 'skid' on internal structures than the round nose stuff.

If you've sectioned the Winclean bullet, you realize that it has zero pretentions of ever expanding.

The other load I like (when I can find an odd box or two) is the old Super-X ball load. Slightly hotter, and much more clean burning than WWB.

Regards,

Pat

See less See more

Save

oldgranpa

· #5 · Jan 4, 2007

If I remember right, before our WalMart went with UMC, the WinClean was more expensive than std WWB. Anyone know??

Based on what Pat said, I'd use it too if I could get it here.

og

Save

Bob Reed

· #6 · Jan 4, 2007

Hello, I've used quite a bit of the WinClean and really like it. The guns are amazingly clean after many rounds.

Take Care,

Save

pff

· #7 · Jan 5, 2007

OG,

The WinClean is indeed more expensive than regular WWB. I recently got a box and it was $12.37+tax.

If memory serves, the 9mm was about $10 while the regular WWB was $6.40 or so.

While I've not seen Super-X ball in a long time, Remington still lists their Express ball loading ( R380A1) which ought to burn cleaner than UMC if thats a problem.

Regards,

Pat

Save

oldgranpa

· #8 · Jan 5, 2007

thanks, Pat, guess I'll just stay with UMC. Good enough for casual practice.
og

Save

pff

· #9 · Jan 5, 2007

Welcomes

The main reason I use WinClean in the old Colt Pocket Pistol is that WWB/UMC gums it up in short order. It's also slightly less hot than Super-X so is easier on the old girl.

I also use it in 9mm for the S&W 940 if I need to run 30-40 rounds without cleaning.

In .38Special, it makes a decent (if rather pricey) non+P jacketted range load. I recce it for practice for people who really don't want to clean up after lead loads.

Regards,

Pat

Save

1 - 9 of 9 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month