SAFETY ADVISORY: Winchester Ranger Bonded 9mm 147 grain (Q4364)

[ST911]

Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, National Firearms and Tactical Training Unit (NFTTU)
Nov 12, 2013


Winchester Ranger Bonded 9mm 147 grain (Part Number Q4364)

The National Firearms and Tactical Training Unit has determined that all Winchester Ranger Bonded
9mm Luger 147 grain (part number Q4364) ammunition is no longer authorized for duty carry because
of reliability issues. The Winchester Q4364 ammunition does not meet the NFTTU quality standards for
duty carry ammunition. This ammunition was procured through another Federal agency to supplement a
shortage of ICE 9mm duty ammunition.

Firearms Instructors and Ammunition Control Officers must immediately identify and discontinue use of
this ammunition for duty carry. Identification of this ammunition type is shown below. ALL lots of this
ammunition should be isolated and inventoried and all boxes/cases should be labeled “training and
qualification use only”.

For any additional questions related to this ammunition notice, please contact NFTTU Customer Service
via email at (REDACTED) or telephonically at (REDACTED).

This advisory notice can be viewed on the NFTTU Intranet site at: (REDACTED)

It remains absolutely essential that even the highest quality duty/carry ammunition, from the most reliable and most vetted sources, be continually test fired in guns used in the defense of life. Please check your inventories, consult your controlling authority for ammunition issue and purchasing, and take any actions indicated by them or the manufacturer.

[SeriousStudent]

Thanks for the tip, I had to go check the ammo bunker.

[Detmongo]

I spoke with the PFI for New York yesterday and he said the problem they we finding were hard primers. As a side note i shot 200 rds of it yesterday wi th no issues.

[markm]

Skintop's HighPoint runs it FLAWLESSLY!

[Detmongo]

I've shot around 3k of it since it's been out all went bang.

[Up1911fan]

This is my carry load and I have more on the way. So far its been reliable for me.

[markm]

This is my carry load and I have more on the way. So far its been reliable for me.

You plan to fight Murphy's law? Sounds good!

[Vendetta]

My department (fairly large) has been running Ranger for a while. Our 9mm is the RA9T part number though. I have never had any issues with the 9mm, but I know the range sees quite a bit. The real problem is with their .357 Sig rounds. The lack of quality control is astounding. There was a lot where everyone had to bring back the ammo because of so many failures.

No powder
No primer
Bullets upside down
Cases destroyed

From everything I have heard, we are moving away from Ranger because of their poor quality lately.

[Up1911fan]

Was stating that I've been carrying it and ordered more before seeing this thread

[Kain]

Wonderful. Am sitting on a solid case of this stuff. Bought it back early January and have been sitting on it. At the time was cheaper than 115gr ball, and honestly for what I paid for it, is still cheaper than most 147gr ball so that should be telling as to what I paid per box. Haven't shot any since I had enough Gold Dot that I wasn't in a hurry to cycle to that and also have a case of RAT9 as well. Well if nothing else i have some great training ammo.

Still kind of curious as to what all kinds of issues they were having, if it was the undrilled primer holes that Winchester had the other year, and when I did see this ammo that issue did cross my mind, but still at the price point that it was at..., anyway, not a huge issue and I do appreciate the heads up.

[T2C]

It is sad when a major manufacturer sells substandard ammunition purported to be of high quality for issue to personnel who will be protecting their lives and the lives of others with it.

[ST911]

If you have some of this ammunition and communicated directly with Winchester, please be sure to update the information in this thread. Thanks.

[Detmongo]

I was told that it was hard primers. As a side note shot another 100 rds of it friday with no issues.

[RMiller]

I blame it all on limp wristing.:rolleyes: :sarcastic:

[Plumber237]

This makes me leery of my 147 gr ranger T, since I would assume that they use the same primers for both rounds. My stuff isn't all that old (late 2011ish), I haven't had any problems with any of mine I've shot (150 rounds or so), but this does make me wonder.

[HD1911]

I've shot a few Hundred rounds of it and it went Bang every time, functioned perfectly, and was pretty darn accurate too.

[phidelt208]

Guess I'll have to shoot all mine, and buy some more. Darn :dance3:

[longball]

This makes me leery of my 147 gr ranger T, since I would assume that they use the same primers for both rounds. My stuff isn't all that old (late 2011ish), I haven't had any problems with any of mine I've shot (150 rounds or so), but this does make me wonder.

I am wondering the same thing. I switched out all my carry ammo to HST last year but I still have several mags loaded with 147gr Ranger T in my safe. It makes sense that they would use the same primers.


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[tvfreakarms]

Hate to bring up an old thread but I just bought a box. Any new issues?

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[longball]

Not that I am aware of. The ones I've shot all went bang like they're supposed to.


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[tvfreakarms]

So, couple of people on here said it was cause of hard primers. Was that the case? Or something else?

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[longball]

That was the suspected culprit best as I can remember but I'm not sure there was ever a solid conclusion.


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[tvfreakarms]

OK. Well thanks for replying.
I got a box for $20 for 50.
Is that about the normal price?

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[longball]

Last time I ordered it I think it was around $25 per 50. If I ran into some for $20/box today I wouldn't hesitate to buy it.


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