Winchester Ammo

All About Winchester Ammo

Winchester is one of the most legendary names in shooting sports. They manufacture first-rate ammunition with bulk rounds that are easy on the budget. Winchester takes great pride in their innovative products and commitment to developing products for the most discerning firearms enthusiast.

While Winchester was first known as a firearms manufacturer, the company has long produced several types of ammunition for handguns, rifles, pistols, and shotguns. They manufacture every common caliber used today, including 9mm, .357 Magnum, and .223, as well as ammunition that they originally developed and still bears their moniker, like the 243 Winchester, 270 Winchester and the 44-40 Winchester, a popular cartridge among Cowboy Action Shooters.

Winchester makes ammunition primarily in Alton, Illinois (just outside St. Louis, MO) and Oxford, Mississippi. Their offerings include some of the most successful ammunition ever produced. This includes the 30-30 Winchester, a rifle cartridge that was originally designed for their Model 1894 lever action rifle and was America’s first smallbore rifle cartridge designed for smokeless powder.

Winchester Shotgun Ammunition

The Winchester AA series of shotgun shells is a favorite among every type of shotgun shooter—if you wander around a sporting clays course or step on to a skeet field, you’re guaranteed to see several shooters pulling shells from Winchester boxes. These shells are recommended for sporting clays, skeet and trap shooters because the shotshells are made using specially designed “AA” wads that reduce felt recoil and improve pattern performance. They are also made with a high-strength hull, making them reliable, consistent, and a good choice for reloading.

Winchester doesn’t just stick to competition shotgun ammunition; they are also a major manufacturer of shotgun shells for hunting. Their Super X, Blind Side and Drylock series have been developed specifically for waterfowl hunters, using components that perform well in wet environments. For turkey hunters, they’ve developed Long Beard XR shotgun shells which have several features that make these shells stand out from other turkey hunting loads on the market.

Rifle Ammo Made By Winchester

Whether you are a recreational or competitive rifle shooter, Winchester has you covered. From the popular .223 and 5.56 to larger calibers like the 308 Winchester and 6.5mm Creedmoor, their rifle calibers are accurate enough for long range competition and affordable enough to spend all day plinking at the range.

Winchester also makes ammo for hunting small and big game. Their optimized Deer Season XP line is available in several calibers and has been crafted to create oversized entry wound cavities, resulting in faster knockdowns and less suffering for the animal.

Winchester Handgun Ammo

The high-quality handgun ammunition Winchester manufactures is suitable for both suppressed and non-suppressed firearms and designed to perform cleanly and reliably for any type of shooting application. Their handgun calibers range from .32 ACP all the way up to the quintessential .44 Magnum.

For recreational and competitive shooters, Winchester “White Box” ammunition has been a go-to for decades and their Train & Defend series offers a one-stop shop for defensive handgun owners because it produces less recoil while sacrificing little in terminal performance.

The PDX1 Defender series of self-defense ammunition is used by many who carry concealed and is a first choice for several law enforcement agencies, including the FBI. This jacketed hollow point (JHP) ammunition is made with a heavy bonded-core hollow point bullet that is popular because of its ability to penetrate deeply in a controlled fashion.

Winchester’s History & Tradition

Winchester Repeating Arms Company was founded in 1866 by Oliver Winchester, who grew the company at the beginning of the Civil War with the introduction of the Winchester Model 1866 rimfire rifle (later coined “the gun that won the West”). Winchester has been in the ammunition business almost as long as they’ve been in business and their ammo has been used by the United States military since the beginning of modern ammunition production, including in World War I and World War II.

Today, Winchester Repeating Arms Company is owned by the Olin Corporation and the Herstel Group. After coming close to closing its doors in 2006, the Olin Corporation announced that they would manufacture Winchester rifles and ammunition, which breathed new life into the company. Following the close call of losing the brand, Winchester has continued to make firearms, ammunition, and accessories and has once again become a leader of new manufactured ammunition.

Winchester is heavily involved in the pro-gun rights movement and is an active supporter of several organizations, including the National Rifle Association and the National Sporting Sports Foundation (NSSF). They are also a very charitable company—in 1999, they teamed up with Ronald McDonald House to create a sporting clays event that raised funds for the Chicago Ronald McDonald House. The event was such a success that it spawned the creation of Kids & Clays Foundation who continues to hold the clays event every year.

Winchester Repeating Arms Company remains an active and leading contender in the ammunition industry, despite the challenges they’ve encountered throughout their long history. They continue to produce a staggering variety of ammunition for many applications and their top-tier reputation for quality ammunition at an affordable price make them a fierce competitor in the market.