Winchester Issue Warning and Recall Notice on 130 Grain Full Metal Jacket .38 Special

Matthew Moss
by Matthew Moss
Winchester 130 gr .38 Special (Winchester)

Winchester have issued a recall notice on several lots of their 130 grain Full Metal Jacket .38 Special white box ammunition. This is due to the possibility that they have incorrect powder loadings.

Here’s Winchester’s product recall notice in full:

Olin Winchester, LLC (“Winchester”) is recalling three (3) lots of 38 Special 130 Grain Full Metal Jacket centerfire ammunition.

Symbol: USA38SPVP

Lot Numbers: KF21, KL30 and KM52

Winchester has determined the above lots of 38 Special ammunition may contain incorrect powder charges. Ammunition with excessive powder charges may cause firearm damage, rendering it inoperable, and subjecting the shooter and bystanders to a risk of serious personal injury or death.

DO NOT USE WINCHESTER® 38 SPECIAL 130 GRAIN SYMBOL USA38SPVP WITH LOT NUMBERS KF21, KL30 or KM52. The ammunition Lot Number is ink stamped inside the right tuck flap of the 100-round carton as indicated here. The symbol is printed above the UPC bar code.

Source: ci5.googleusercontent.com
To determine if your ammunition is subject to this notice, review the Symbol and Lot Number. If it is Symbol USA38SPVP with Lot Number KF21, KL30 or KM52, immediately discontinue use and contact Winchester toll-free at 844-653-8358 for free UPS pick-up of the recalled ammunition.

This notice applies only to Symbol USA38SPVP with Lot Numbers KF21, KL30 and KM52. Other Symbol or Lot Numbers are not subject to this recall.

If you have any questions concerning this 38 Special centerfire ammunition recall please call toll-free 844-653-8358, write to Winchester (600 Powder Mill Road, East Alton, IL 62024 Attn: USA38SPVP Recall), or visit our website at www.winchester.com.

Matthew Moss
Matthew Moss

Managing Editor: TheFirearmBlog.com & Overt Defense.com. Matt is a British historian specialising in small arms development and military history. He has written several books and for a variety of publications in both the US and UK. Matt is also runs The Armourer's Bench, a video series on historically significant small arms. Here on TFB he covers product and current military small arms news. Reach Matt at: matt@thefirearmblog.com

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  • CorruptionInColumbia CorruptionInColumbia on Feb 28, 2019

    Unfortunately, Winchester has a history of really sloppy Quality Control. A few years ago, I ordered a case of 10mm Silvertips from somewhere. It sat around for a year or two as reserve ammo until one day, it was time to open it and put the ammo to use. As I seem to recall, the "case" of 10mm Silvertips was smaller than what you normally think of when talking about a "case" of ammo at 500 or 1000 rounds. It might have been 200 rounds or so. Anyhow, out of that case, at least 20 rds from different boxes were not serviceable due to grossly deformed bullets, over-length cases which would not allow my G-29 to go into battery, and bad bullet seating that deformed the case and/or bullet.

    There have also been reports over the years of their excellent T-Series rounds not expanding because machinery that scored or cut the jackets became dull or similar, causing the bullets to act like FMJ.

    Winchester has some great ideas and potential, but they really need to get a better QC game in motion.

    • Beju Beju on Mar 01, 2019

      @CorruptionInColumbia Winchester has been regularly botching crimps on their Ranger line for a while. The Chicago PD has gone to gauge block checking all issued duty ammo. In a recent box of .38 Special I was given by a guy, about 10% went in the practice pile due to case dents (which might be from rough handling before I got it) or hollow point tips that were slightly different from the bulk of them. It's a shame, since the Ranger .38 130 gr +P expanded well from a 2" barrel in Lucky Gunner's tests, and unlike the HST Micro, comes in full 50 round boxes.

  • Rimfire Rimfire on Feb 28, 2019

    It's true that QC failed in this case, but most all ammo makers have these notices from time to time, it's certainly not exclusive to Winchester. I use lots of Win. ammo with good results, in life there's always a few flyers. Glad they are very proactive, as Andrew said, it would be wise to sticky this for awhile so all readers see it.

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