Anyone know what is up w/ Winchester Ammo's discontinued offerings?

Does anyone have insight as to why Winchester Ammo has reduced .338WM offering(s) to only 200GR , .358W offering(s) to only 200GR and .375W offering(s) to only 200GR .... in addition to other calibers that have reduced offerings, many of which bear the Winchester name. What is worse , there is zero offering for .458WM?!

However, I reload a portion of my ammo, bit that is due to the limited availability of the ammo I need.

From my perspective the current product line for Winchester Ammo is just pathetic!

Interesting to know.
Krish

krish said:

Interesting to know.
Krish

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I was looking on the web-site as I've had trouble finding ammo from Winchester. Then I reviewed the web-site & started this post ..... I was hoping someone was going tell me I am mistaken.

With the problem with there 350l ammo and there lack of concern I am not looking at Winchester ammo.
When they have the wrong bullets in Multiple boxes and will not contact you back I am worried about what they are selling.
Buying multiple box of what’s supposed to be 145gr fmj and getting what looks to be like 180gr sp in the box is bad enough but Winchester never contact you back when you call and email the company over 20 times is way more consering

Winchester is like other ammo manufacture companies. Low volume selling loadings are being dropped all togather. I have noticed others have dropped loadings they used to offer.

Its 2026. Low volume inventory is something corporations hate.

Choupique said:

Its 2026. Low volume inventory is something corporations hate.

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I fear your assessment is spot on. It seems I need to double my purchases of projectiles, brass, powder, primers for reloading.
The Win "Big Game" line was the off the shelf offering that gave consistent tight groups out of my M70 .338WinMag rifle.

Xpraetor said:

Does anyone have insight as to why Winchester Ammo has reduced .338WM offering(s) to only 200GR , .358W offering(s) to only 200GR and .375W offering(s) to only 200GR .... in addition to other calibers that have reduced offerings, many of which bear the Winchester name. What is worse , there is zero offering for .458WM?!

However, I reload a portion of my ammo, bit that is due to the limited availability of the ammo I need.

From my perspective the current product line for Winchester Ammo is just pathetic!

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It’s a very simple answer and one that should be common sense for most. If the annual purchase volume and demand for them isn’t high enough to justify production they get shuffled back to being made less often and eventually dropped. Every manufacturer regardless of the industry reviews their product assortment vs sales. They used this to dictate production and drop the low volume SKU’s to improve efficiency. If companies only introduced new products and never eliminated the slower selling ones they’d either bog down production and fail to meet demand on their most sought after products or they’d never produce the low demand items effectively discontinuing them since they aren’t in circulation, and their customers don’t have the demand to justify buying/stocking the product.

When it comes to ammo; if I find something my gun likes I purchase in case quantity and ensure it’s all a single lot number. If it’s something I shoot a lot (200+ rounds a year) I try to maintain what I believe to be a 3-5yr inventory. If I reload for it (Big Bores), I purchase what I feel is a lifetime supply.

I only reload if I can save significant $, or have a load that get's superb accuracy.

I usually use factory ammo.


Within the last 5-6 years, American ammo companies have been offering good loadings, but have been discontinuing them after a 2-4 year run.

I don't won't that!!

I want to sight a rifle in, and be good with factory ammo for the next 20 years.

Safari Dave said:

I only reload if I can save significant $, or have a load that get's superb accuracy.

I usually use factory ammo.


Within the last 5-6 years, American ammo companies have been offering good loadings, but have been discontinuing them after a 2-4 year run.

I don't won't that!!

I want to sight a rifle in, and be good with factory ammo for the next 20 years.

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I used to think the same…but I’ve found that there can sometimes be huge differences in batches of ammunition. My last batch of Sako 308 150 grain superheat ammunition had a whopping 4 inches difference in POI at 100 yards compared to the previous batch I bought. However, when I buy factory ammunition I always buy it in a patch of at least 200 rounds.

I’ve also seen sizeable differences between batches of PPU in 9.3 x 62 and with Federal Premium loads in 30/06. But none were as sizeable as the Sako batches.

We, the consumers of guns and ammunition are being “gas lighted”.
Winchester, Remington and Ruger (+ others I can’t remember at the moment) have shot themselves in the foot, so to speak by introducing a seemingly endless supply of weird and ABSOLUTELY MEANINGLESS cartridges, that really do NOTHING new (at least nothing new that makes any significant difference).
This, instead of remaining loyal to customers who have bought and / or inherited rifles from ancestors, in perfectly adequate calibers.

The following are a pinhole peek into just a few examples of the “We already have that” cartridges..

.22 Hornet vs .22 K-Hornet.
.22-250 Remington vs .220 Swift.
.243 Winchester, .244 & 6MM Remington vs .257 Roberts.
.260 Remington & 6.5 Creedmoor vs 6.5x55 & 6.5x57 Mauser.
7MM-08 Remington vs 7x57 Mauser.
.270 Winchester & .280 Remington vs 7x64 Brenneke.
.300 Winchester vs .300 H&H.
.338 Winchester vs 8x68 Schuler.

There are more but I’ll spare the readers any further agony.

If the gun and ammunition makers were to announce a new shotgun and new gauge or gauges, such as, 21 gauge, 17 gauge, 13 gauge, etc. especially in a straight pull action, with plastic thumb hole stock, muzzle brake, several piccatinny rails all over it, fluted barrel, video game compatible, Harry Potter themed etching, etc., etc., I wonder how many thousands of them would sell in today’s strange new world.

And don’t even get me started on “Wildcat” cartridges designed after about the 1960’s.

Those of us who fall for such redundancy, are exactly who PT Barnum was referring to.

And with that, I shall stand by for my “not a team player” punishment.

Velo Duck out.

Mtn_Infantry said:

It’s a very simple answer and one that should be common sense for most. If the annual purchase volume and demand for them isn’t high enough to justify production they get shuffled back to being made less often and eventually dropped. Every manufacturer regardless of the industry reviews their product assortment vs sales. They used this to dictate production and drop the low volume SKU’s to improve efficiency. If companies only introduced new products and never eliminated the slower selling ones they’d either bog down production and fail to meet demand on their most sought after products or they’d never produce the low demand items effectively discontinuing them since they aren’t in circulation, and their customers don’t have the demand to justify buying/stocking the product.

When it comes to ammo; if I find something my gun likes I purchase in case quantity and ensure it’s all a single lot number. If it’s something I shoot a lot (200+ rounds a year) I try to maintain what I believe to be a 3-5yr inventory. If I reload for it (Big Bores), I purchase what I feel is a lifetime supply.

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"common sense" you say , well excuse me for not having your superior business acumen of Olin/Winchester Ammo's new business model.
May we all revel in awe at your prowess in preparedness.

Xpraetor said:

"common sense" you say , well excuse me for not having your superior business acumen of Olin/Winchester Ammo's new business model.
May we all revel in awe at your prowess in preparedness.

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It’s not an acumen of Olin/Winchester’s business model, it’s a simple understanding of economics/business. Since that’s apparently not common sense, I’ll give you the spark note of business 101 and not even charge you the a local community colleges cost.

Prefacing this with, I know nothing about Olin/Winchesters inner workings other than they’re a publicly traded company. Consumer demand drives production/supply, while supply vs demand drives pricing (in addition to production costs). In today’s world stale/stagnant inventory ties up cash. This doesn’t look good on investor reports and quarterly earnings summaries and can result in loans to get cash to make what the demand is actually for/on. This coupled with tangible sales (from supply & demand) creates revenue. Deduct production costs, labor costs, and other overhead and you have profit. Profit gets reported which drives share prices.

You have a Longhorn in your avatar so in something you might relate to. If there’s a surplus of beef in the market or it stops selling in favor of chicken, you’re probably not going to keep slaughtering cattle because your customers aren’t going to buy it since their customers aren’t buying what they already have. Conversely, there’s likely a price that will make them start buying again, if however that price is less than what it costs to raise the cow, slaughter, package and ship it you’re unlikely to slaughter more cows since you’re now operating at a net loss. It doesn’t matter if it’s ammo, guns, cars, real estate, groceries, corn, etc. the principle is the same and a businesses goals are the same “Make Money”.

As for the reloading/ammo component preparedness I start planning my hunts years in advance, why wouldn’t I start preparing my ammo years in advance? It’s been highlighted in this thread and numerous others ammo is consistently changing or being discontinued and component availability is tough. If I find something my guns like why wouldn’t I ensure I have a multi year supply? Same for reloading. If i like a specific bullet or powder I stock up. Only difference is most of the calibers I reload for and have a lifetime supply of components for make 338WM and 458WM look like .308 ammo on the shelf in terms of availability.

There were just .458dia A-Frames on Swifts website a few weeks ago. Might be worth a look and stocking up.

What you gave is your opinion & in a condescending text you gave the generalized plot of market forces - "demand dictates supply" , what you failed to consider is others understand that, but see something abnormal. Or maybe you only can see the single dimension of market drivers. As you made the assumption no one else understands "business 101" ..... the fact is other ammo MFG have continued offerings for Winchester Magnums, but for some reason Olin/Winchester has decided to discontinue production of several legacy Winchester calibers. I subscribe to the idea that Velo dog wrote about, the continued "new hottness" of calibers being habitually released is typical market manipulation. Is it a good business strategy to drop legacy calibers? or is it a business fail? I found or find it to be suspect ....
Despite, I have adequate supplies of alot of things, have been doing so all my life. What I do/did for a living makes/made *preparation a necessity.

Appreciate the info on the .458 swifts.

All the ammo manufacturers have unfortunately been reducing their caliber offerings in all 3 of Win Mag calibers you listed, it’s not just Winchester. Other ones do still offer it but they’re consistently unavailable or out of stock despite being offered.

As an FFL holder I can see available inventory at a variety of different distributors. I also notice patterns/trends on how much they get and how often they get it because that dictates my buying patterns and amount. Those calibers are typically shipped once a year if that. Ive also seen a marked decrease in the number of rifle manufacturers chambering rifles in those calibers.

Case in Point
I love a 338WM (one of the calibers you mentioned) but sold mine in 2021 because I watched 3 or 4 of the factory loads I liked get discontinued. I also saw the new projectile offerings from the different manufacturers were released most did not include .338 option, even in the component space instead of loaded ammo. That told me the demand for .338 (regardless of caliber) is such a small segment of the market it’s not worth a manufacturers time to develop a .338 Projectile in this new bullet family because the ROI isn’t there. I walk into another gun shop outside of Texas, where the 338 is more popular and see almost zero 338WM rifles on the shelf with very limited ammo options. With the 8.6blk and 338 Arc being launched this might change but only time will tell.

For very selfish reasons I’d love if a cartridge developer stood by the rounds they designed and kept them in circulation, or at least components but unfortunately not the case especially with double rifles.

Federal dropped a bunch of offerings earlier this year as well. Mostly options where they were loading other companies bullets. But, this was across many calibers, I'm not aware of them completely discontinuing any calibers recently.

Reload & you do not have to be reliant on factory ammo, purchase components in lots that work for your rifles in bulk, & assemble it when you need it . As i shoot 318 WR & 350 REM MAG i need to do this.

I reload, despite doing so, having off the shelf offerings is preferred especially when travel has constant issues with lost or mis-routed luggage.

.

@Mtn_Infantry I wanted to scold you a bit in regards to @Rare Breed new Rigby rifle, but you make up for it here in spades. It's so simple... Olin/Winchester is a business first, a name second, a legacy third, and a product line tied for third. I wasn't aware of it until this @Xpraetor thread, but those calibers and loadings make perfect sense for Winchester. No one is shooting those carts anymore, plain and simple. The big names/businesses/holdings must look to profit to stay alive.

There's a new generation out there and they are shooting new carts. The French revolution started in much the same way; I quote Tocqueville: "The antiquity of these institutions had not made them respected. Quite the contrary, they lost any credit even as they grew old and, strange to relate, they inspired all the more hatred as they seemed less capable of causing harm through their increasing decay. ‘The present state of things,’ said a German writer, a contemporary and friend of this old regime, ‘appears to have become generally painful for everyone and occasionally contemptible. It is strange to see how people now judge unfavourably everything that is old. New impressions come to light at the heart of our families and upset their orderliness. Even our housewives no longer wish to put up with their old furniture.'"

The answer is to handload, which I enjoy an order of magnitude above shooting and another order above hunting. If you are a champion of obsolete carts or those destined to become obsolete then handload. Also, note that certain diameters were always destined for obsolescence; the OPs list easily makes the list.