We take you direct to the source and talk with our Quality Control (QC) Department to give you an insight into what it means to control the quality of Winchester Shotshell production.
At Winchester Australia we talk a lot about Superior Quality and Legendary Performance.
But what does that really mean to you, the person behind the trigger?
Shotshell is one of the most active parts of Winchester Australia's manufacturing process. There are 6 loaders available to our manufacturing team. Of these all may run simultaneously on the same day, making up to 6 different products. It is the job of the QC department to test every line of ammunition in production, every two hours.
So what does testing mean?
“Testing includes pressure, velocity, powder, shot weights, gauging, packaging, code ID checks, audits of finished products, componentry checking and gauging shooting performance when firing in semi automatic and under/over configuration of over twenty different shotgun makes and models," explains one of our senior QC operatives.
“We shoot over 120,000 shells a year, the equivalent of one every 46 seconds or over 600 per day. At the same time we are giving our firearms a decent hiding so it is good to see our shotguns standing up to that sort of punishment.”
During an average day there may be up to 3 product changes on the line so not only does the product change but so does the testing.
“Each time we do a new set up on a loader a pattern test must be performed. This test is shot at 40 yards (approx. 36.5 metres) to make sure the product shoots and performs to our strict standards. If the product fails to meet QC criteria, it never sees the light of day. We enjoy and take a lot of pride in our work, as we know for a fact that many of our competitors don’t do the testing we do,” explains our QC manager.
So we asked our QC manager to tell us how many people work in Shotshell QC and to sum up what they do in a sentence, this is what he said:
“Although the four blokes who work in Shotshell QC on a rotating basis each month look pretty relaxed, our eyes & ears are as sharp as an eagle, we understand what quality the shooter demands and won’t cop anything less.”