Technical Bulletin

July 3, 2000

Technical Bulletin 6, Poor Performance of Winchester Q3131 Ammunition

ArmaLite has recently received complaints of poor extraction and ejection with some rifles, disfigured cases, and "blown" primer failures with some lots of Winchester Q3131 5.56mm ammunition. Close inspection of the rifles involved discloses no defect.

Review of Internet sites related to our rifles discloses that Q3131 is problematic in all brands of AR-15-type rifles. We conclude that the ammunition is suspect.

We therefore recommend against sustained use of Q3131. If you have any on hand, we recommend that you return it at the first sign of failure.

We absolutely recommend against using Q3131 in Law Enforcement or other applications requiring absolute confidence in ammunition.

We will provide more information as we get it.

MAW

© 1998 ArmaLite, Inc.