Which brass do you use?

[Alfred Crouch]

Have heard:
1) Norma has soft metal and primer pockets open up fast
2) Remington has poor quality metal & isn't consistent in dimensions
3) Winchester isn't very consistent in wall thickness, weight & length
4) nosler has lot of variation is dimensions & weight from lot to lot (which I
have found to be true).

Which do you use and what has been your experience with brass put out by different manufacturers?

[Varmint Hunter]

Originally Posted by Alfred Crouch

Have heard:
1) Norma has soft metal and primer pockets open up fast
2) Remington has poor quality metal & isn't consistent in dimensions
3) Winchester isn't very consistent in wall thickness, weight & length
4) nosler has lot of variation is dimensions & weight from lot to lot (which I
have found to be true).
Which do you use and what has been your experience with brass put out by different manufacturers?

Overall, I've had the best experience with Lapua brass and use it whenever possible. I have also used Norma brass which was also rather consistent but sometimes costs even more than the Lapua.

Even though Rem brass is arguably considered some of the worst brass out there, I have used it in a custom 7STW and regularly shot .25 - .5 moa at 200yds after match prepping the brass.

[wadevb1]

I've been shooting Norma in my 25-06AI (270) and 204 and have been pleased with it despite max loads. I bought 1K 300WM Lapua hulls when I heard they were going out of production and consider Lapua to be the benchmark.

Any future custom build will be determined on Lapua brass.

[boomtube]

Virtually all my cases are Remington, WW, mil. surplus, Fed. and Norma, in that order. For factory rifles I really doubt it matters. ??

[Clark]

I can get <0.5" 5 shot groups at 100 yards with mixed range brass in .223.
That is with the bullet + powder is 1500 times lighter than the scope + rifle.
The rifle recoils .016" before bullet escapement.

I get <1.5" 3 shot groups at 100 yards with new matched prepped brass in 7mmRemMag.
That is with the bullet + powder is 300 times lighter than the scope + rifle.
The rifle recoils .080" before bullet escapement.

1 moa error is .006" change in position of each end of the rifle about it's center.
I moa error at 100y is typically from 20mph wind.
1 moa error is typically .004" of bullet tilt from bent brass neck from expander ball.

What does it all mean?
Brass brand effect is down in the noise compared to wind, rifle weight, ammo concentricity, bore cleanliness, barrel heat warp, etc.

[MontanaRifleman]

I've been getting sub 1/2 MOA groups in both my Senderos with unsorted Win brass (25-06) and unsorted Rem brass (300 Ultra). I trim the necks and debur the flasholes and the the 300 brass I turn the necks and use bushing dies for sizing. I also use a competiton seater.

I have Norma brass for my 300 WSM and have shot quite a few "warm" loads from it in load development. Some of the brass has been fired up to 5 times with only a few that have loose pockets, but they still hold the primers well.

Mark

[boomtube]

"2) Remington has poor quality metal & isn't consistent in dimensions
3) Winchester isn't very consistent in wall thickness, weight & length"

Hummm.... been loading since '65. All brands of cases have some variations, by lot, but I've never noted any such firm and predictable results by brand. Sounds like conventional "I read it on the web" wisdom to me.

I really didn't see any particular "improvment" in accuracy with Norma cases (nor epanded primer pockets) in my highly accurate .22-250 that could be attributed to the brass so I quit buying it long ago. Never bothered with the expansive Lapua stuff but I really doubt there's any great difference in accuracy with it either.

Of course, the "you get what you pay for" crowd is right, in a way. I mean, if you pay for 100 new Norma or Lapua cases that's surely what you'll get!