best brass choice

[Teri Anne]

Whether in general or cartridge specific which would have best brass
Nosler
Hornady
Norma
Berger
PPC
Lapua
Federal
Winchester

Choice is for longer reloading (average case life per good velocity, not hot) case. I might be buying factory ammo and reuse the brass for it or just buying brass? 6.5prc is the cartridge in question if that helps?

Over the years I have found that who makes the brass isn't as important as keeping alike brass together. Brass that came out of the same lot number of factory ammo or the same bag of purchased ammo should stay together. If you want to know what the best brass there is, it's military Lake City brass in 5.56, 308 and 30-06. It is heavier than most other brass and unless abused by over pressure can be loaded two or three times more than other brass. One note on military brass, do not use brass that came out of a machine gun if it was fired in a machine gun. It gets damaged during the ejection process by being jerked out of the chamber before the pressures have dropped down. I have found that there is an unusually high rate of case neck damage as well as stretching of the case. I have also found that your pet load will shoot just as well in Winchester brass, as Remington brass, as Federal or for that matter any other brass. Be careful sizing it and trimming it and your point of impact might shift necessitating a few clicks of sight adjustment but the grouping is generally not affected. OK, now let the howling in protest begin.

 

[DoneNOut]

Over the years I have found that who makes the brass isn't as important as keeping alike brass together. Brass that came out of the same lot number of factory ammo or the same bag of purchased ammo should stay together. If you want to know what the best brass there is, it's military Lake City brass in 5.56, 308 and 30-06. It is heavier than most other brass and unless abused by over pressure can be loaded two or three times more than other brass. One note on military brass, do not use brass that came out of a machine gun if it was fired in a machine gun. It gets damaged during the ejection process by being jerked out of the chamber before the pressures have dropped down. I have found that there is an unusually high rate of case neck damage as well as stretching of the case. I have also found that your pet load will shoot just as well in Winchester brass, as Remington brass, as Federal or for that matter any other brass. Be careful sizing it and trimming it and your point of impact might shift necessitating a few clicks of sight adjustment but the grouping is generally not affected. OK, now let the howling in protest begin.

I picked up 1500ct of Federal brass. FGMM. I was getting unusually high ES/SD when load developing the past few days. I discovered when inspecting primers for pressure that the head stamps have slightly different fonts of the lettering...I'm not looking forward to that sorting process...

 

[Varmint Hunter]

I would urge annealing the ADG after 4 firings. My necks started splitting after 4 loadings, and that was in 6.5 PRC, MV only 2942 with 143 gr ELD-X's

In 45yrs of reloading, I have never split necks on cases. Not on cheap commercial brass or any of the high grade brass either. I have only started annealing recently so that isn't what has helped me avoid split necks.

Based on my experience, I'd say split necks were more a consequence of overworking necks than anything else. I use bushing dies for (almost) all of my reloading and move the necks and shoulders no more than is absolutely necessary. The new craze of using mandrels requires a reloader to resize more than minimally, and then to upsize again. It may not be much but it does require more work to the neck then just using a proper size bushing.

Just my 2 cents, and it's probably worth less.

 

[M1A1ABRAMS]

In 45yrs of reloading, I have never split necks on cases. Not on cheap commercial brass or any of the high grade brass either. I have only started annealing recently so that isn't what has helped me avoid split necks.

Based on my experience, I'd say split necks were more a consequence of overworking necks than anything else. I use bushing dies for (almost) all of my reloading and move the necks and shoulders no more than is absolutely necessary. The new craze of using mandrels requires a reloader to resize more than minimally, and then to upsize again. It may not be much but it does require more work to the neck then just using a proper size bushing.

Just my 2 cents, and it's probably worth less.

I am new to reloading. So I don't have much experience with any particular type of brass. But I was wondering if age in the brass makes a big difference ? Say older Rem brass as to the newer brass. Metallurgy has gotten better. But then sometimes trying to cut costs has also not helped with some products. I suppose this question would be more geared toward old time reloaders. Or someone that has reloaded lots of brass from different time periods. Being all things equal in prepping brass. Such as annealing & using bushing dies.

 

[Blackdirt Cowboy]

ADG for me if it's available in the caliber I'm working on.

 

[Hudge76]

My choices are Lapua, Starline, Sig Sauer, Norma, Nosler, and Hornady. I do have R-P and Winchester brass but don't buy it others are available.

 

[Mike D Texas]

My choices are as follows:

1. ADG
2. Peterson
3. Toss up between Lapua and Alpha
4. The rest is last resort junk IMO.

 

[ChrisInKY]

Lapua in whatever cartridge it is available in. ADG after that, and Starline for 45-70, 458SOCOM, and handgun.

Varmint Hunter knew the answer!!

 

[SSgt G Cody]

I've used mostly Winchester, Starline, and Lake City brass the past ten years because they were readily available. I usually buy my brass 100 or 500 at a time. I fully prep before first loading, and anneal after each full group firing, before re-sizing and reloading. Brass typically lasts for 15-20 re-loadings. I've found that Lapua and Nosler costs about twice what Winchester brass does, and I see very little difference.

 

[ARlife4me]

I am new to reloading. So I don't have much experience with any particular type of brass. But I was wondering if age in the brass makes a big difference ? Say older Rem brass as to the newer brass. Metallurgy has gotten better. But then sometimes trying to cut costs has also not helped with some products. I suppose this question would be more geared toward old time reloaders. Or someone that has reloaded lots of brass from different time periods. Being all things equal in prepping brass. Such as annealing & using bushing dies.

As far as the "age" of ammo/brass goes I will tell you the I've been using the same super-x 264wm brass for almost 40 years (200 pieces more than 10 times fl sized). If all brass across the board of the same brand was equal in quality, then it's an easy answer. Maybe it being shot out of the same rifle for that period of time helped? 90% of these rounds were stuffed with more powder than book states (we all it's possible due to chamber/throat dimensions), so yes these were hotrod rounds. If I can find brands of many or any kind I'll try most out as I'm not familiar with any but 3 (Winchester, Hornady, Starline).

 

[QuietTexan]

My choices are as follows:

1. ADG
2. Peterson
3. Toss up between Lapua and Alpha
4. The rest is last resort junk IMO.

X2, my list is the same

I use Hornady, Starline, Norma, Nosler, factory once-fired, LC, etc for various things, but never in good rifles if any of the Top 3 are available. ARs, handguns, Bergaras, reloading for other people, etc.

 

[Axl]

Did you skip Remington on purpose? My first choice Remington, Second Winchester.

Well remington doesn't make 6.5 PRC brass so there is that.
If they did make it, it would be at the bottom of the list with Win. and Horn.
And remington hasn't had brass that they used to make in a long time so I think remington has skipped remington brass!

 

[comfisherman]

Adg
Lapua
Norma
Peterson
Everyone else if that's who makes it or cannot find the others.

 

[DoneNOut]

So tell me about this ADG brass. I use Lapua. Lapua hard to find though.