.28 Nosler Brass question

esshup

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A buddy has one and he's running out of brass. He has been shooting using Nosler Brass, but he hasn't found any and ran across some new Bertram Brass. Has anybody had any experiences (Pros OR Cons) using that brass? Any better or worse than Nosler Brass in .28 Nosler?

He has been shooting the 175g SMK's in his gun but wants to try the heavier Berger Bullets, specifically the 195g. I sent him a handful of 200g WIldcat bullets but he doesn't have enough good brass left to do any load development work, and besides, once those 200g WIldcat bullets are gone, they're gone.

Thanks in advance!!
 
If he found some brass, I think he should be purchasing it, I have not seen Nosler branded brass in over a month in stock anywhere. I also see Nosler branded brass has gone up on price, I was able to purchase it for 65.00 per 25, I now see those same vendors wanting 70.00 to 71.00 per 25.
 
I emailed Nosler and there brass should be hitting the shelves in about 2-3 weeks. I would get on backorder list from a big distributor and wait.
 
The Bertram that I was loading for w as s sll over the place.

Price wise or quality wise? No Nosler brass to be found yet, but he found new Bertram brass. He is asking me if it is better or worse than Nosler brass. In other words, should he get it now or wait for Nosler brass. IIRC it was $2.75/ case.
 
Quality wise. The Nosler brass you can't run really hard or you will kill the primer pockets. The Bertram seemed stronger but you have to weight sort and turn necks if you want them consistent.
The lot I had anyway
 
I use Bertram brass in four guns it is tough will outlast nosler but you will have to prep the brass. why not just buy 28 Nosler ammo and pull bullets not much price difference if he is set on Nosler brass
 
I use Bertram brass in four guns it is tough will outlast nosler but you will have to prep the brass. why not just buy 28 Nosler ammo and pull bullets not much price difference if he is set on Nosler brass


Thanks guys!! I will tell him about the extra prep work on the Bertram brass. He isn't set on any one brass, and I found out last night that his gun has a tight chamber. He can't slide a bullet back in a fired case by hand, either handloads or factory fired ammo. When he bought his gun new, factory ammo showed extractor marks on the base. After he shot 14 rounds he saved the rest and started reloading the empties. He was able to get 5 to 6 firings each before the brass started to go away on him. He found that the more rounds he shot down the tube, the more fps he gained with the same load/bullet combo. After 60 or so rounds down the tube, he fired another factory round. FPS increased 60 or 70 fps (IIRC) and he no longer had an extractor mark on the base. BUT, he still cannot drop a bullet in the case after it's been fired. Factory Christensen rifle. I made him a modified case so he could check the base to lands dimension and to get the bullet to slide in the case we had to run the case partially in and out of the FL sizer die just to expand the neck.

A buddy gave him a 20 round box of once fired factory 26 nosler brass and right now he's going to try to make 28 nosler out of it.

He was here last month, and I took him to the 1,000 yd range. I got him on steel at 1,000 yds with him shooting the 175g SMK and he was happy, as he never shot further than 600-700 yds before. We only had 15 rounds to play with and I had left my laptop at home so dialing up from his 300 yd zero was a SWAG on my part using the data I had for the 180g Berger in my 7mm Allen Magnum for those conditions.
 
Have him mic a loaded round and a fired case. Minimum in a hunting rifle should be .002 difference .004 is better. He could be getting .001 spring back on his fired cases. Anneal some and there probably won't see as much spring back.
 
Have him mic a loaded round and a fired case. Minimum in a hunting rifle should be .002 difference .004 is better. He could be getting .001 spring back on his fired cases. Anneal some and there probably won't see as much spring back.

Will do, thanks.

On another note but in the same vein, has anyone tried any of the slower powders in the 28 Nosler with the heavier bullets, like the 195g Berger? Like WC-869 or WC-870? I use WC-872 in the 7mm AM but I think that would be too slow for the 28 Nosler. I could be wrong.....
 
Thanks guys!! I will tell him about the extra prep work on the Bertram brass. He isn't set on any one brass, and I found out last night that his gun has a tight chamber. He can't slide a bullet back in a fired case by hand, either handloads or factory fired ammo. When he bought his gun new, factory ammo showed extractor marks on the base. After he shot 14 rounds he saved the rest and started reloading the empties. He was able to get 5 to 6 firings each before the brass started to go away on him. He found that the more rounds he shot down the tube, the more fps he gained with the same load/bullet combo. After 60 or so rounds down the tube, he fired another factory round. FPS increased 60 or 70 fps (IIRC) and he no longer had an extractor mark on the base. BUT, he still cannot drop a bullet in the case after it's been fired. Factory Christensen rifle. I made him a modified case so he could check the base to lands dimension and to get the bullet to slide in the case we had to run the case partially in and out of the FL sizer die just to expand the neck.

A buddy gave him a 20 round box of once fired factory 26 nosler brass and right now he's going to try to make 28 nosler out of it.

He was here last month, and I took him to the 1,000 yd range. I got him on steel at 1,000 yds with him shooting the 175g SMK and he was happy, as he never shot further than 600-700 yds before. We only had 15 rounds to play with and I had left my laptop at home so dialing up from his 300 yd zero was a SWAG on my part using the data I had for the 180g Berger in my 7mm Allen Magnum for those conditions.
 
Have him mic a loaded round and a fired case. Minimum in a hunting rifle should be .002 difference .004 is better. He could be getting .001 spring back on his fired cases. Anneal some and there probably won't see as much spring back.


I measured my 7mm Allen Mag and it has .004" difference between loaded and fired case. I anneal the cases before every loading due to having some small splits at the neck/shoulder junction when I reloaded some fired cases that were sitting for a year. The ones that were loaded right after firing or loaded and sitting on a shelf for a year before firing didn't split, but for some reason the ones that weren't loaded for a year, then sized/loaded/fired had about 15% split. Now I just anneal before loading and have had no more issues.
 
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