Brass manufacturer difference?

[Oxobrianne 272]

Is there any difference in .223 to 5.56 brass?

 

[Oxobrianne 272]

Wall thickness !

 

[Bruce Treloar]

I'm a benchrest shooter who has shot rabbits and foxes for money over a lifetime. The rabbits used to be so plentiful there was no time to fiddle with prepping anything. I had a tray that held 100 222 rimmed Super cases, 4740 powder ( Little faster than 4895 ) was poured over the top of the cases to completely fill. Then the case bases were tapped so the powder leveled at approx the bottom of the neck and the projectiles pushed into the case. Rabbits were head shot constantly out to 250 yards from the back of a utility. These rimmed cases were just about the worst anyone could find but necessary when shooting the small Martini conversion. Best quality cases I have used lately for benchrest are Lapua requiring very little preparation.

If you really want to reload consistent ammunition then find a benchrest shooter near and learn all the tricks. Beware it can take over your whole life and cost a fortune,

 

[J E Custom]

Someone has previously said that .223 ammo is so cheap, it's hard to justify reloading it. That was my experience until I bought a bolt action .223 -- now I am starting to reload it. Going the full Monty on case prep -- tumbling, sizing, primer pocket swaging, annealing (I just started this), resizing again, and reloading.

I don't know the results yet, and I have to admit it will be hard to improve on an already good experience with my new-to-me Cooper Model 21, but I should know by next week if I can improve on commercial.

I, too, have come to rely on Lapua brass. It is expensive for the first purchase, but if I can reload it two or three times more than other brass, I've broken even.

For hunting only, you might find yourself reloading with less absolute precision than the bench rest shooting I am doing. Good enough, after all, is good enough.

+1

The reason I bought the Lapua brass for my 223 was that it is an AI and Lapua just fire forms so good. I can still shoot the cheep 223 ammo in it with very good accuracy but the AI version adds up to 10% more powder capacity and up to 200 ft/sec with some bullets.

The AI version also adds case life to an already good Lapua brass.
It is normally about .60 cents a piece compared to Remington brass at .40 cents each. Nosler is .80 cents each. I found my Lapua on sale
for.47 cents each and with 2 to 3 times the life of every other brass I have tried, it ends being cheaper in the long run and so far, there have been no losses due to inconsistent weight differences.

I have not had any feeding problems with the 223 AI in the AR platform and it realy shines in the bolt gun.

J E CUSTOM

 

[freddiej]

Since I have seen/read a lot of reasons for this and that in this thread.. I thought I would toss my own 2 cents worth in there. I will come out and say this.. I hate, loathe, do not trust Remington-Peters brass for anything but pistol ammo. their rifle cases SUCK! I have never had any good cases from R-P ever in my 49 years of life. any time I get R-P brass i either give it away to people whom beg me for it or I give it to the scrap man in town for money to buy high quality brass.
in grades of brass, consistent weight, consistent hardness, and consistent growth are all good things. in my mind for my hunting brass there is one more consistency I like to have. that is long life. to that end I anneal my brass every time I shoot it and re-load it. the best brass from these United states is Nosler. I have never heard of or used peterson, ALG, and some of these other brass companies. Until I came here I had never heard of these small brass companies. I like Nosler brass, they are grouped in 1/2 grain lots of 25, 50, 100, 250, 500, and 1000 count lots. very good/top shelf stuff. with some prep work the Hornady stuff is excellent brass. Winchester has slid downhill badly in the last two decades. Norma is umm, very good brass. I like it, but you get people, snobs, that think it's the R-P of Europe.. not sure of that. Norma beats the pants off of R-P. l have Lapua brass, that stuff is worth every penny you spend on it. RWS is so hard to find that I do not even try to find it any more. My first choice in hunting brass is Nosler, if I can not get Nosler brass; I like Norma, or Lapua. If I can not get what I need for a good price I will go with Hornady. I keep forgetting one brass company that I should give some print to; that would be Federal. they are in the mystery category. some brass is good and others are bad.. it's like they forget everything from batch to batch and if your get a good batch its great brass, if you get a bad batch they are not worth the price of scrap brass. My 270WSM, 270 Win, 300 Win Mag, 338 Win Mag and 444 Marlin all like different brass. they get what they like and I make no excuses for my choices. My varminting guns like Hornady and Nosler (17 Rem, 22-250, 22 Hornet). most of my guns like Nosler, Hornady, Lapua, and Norma. since I have been buying small quantities for hunting I have got small batches of Hornady 270 win (I have Nosler coming) , Nosler 270 WSM, Norma 338 Win Mag, and Hornady 444 Marlin. 300 Win Mag is the only one I can only find Nosler and Hornady. Lapua stopped making 300 Win Mag a while back. My 270 really loved that batch of Norma 270 Win I got back in college but those were lost (stolen) from me by someone. I have yet to find Norma 270 Win brass ever again. I would say this to anyone whom hunts and is willing to put some time in prepping brass. get good brass and stick with that brass. if you can, get RCBS neck reaming dies(ream the necks for consistent neck tension), keep the brass at a standard (you set) length, uniform the flash holes, uniform the primer pockets, and keep them in 0.01 grain lots if you can. 1/2 grain lots, and find an COAL the rifle likes and make sure you do your job on the hunt. because you can rest assured if you do your job reloading; your ammo you make will do it's job with monotonous regularity.

 

[cowboy]

[QUOTE="J E Custom, post: 1667658, member: 2736"

Then one day I found some 223 Lapua brass On sale for pennies more than the Remington brass and bought 300 rounds for my 223 AI and never looked back.

Catch it on sale and buy 2 to 300 rounds at one time and your worries are over.

Just my opinion

J E CUSTOM[/QUOTE]

So where have you found Lapua brass on sale or where should a guy keep an eye out. Personally, I've never seen Lapua on sale - probably not looking in right places.
Thanks in advance

 

[Reloder28]

Brass has differing internal volume from one manufacturer to another. Norma cases locked the bolt in my custom rifle with the lowest level starting charges while Remington brass allowed the same charges up to top velocity without issue.

Remington brass is more malleable. It is my go-to market brass. I have always liked it but it is getting harder to find. I recently grabbed 1000 RP 300 WSM while the grabbing was good.

Winchester is too hard & brittle. It will usually split the neck 1 out of 10 shots fired.

Lapua is lesser internal volume but high on quality. My 308's run 2900 fps with Lapua using 155 Scenars & group 1/2 moa every time.

Norma is great commercial brass, top notch quality. But, like my 300 WSM, your gun may not like it. I have used Norma in every cartridge I could get it in. It has given me match grade results with all of my loads in my 7 Wby.

I wouldn't use Hornady brass for fishing weights.

 

[ptsdvet]

I am looking at getting into reloading (.223, 7mm-08 and 308 Win). I am trying to put my equipment list together. All rifles will be used for hunting purposes only.

I know Lapua and Norma seem to be the "best", but what are the differences between each brand? What makes Hornady brass not as good as Winchester, and what makes Lapua better than Winchester?

Does Lapua require less case prep tools than Winchester or Remington?

So many questions....

Thanks
Steve

I have not been overly impressed Lapura Pricey, I started reloading in 1970 and was not picky could be picking up brass at the range Then I built a 6.5x 284 Hornady and Lapura were my two options I have 90% of my Original Hornady 10 yrs. later! Saved my money and bought Lapura and in the first 100 rounds I had issues still shooting old terrible Hornady!

 

[J E Custom]

[QUOTE="J E Custom, post: 1667658, member: 2736"

Then one day I found some 223 Lapua brass On sale for pennies more than the Remington brass and bought 300 rounds for my 223 AI and never looked back.

Catch it on sale and buy 2 to 300 rounds at one time and your worries are over.

Just my opinion

J E CUSTOM

So where have you found Lapua brass on sale or where should a guy keep an eye out. Personally, I've never seen Lapua on sale - probably not looking in right places.
Thanks in advance[/QUOTE]


I have found 223, 260, 7/08 and 308 at reduced prices on midway in their clearance section. It is rare but when I do catch it, Depending on how much I already have I will buy up to 400 rounds of it. Sometimes they will have a quantity limit and that is what I buy.

I have also found RUM brass for less that 50 cents a piece when some store went out of business and charged according to what they paid for it.

I watch for sales and clearances for lots of consumables and when you find something don't put off buying It or 5 minutes later it will be gone. Right now they have 223 Remington for $62.00 dollars a 100

Once I bought 10 boxes of 6.8 SPC for $12.00 dollars a box (No limit) and later though I was stupid for not buying more, so I called back and it was all gone.

I am not cheep but do believe in a bargain when one comes along

J E CUSTOM

 

[Lee Goodwin]

If you are on a budget.?
I pick up range brass in .223 5.56 and I have no trouble except with wolf brass and that is at the primer pocket. I have picked up so many 100s that I don't bother with wolf brass for reloading.

308 ? I buy Dogtown loaded ammo and after shooting reload it. And, ocassionally find range brass. I will say that 308 is a tight range on powder charges when reloading and I just go high to medium high charges.

When I buy brass I usually go to the gun shop and buy from a bucket of the caliber I am looking for. 20¢ a piece for whatever and I try to get fresh never loaded judging from the primer pocket looks. I have bought Hornady new and liked it but it was "soft"...I liked it. Privi partisan brass is somewhat brittle from my experience.

Good luck and be safe. Reloading is a big adventure.

 

[Kansaswoodguy]

Well, it doesn't really matter if the brass is different then because you need to keep them separated anyway. You should NEVER use any brass in more than just one rifle. Lots of people do it (especially those that full length size every time), but it's a very bad practice that will bite you REALLY REALLY HARD someday where it REALLY REALLY HURTS. It's not if, it's only when. Even rifles chambered with the same reamer should have their own separate brass because headspace can be different.

With a couple guns this is fine I have twelve 223's I full length resize and motor on no worries. No I will add that in my 6.5 Creedmoor one of my kids lost my shell holder and I grabbed a different brand one I had with some other dies and didn't think to check shoulder bump well long story short with .015" shoulder bump after a few firings I had a case give me a little incepint head separation and left the brass with no head in the chamber and me with no easy out bolt extractors on hand had to pack up and head to the garage.

 

[J Doss]

I am looking at getting into reloading (.223, 7mm-08 and 308 Win). I am trying to put my equipment list together. All rifles will be used for hunting purposes only.

I know Lapua and Norma seem to be the "best", but what are the differences between each brand? What makes Hornady brass not as good as Winchester, and what makes Lapua better than Winchester?

Does Lapua require less case prep tools than Winchester or Remington?

So many questions....

Thanks
Steve

I have shot mostly Remington brass for nearly 40 years. I have a 7 RM that shoots 1/2MOA or under, depending on me. The 7mm it's what I started reloading for. I shoot an over book load that builds a lot of pressure and still get 5 it 6 reloads with them before I start having some splits start showing up in the neck. I buy about forty new rounds every year to keep my 250 ladder rounds rotating out.
For most pure hunters, Rem, Win or Hornady will work just fine. Even shooting longer ranges, 800-1000yds, I have not been able to tell much difference in hunting situations.
I used to shoot big bore hunting rifle competition and shot the same rounds, with Rem brass, in both my 7mm RM and 270 Win as I used hunting. I didn't have any problem keeping up with the full time competition shooters.
If you want to speed a little extra for the top of the line components, there's nothing wrong with that. Find something that works well and stay with it. Clean and check your brass after each firing and have fun.

 

[Doug Herold]

No


Nosler brass. Hands down best IMO.
LAPUA 2nd.
In some cases Norma brass.

If you buy Nosler $$$ you want to be committed to getting the absolute most out of your guns. I would not run hi-q brass in a gas gun generally.

Nosler brass is weight sorted and ready to load with exception of your particular specs for neck tension. Lapua is same. Seldom do I get more than a few 10ths weight difference in a lot of Nosler brass. Primer pockets and flash holes look like they were done by magic. They constantly give me the lowest deviation and spreads. The cases look like jewelry.
In my precious precision rigs I shoot Nos or Lapua only.

When I hunted I shot Nos or Lapua.
I would occasionally weight sort hundreds of Rem or Win brass to get 50, then clean primmer flash holes spending hours on prep. I would hardness test OEM brass and discovered that neck tension with most of it was a wish and an illusion. One day I finally decided my time was worth more than the cost of Premium brass. I started buying Nosler and Lapua and some NORMA brass and never stopped. Note: I have found the brass you get in Nosler ammo is not weight sorted. So don't buy Nos ammo to get the brass thinking you are beating the system. Expect to pay up to $75 per 25 for Nosler. And you pretty much need to buy in lots of 100 to be worthwhile. It's worth it to me.

If you are not prepared to keep accurate counts on loading cycles and keep different batches separate, if you are not going to push your guns to their max distance and accuracy potential for a good reason, if you are not going to measure concentricity or use an accurate chronograph to ensure the smallest SD and ES, if you are not going to use HI-Q competition dies and scales, just load good Rem, Norma, Hornady brass and enjoy your guns. Buying top tier brass leads to all kinds of other psychoses and mental maladies that can often cause - obsessive behavior, sleeping disorders, a never ending need to buy new powders, bullets, primers, guns and barrels. It can occasionally even result in divorce, unless you infect your wife/husband et al.

Bon appetite!

 

[Doug Herold]

I am smiling ...