How much do you value brass brand consistency when reloading?

[jlarose85]

So I'm about to start reloading for my .308 and was wondering how much of a emphasis you all put on using the same brand brass across all of your hand loads?

I have 160 rounds of once fired brass consisting of a mix of Hornady, Federal, Winchester, Nosler, Sig and Barnes. I'm wondering if I would be better served to just pick up some new brass and start fresh or use the ones I already have. I'd prefer to use the ones I already have but I'm not sure how much change you all generally see in consistency of loads when using different manufacturers brass.

Let me know what you all think and thanks in advance for the help!

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

Glad to see that you are reloading. you are going into the Rabbit Hole!
If you want consistency you need to have good brass and do the prep work the same on every piece of brass. I go to the far end of prepping brass, BUT then if you have every case the same, then every powder load the same, then every bullet put into the case with the same neck tension you will have an accurate cartridge to shoot out of your firearm.

 

[Beluebow]

I prefer my brass be the same manufacturer for each rifle...Some rifles get Lapua when available for that cartridge, some get Norma and others may get ADG.

 

[FireFlyFishing]

So I'm about to start reloading for my .308 and was wondering how much of a emphasis you all put on using the same brand brass across all of your hand loads?

I have 160 rounds of once fired brass consisting of a mix of Hornady, Federal, Winchester, Nosler, Sig and Barnes. I'm wondering if I would be better served to just pick up some new brass and start fresh or use the ones I already have. I'd prefer to use the ones I already have but I'm not sure how much change you all generally see in consistency of loads when using different manufacturers brass.

Let me know what you all think and thanks in advance for the help!

It depends on what you're trying to achieve with your .308. If you're looking to go to 1000 yards with precision…yes, you need consistent brass like the fellas above listed.

In this day and age, I'm a big fan of using what you have as things can be hard to find and/or extremely expensive. Especially if you're starting out. Use what you have and upgrade as you go.

I have an M1A sitting in a Sage chassis that will bang steel at 600 yards consistently with mixed head stamp brass.

 

[Mikecr]

I wouldn't consider anything serious with used & mixed brass.

Brass has it's character setup by it's alloy (which changes with brands), and the early fire forming clearances & load.
You can't undo this.
By 'character' I mean case resistance to pressure/sizing. If varying, then barrel timing and sizing needs will vary.

 

[Recon$$]

I won't hesitate to use a "cheaper" brand like Winchester or Hornady if it works (aka 1/2 moa groups) but I've been buying the premium stuff more and more. Consistent case prep is key.

 

[Rick Richard]

Same load with brand X brass produced acceptable pressure for a very accurate load. Same load with brand Y brass caused excessive pressure resulting in blowing primers and eventually deforming the primer spring. So, different brass or mixing brass brands in my opinion is a NO NO.

 

[memtb]

I'm certainly no expert…..but I believe that's it's pretty important. Hence, I always buy bulk quantities. Of course, you might have a bulk bunch of garbage brass! memtb

 

[del2les]

It is preferable to use the same brass when working up loads, for as already stated, there are numerous potential differences in brass weight, thickness, hardness, neck tension, etc. These can lead to less than acceptable accuracy, large swings in pressures, inconsistent neck tensions, etc.

Think of it this way, would you try to build a handload for your rifle using a mix of 3 or 4 different mfg bullets even though they are all 165's or 168's? I hope you would not.

If nothing else, sort your brass by head stamp, even if different lots, and this will reduce the possible variances.

 

[QuietTexan]

IMO if you're shooting inside 300 yards it doesn't matter at all, and depending what your precision need is that range can be much much further.

I'm 1000% anal-retintive about my ELR and benchrest stuff, but it doesn't take much to pop a whitetail at 120 yards with a grab bag of random brass. My pig hunting brass is mixed headstamp, mixed number of firings, mixed 300 BLK-223 Rem/5.56 LC made into 300 BLK, etc, a complete and total random mix of cases that get shot until they split then that one gets tossed. More likely they get lost before they get shot enough to split. Even hunting loads for my 30-06 is random factory fired brass, I don't need anything better for doe control.

No harm in reloading what you have to get used to the processes before diving in and buying a box of something nicer that you'll keep track of over the lifecycle.

 

[Dmagna]

you should not use the same powder load across different brass. Each case will have different capacity and could lead to a dangerous situation. So if you use hornady brass make sure you are shooting all hornady. Don't mix and match.

 

[K.E.C.]

All great Advice from everyone.
I have used mixed HS before, but advice from my granddad was if I did it, Never load them to max. Use the appropriate manual and only load them to the middle of the load data and you should be fine.
It's best to use the same HS.
Hope this helps. Be safe and take your time.
EDIT- That advice was given to me over 40 years ago.

 

[jlarose85]

Thanks for all the advise everyone! I appreciate the help!

 

[Slick8]

Great answers above.

I'll add two comments.

If you're shooting a hot load NEVER mix brass. As stated above it be can be fine then over pressure on the next piece.

Next if extreme accuracy and precision at any range is the goal then don't mix head stamps.

The brass is your foundation, if extreme is your goal go with a premium brand and of the same lot. For the 308 that's Lapua then all the rest.

Edit, okay 3 comments...