Norma .264 Brass?

[parshal]

I've been lucky enough to have 300 pieces of new Winchester brass to work with but now it's all once-fired and I need to find new brass to replenish. A dozen years ago I started with Remington brass because that's what I found first. I was having pressure signs before reaching max loads with most every load I tried and ended up trying Winchester brass on advice of others and all the pressure signs went away. Of course, I can't find Winchester brass anywhere. All I can find is Norma and Nosler brass. I've read where Nosler brass is made by Norma but I've also read where that's true for only certain calibers. In any case, I'd like to try one of these but I don't want to spend that much to only discover it's as soft as the Remington I was using years ago.

Has anyone tried either of these? It would be great to find someone who's had to leave Winchester brass for one of these to get a good side by side comparison.

Note, I'm using these for stout hunting loads so I'm wondering what changes to expect if the Norma has less capacity. In other words, how much velocity will I end up losing at max pressure. I do notice loose primer pockets after a few loads but I'm not sure how much of that is the brass (I've been reading where some complain about that with Winchester).

 

[Trnelson]

I'll assume you are referring to 264 win mag. I bought 100 pieces of Nosler from
Midway USA. I have fired all of them twice at this point. I lost one piece to getting stuck in the die (my fault totally, I forgot to apply lube before sizing) and one piece during pressure testing (it was probably ok, but I had a sticky bolt lift so I trashed it). I load 74.5g of WC867 for 3140fps with a 140g Berger VLD in MY RIFLE, YMMV. 77.0g was where I found the sticky bolt lift, my highest (attainable) accuracy is at 74.5g. I haven't noticed any loosening of the primer pockets, or recorded any excessive stretching at the base or in the length of the cases. Lastly, I excluded one case because it was more than 1.0g +\- the mean when I first sorted them and all of the cases came to me +/- .002" in length. Honestly, I'd jump all over either Norma or Nosler brass, since Lapua doesn't make anything with the correct head stamp that I'm
Aware of. Your rifle may prefer Winchester brass, that you will need to find out. I hope that helps. Have fun, be safe.

 

[parshal]

That does help. And, yes, it's the win mag.

I just realized it's worth noting that I've since replaced the barrel since I started using the Winchester brass so whatever I noticed before may no longer apply.

With the current barrel, I'm getting 3250 with 68.5 grains of Retumbo and a 130 grain Scirocco. With 68 grains of Retumbo and a 140 grain VLD I get a hair under 3200. I get about 40 fps less with 75 grains of 50 BMG.

 

[RT2506]

If you can get some Winchester 7mm Rem mag brass all you need to do to make them into 264 Win mag cases is run them through a full length sizer in 264 Win mag. That is what I do. I have a 27 3/4" Shilen barrel on a Rem 700 action that I use 66.5 grs Retumbo with 130 Nosler Accubond bullets, WW 7mm Rem to 264 Win mag case, CCI 250 primer and get 3350 fps with half MOA accuracy. My rifle has a tight chamber and thus takes less powder to get the higher velocity.

 

[parshal]

My new chamber is tighter than the stock one for sure but that's all I've got to compare it to.

I tried to find 7mm Winchester brass but that seems just as scarce as the 264. Let me know you have a source!

 

[hatchetjack]

what's 100 pieces of Winchester 264 brass new worth to you

 

[benchracer]

I have been using Nosler Custom brass in my .264 WM. I haven't pushed it too hard, yet, but it is holding up well so far. I have used Norma brass in other magnum chamberings, with excellent results, as well. Either one is a good choice. The Nosler costs about 7$ more/100 than the Norma, but the Nosler comes with all of the prep work done and ready to load. Well worth the extra 7$, IMO.

One thing worth taking a look at is internal capacity. My Nosler brass is showing an internal capacity of 87.8 grains for fired cases and 84.8 grains for unfired cases. This is considerably more internal capacity than the 82 grains listed by Quickload. You may wish to check the internal capacity of your Winchester cases for comparison.

 

[parshal]

Benchracer, I'll defintely measure the capacity. That will be an interesting comparison from the old chamber as well since I've got once fired cases of those laying around.

Hatchetjack, I honestly can't say other than I know the current price is way more than what I paid before. Kinda like lead for shot shells. It used to $17.99 and now it's around $57 for a 25# bag. Crazy!

 

[RT2506]

Speaking about the cost of lead shot. I found that I can purchase shells already loaded a Wal-mart cheaper than what the shot cost. LOL

 

[parshal]

Yep, so true. I only load for the 28 gauge now since it's just about the only one that is cost effective any more unless you're buying the high end target rounds for 12 and 20. I've got so much reloaded ammo that I won't have to load for another hunting season or two.