Howdy. What brand of brass do you prefer was just curious if anybody has noticed a difference with reloads. I know mil brass is thicker and to start loads out lighter was curious about other brands. I have mostly used rem brass, some win and bha match recently i haven,t noticed much diference.
I've read through the years that winchester was pretty good and I've stuck with them. Probably should be brave and experiment a little more with other brands. Will be interesting to see what other folks have to say. Out of a hundred rounds, I usually wind up culling about 20 to 25% of them.
For the most part I use Winchester. The exceptions are Lapua for 2 308s,270-08AI. Remington for the 280AI. I have 500 rounds of 308 Fed GM brass, but the stuff is next to awful. Necks vary .018 -.023". I don't use any MIL brass at all. I waiting to get a couple batchs of Nosler to see how it stacks up.
I use Winchester, Remington, Lapua and Starline mostly. Most all CF Rifle & Custom CF Pistol (Contender) loads are Winchester (Weighed & Sorted. I also get 15 - 20% loss) Lapua for all match loads and hunting loads. Remington for mostly .357 Maximum and 45 -70 handgun loads, also my only Nickle case that is used in a Custom .308 Bellm Contender barrel for hunting (only loaded with 150gr Nosler BTs). Starline brass for .38, .357, .41, .44 & .45 LC. If I could afford to I would probably use nothing but Lapua and Norma for any caliber they make cases for but I like to buy the rest of the components so I can shoot. I have 50 Norma cases that are in .308 Win and they are worth their weight in Platinum!!!
I'm a fairly recent convert to Lapua, both brass and bullets. They don't make brass in all calibers which is unfortunate. It's amazingly uniform in weight and shape which is fairly rare in todays market of shoddy workmanship. You guys who like to weigh your cases will love this stuff. Also, they drill out their primer pockets instead of punching them out so there's no internal projection sticking up for you to ream out. It's a little more expensive than our US made brass, but much better. Best wishes.
After several years of ranting about the poor quality of US made brass it appears someone may be listening after all. Hornady and Nosler both are entering the brass market with what they call precision made brass. It's a little more expensive, but it may be worth it. Supposedly it's very uniform in weight and dimensions. The primer pockets are drilled instead of being punched out so there's no internal projections sticking up that have to be reamed out. Hopefully the necks are more uniform also. Actually what they are doing is the same thing Norma and Lapua have done for years. I found my last purchases of US made brass pathetic and simply refused to buy any more of it. Best wishes.
For big game purposes I prefer Winchester. I can get more reloads and it is more consistent in weight than Remington. Remington brass seems to have a lot of brass flash to be cleaned from the flash hole.
For varmint hunting the new Nosler brass is exceptional and a bit pricey. But, there are no culls as they are pre-weight sorted and the flash holes are perfect. This alone saves me much time and effort. Regretably, it is not available in a wide ranges of cartridges.
Pistol brass seems less tempermental as long as it is brand sorted. Revolver brass, OTOH, is often loaded to higher pressure with the magnum loads and here, again, my preference is for Winchester or Starline.
I tried most of the brands. In hunting rifles I have had good luck with Federal match brass,Norma, Hornady and Winchester. I will use Remmington brass as a last choice.
I've tried about everyone's brass over the years.
For 'popular price' brass, I stick with Winchester. I've had much better luck with Winchester than Remington.
Lapua and Norma both make real quality brass, but it ain't cheap, and isn't available in some calibers. I use Lapua and Norma brass in varmint rifles that need to be really accurate.
In my game rifles, I stick with Winchester whenever possible.
I have not tried the new Nosler or Hornady stuff, tho.
My hand goes up for winchester brass also. Especially when i can buy it already primed, virgin, .308 and other brands at Natchez. I got lucky? Had winchester brass recommended to me and went with THAT.
Winchester, Lapua, Federal match, Starline.