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"best" 300 win mag brass?

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Minuteman
Jan 20, 2012
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I've been waiting on some nosler brass for awhile with no end in sight, and my rifle is complete. So I'm in need of some brass.... Who makes the best? Obviously I'd like some lapua but they quit making it.... This will be a long range precision rifle, so it needs to be very consistent, and the number of loads is a big factor also. I'm pretty new to reloading, so I don't have much first hand knowledge, and was recommended nosler brass, but I have read some very shitty reviews. Any help is greatly appreciated!!

And of course, if you have any new lapua brass for sale in 300 win, please let me know!!
 
It would be hard to beat Winchester brass in a .300 Win if it has been prepped properly. I am pretty sure Hornady makes .300 brass which would be better than the Winchester. Just see what you can get now(or soon) and go from there.
 
Norma is very good brass. In my opinion It beats RWS by a longshot. RWS is way to thick and I was getting a sticky bolt at with 75 grains of h1000 and a 208 amax. I shoot the 230's out of a 30" Broughton with Norma with 75.5 Retumbo and the 215's oit of a 5R milspec with 75.5 grains of h1000. (Which is pretty hot) and no real signs of op. if it was RWS, I would be buying a new action possibly a new FACE
 
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Aimsmall55 said:
Norma is very good brass. In my opinion It beats RWS by a longshot. RWS is way to thick and I was getting a sticky bolt at with 75 grains of h1000 and a 208 amax. I shoot the 230's out of a 30" Broughton with Norma with 75.5 Retumbo and the 215's oit of a 5R milspec with 75.5 grains of h1000. (Which is pretty hot) and no real signs of op. if it was RWS, I would be buying a new action possibly a new FACE
Click to expand...

You've made this argument before, and I note that you've made no mention of velocities, accuracy or longevity of RWS brass as compared to your now much superior Norma brass. Yes, RWS brass is thicker, and weighs 270 grains on average compared to Norma brass that weighs 215 grains. So yes, RWS brass will use much less powder (2-3 grains) to achieve the same velocities at the same pressures as Norma brass will. The longevity of the RWS brass is also superior to Norma. Meaning you will get more reloads out of it @65K PSI than you will with Norma brass.

Apparently the only criteria you continuously mention is that thinner brass will hold more powder.. Well no shit sherlock....If you actually owned a chronograph and ran the velocities of RWS brassed 300 Win Mag loads you might have surprised yourself by reaching max book velocities with 3 grains less powder. Which in your mind is apparently a bad thing.....

Look use whatever brass you like, but don't bad mouth a brand of brass just because you don't know that brass that weighs 55 grains more than other brand might just need less powder to achieve the same goals. Relative case capacity is something every reloader needs to keep in mind, but you apparently were absent from class that day....
 
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Well dang. This could get entertaining!! Lol.

I was using hornady before. And cannot locate any, so I figure if I'm going on the hunt, it's gonna be for some good shit!!
 
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BobinNC said:
You've made this argument before, and I note that you've made no mention of velocities, accuracy or longevity of RWS brass as compared to your now much superior Norma brass. Yes, RWS brass is thicker, and weighs 270 grains on average compared to Norma brass that weighs 215 grains. So yes, RWS brass will use much less powder (2-3 grains) to achieve the same velocities at the same pressures as Norma brass will. The longevity of the RWS brass is also superior to Norma. Meaning you will get more reloads out of it @65K PSI than you will with Norma brass.

Apparently the only criteria you continuously mention is that thinner brass will hold more powder.. Well no shit sherlock....If you actually owned a chronograph and ran the velocities of RWS brassed 300 Win Mag loads you might have surprised yourself by reaching max book velocities with 3 grains less powder. Which in your mind is apparently a bad thing.....

Look use whatever brass you like, but don't bad mouth a brand of brass just because you don't know that brass that weighs 55 grains more than other brand might just need less powder to achieve the same goals. Relative case capacity is sonmething every reloader needs to keep in mind, but you apparently were absent from class that day....
Click to expand...


First off get off, you can come after me all you want.... And I will also tell you the same thing.... Fuck off. Secondly, I can say whatever the hell I want about your beloved RWS. Isn't this website supposed to be a place where you can ask questions and get people's opinions? He asked .. I gave. Maybe RWS brass is your thing but I think it fucking sucks. And I will continue to say that no matter what kind of dick heads ( that being you) say to me. And OMG .... You mean to tell me that a brass like federal has less volume than win. But with a lighter charge yields the same pressure. Dude you should be on Jeopardy... Maybe you could use your class room bull shit there.
 
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Pat M said:
I still run Lapua, think i saw an ad about a year ago for the last
Click to expand...

Lapua never made 300Win brass.
Your brass is Norma made for stamped and repackaged for Lapua.
Just so you know.

I am very happy with The precision of Norma 300Win Brass, but at higher pressure (above 60Kpsi) it does not last very long.

I don't know if it is because Winchester is now so awful these days or what, but lately I have had pretty good luck with Remington. Prepare to spend some time blueprinting it.

I have heard some good things about Horneber 300Win brass, but I have yet to try it.
 
Winchester 300 Win brass is harder to come by than pussy from the pope these days. Anneal the brass you have and be glad you have some. Bob, I shot Rws and Win brass this morning at the range with 208's. 77 grains of H1000 in the Rws yields 2905 fps and a bolt I had to beat open with a hammer. 78 grains in the Win brass was running 2995 and easy bolt lift. I ran it up to 79.5 grains in the Win brass and 3075 and the bolt lift was still easy, but did get ejector swipes and flat primers.
 
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jsthntn247 said:
Winchester 300 Win brass is harder to come by than pussy from the pope these days. Anneal the brass you have and be glad you have some. Bob, I shot Rws and Win brass this morning at the range with 208's. 77 grains of H1000 in the Rws yields 2905 fps and a bolt I had to beat open with a hammer. 78 grains in the Win brass was running 2995 and easy bolt lift. I ran it up to 79.5 grains in the Win brass and 3075 and the bolt lift was still easy, but did get ejector swipes and flat primers.
Click to expand...


To BobinNC. I rest my case. I too had to beat my bolt open with a mild charge using RWS. It really sucked bc I then had to pull all my bullets and start all over again with Rp brass. Just got the Norma but it rocks. Never shot nosler but I hear great things.
 
Just got 100 "bulk" Norma .300 win mag brass in from Midway. Sign up for their email alerts and buy quickly. The guys at the gunshop in Goldsboro, NC (Four Seasons) had tons of powder in yesterday but said brass and bullets were still hard to come by. I bought 3 lbs of H1000. Hopefully powder becoming more available is a sign of things to come with brass and bullets.
 
I can't keep up? Who makes what, for who? I have some excellent cases, stamped Nosler that looks every bit as good as Lapua. If you can get it, you will like it. BB

PS, on the other hand, my WW brass has lasted a long time, I'm not throwing it away, yet.
 
X-fan said:
.... but lately I have had pretty good luck with Remington. Prepare to spend some time blueprinting it.
...
Click to expand...

please explain the "blueprinting" part, I have a bunch of 300 wm brass I want to reload soon. What needs to be done to it?
 
De-burr the flash holes and uniform the primer pockets.
Neck turn if that is your deal.

That is what most people consider blueprinting brass.

Regards,

Chet
 
And there are many more steps depending on how much time you want to
spend massaging your new shiny brass!!
 
I run RWS, NORMA and have one box of 50 Nolsers. The Norma is the highest quality in my subjective opinion.

Fx77 is dead on with collet resizing die for RWS or for belted magnums in general. I was fighting that RWS like crazy, starting using that collet die. I'm on my 8th reload on the RWS brass and running like a champ. I've not had one stick since using that die.

It used to make me crazy.

I love my RWS now.
 
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Well I have Winchester and some Norma brass to try out when I get my 300 from the smith. I have used Nosler in other calibers and would say Norma made it if I had to guess. The nosler has the same cheesy box..Ya, Lapua has never made belted magnums for themselves as far as I know...Been reading great things about Norma's new line of brass.
 
I don't want to offend anyone but I wonder If people new that Norma made the belted magnums for Lapua they would still claim there the best? I have yet to try any in the 300 wm but my 7mm mag seemed to eat up anything pretty fast! I have read you need to keep things pretty tight with these two because case life isn't that good.
 
In my opinion using Winchester, Federal & Black Hills match brass I bought Bha match once fired brass in bulk with it came some Fed. I wanted all matching brass the Winchester brass was a gift I found out bha was less work. "match" brass should be right. The fed. Was heavier and head spacing on the belt varied on all 3. all of them work good if loaded properly to your gun. Read precision shooting reloading guide. It explained not to keep bumping the shoulder to saami. Size the case correctly when using range brass and after you use it in only in your gun necking is it as far as sizing goes. If clean dent free once fired brass will chamber easily why do more then neck it? And if it will chamber easily plastic gage the shoulder find out the gap. Set your die correctly. Max loading is not always best it takes time to cocktail a great round. Stay away from rem.brass they can't punch flash holes well good luck.
 
I got several hundred pieces of black hills from a friend that took a sniper course. It was atrocious. By far worse than RWS and Norma. I trashed it. The Norma is the most consistent, but I'm getting good life out of my Norma with the collet die. I'm on my 5th and 6th reload on some of my boxes of 50. None have died. I'm running 76 h1000 and getting 2960 with the famous 208 AMAX.
I only drop one grain in the RWS. I shoot a couple different rifles , both shoot MOA or better with both loads.

We were considering tweaking the load. We get .5 MOA sometimes, so we have not cared to change.
 
I was at the 2014 Shot Show and spoke with the Lapua about 300 Win Mag brass, he said they have never made 300 WM (it all Norma) and won't be any time soon. Having said that I just got 500 once fired Federal from Gov surplus and have had no issues. I had to decap and clean them all. I anneal them every other loading and as of today have gotten 5 reloading's with out any problems. I am shooting Berger 200 Hybrid and 208 A-max.
 
I am using Federal brass because that is all I can find. It is once fired military. The problem I am having is getting the bolt open after firing. No other evidence of over pressure issues. Loading with 71.5gr of RL22, which is below max. The brass was blue printed and then loaded with 208 amax. Had two fte today. Any ideas of what I am doing wrong let me know.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk
 
Toto said:
I am using Federal brass because that is all I can find. It is once fired military. The problem I am having is getting the bolt open after firing. No other evidence of over pressure issues. Loading with 71.5gr of RL22, which is below max. The brass was blue printed and then loaded with 208 amax. Had two fte today. Any ideas of what I am doing wrong let me know.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

The brass will have expanded down near the the base (near the belt) having been originally fired in a chamber with more generous dimensions than yours. Try a redding body die or you could buy the special collet sizer for belted cases that larry willis makes.
 
jagged77 said:
The brass will have expanded down near the the base (near the belt) having been originally fired in a chamber with more generous dimensions than yours. Try a redding body die or you could buy the special collet sizer for belted cases that larry willis makes.
Click to expand...

Thanks For the info, Redding die will be on the way.
 
Toto said:
Thanks For the info, Redding die will be on the way.
Click to expand...

Mark up a few of the tight cases with a sharpy then chamber - the scratches and rub marks will show you exactly where the problem is. With the body die don't be tempted to go down too far if it is a bulge your trying to get rid of, you'll create excess headspace.
 
jagged77 said:
Mark up a few of the tight cases with a sharpy then chamber - the scratches and rub marks will show you exactly where the problem is. With the body die don't be tempted to go down too far if it is a bulge your trying to get rid of, you'll create excess headspace.
Click to expand...

It seemed very odd to me today that some would feed fine and then once fired the bolt would work perfect then the next round wouldn't even chamber, very frustrating during a match. This is my first experience with 300 WM but I have been reloading for some time without problems in 5.56 and 7.62x51. What you said about the expansion at the belt makes sense with what I was seeing today while trying to shoot.
 
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If you want to pay the extra, buy Nosler. If you want to save a few bucks, buy Norma and sort out the couple "out of spec" brass you'll find in a box of bulk Norma brass.
 
I have been running Winchester brass in my 300WM since I first got it. 1st with the 220 SMK, then 210VLD,208 A-max, 225 HPBT, & now the 230 Hybrid Target. I am getting 2900 fps with the 230's in a 30" Krieger, & have several hundred with up to 8 firings on them now. I have to toss about 1 in 20 for loose primer pockets after about the 4th or 5th firing. I anneal every other firing. I used to use the collet die, but now I use a Redding Type-S, & don't need the collet any more. I neck turn, & de-burr the flash holes, trim to length, & load.
 
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Bigwheels said:
I have been running Winchester brass in my 300WM since I first got it. 1st with the 220 SMK, then 210VLD,208 A-max, 225 HPBT, & now the 230 Hybrid Target. I am getting 2900 fps with the 230's in a 30" Krieger, & have several hundred with up to 8 firings on them now. I have to toss about 1 in 20 for loose primer pockets after about the 4th or 5th firing. I anneal every other firing. I used to use the collet die, but now I use a Redding Type-S, & don't need the collet any more. I neck turn, & de-burr the flash holes, trim to length, & load.
Click to expand...

How do you know when to anneal your brass? I have had decent luck with Winchester brass and federal. I am starting out with a new batch of federal and norma and want to make sure I do it right.
 
I have seen over the years that if I wait for 3 firings I will have more variations in seating pressure. Its a thing I feel when seating the bullets. I will fire 3 times on virgin brass then I anneal, then every other firing. I think I can get 10 firings but I won't know till I start seeing problems. Like I said I have 8 firings so far, & I have a few primer pockets loosen up but have never had one fail to date.
 
Thanks for the info. I just had a new barrel installed, it finished at 30.5. I hope to get similar velocities.
 
Sorry, I didn't read every post, but isn't Nosler brass made by Norma? Anyway I have used the Nosler stuff and think it's wonderful. I also have a big bag of RWS that I don't use because of variable head diameter (really don't know what that's about). If I needed to buy more i would get Nosler or Norma.
 
Best brass is the 250 pieces of Winchester I just got at Cabelas.com Hahahaha
 
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I was a Hornady dealer when I got my 300WM. I would suggest either the Hornady Match brass or the Winchester. If you want it NOW, you may have to settle for what ever you can find.

Good luck.
 
I've loaded hornady and sako so far im now looking to find another two box's of sako ..i had a 10fps spread over 12 rnds highest 2715 lowest 2705 ..i was very very pleased with that to say the least ..it shoots under 4inch groups at 680yds the first time i took it out sure it can do better ...the hornady brass spread was over 50fps over 10 rnds loaded the exact same way and was harder to close the bolt ..thats my 2cents anyway! :)
 
GIXXER2000 said:
I was at the 2014 Shot Show and spoke with the Lapua about 300 Win Mag brass, he said they have never made 300 WM (it all Norma) and won't be any time soon. Having said that I just got 500 once fired Federal from Gov surplus and have had no issues. I had to decap and clean them all. I anneal them every other loading and as of today have gotten 5 reloading's with out any problems. I am shooting Berger 200 Hybrid and 208 A-max.
Click to expand...

Humm....

I wonder if Norma just got the brass made and stamped Lapua on it????
 
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I have about 100 pieces of lapua .300wm brass.
Don't want to shoot it much knowing they'll be hard to get...
 
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sakobob said:
always wondered what a real unicorn looked like:) thanks.
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Lol... No problem. In all honesty , I came across a few boxes of 10 per box 170 grain Naturalis. I pulled the bullets , dumped the powder, and then used a Lee collet die to size the necks back. I think most people who've gotten their hands on the brass have most likely gotten brass that's been pulled. Not 100% , but that'd be my guess.
 
Best 300 win mag brass is the Ruag match brass, alternatively RWS witch is also very good.
Both types are tough and will take a high amount of loads, and the consistency is very good.
It will have slightly less capacity then some of the US made brass though, due to thicker brass.
The other producers can't really match up, but i'd put Norma in third though, as they usually have good consistency, but some of they're calibers are notorious for having soft brass, not the 300 though.

Noslers brass is made by Norma with Nosler headstamp, and 'match prepped' not all that much to brag about but the price tag.
Better off buying Norma brass and sort/prep it yourself..

Another things that is very helpful when shooting the belted mags is the Collet die by innovative technologies.
And if someone is looking for long lasting brass in a 30 mag, look into the 8x68s case improved and necked to 30. it is an impressive animal with heavy bullets, and brass lasts forever, that would be fun to see in the endurance test.
 
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