What is the best factory brass for reloading?
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Re: Best factory brass for reloading
I've heard that's good but I'm talking about reloading factory ammo like Hornady, Wincheseter, Federal, etc.
I've heard that's good but I'm talking about reloading factory ammo like Hornady, Wincheseter, Federal, etc.
Re: Best factory brass for reloading
win or rem are the best in my opinion
win or rem are the best in my opinion
Re: Best factory brass for reloading
Well Lapua and Norma come in both factory loads, so if they are available in your area then without a doubt it would be these two.
Under that I would rate winchester brass as some of the better brass out of the rest.
Well Lapua and Norma come in both factory loads, so if they are available in your area then without a doubt it would be these two.
Under that I would rate winchester brass as some of the better brass out of the rest.
Re: Best factory brass for reloading
Lapua 1st. for my .223 and 308, remington for my 270WSM, 30-06 and 243
Lapua 1st. for my .223 and 308, remington for my 270WSM, 30-06 and 243
Re: Best factory brass for reloading
Lapua, Norma then Winchester in that order.
Lapua, Norma then Winchester in that order.
Re: Best factory brass for reloading
Generally dislike "what is the best ..." questions. I use NORMA cases exclusively and have found 'em to be excellent for my 270WSM reloads. On the 7th firing with no discernible case issues.
Intending to try Winchester in the future to obtain OQE (objective quality evidence) for seeing how the Win cases stack up against the Norma cases in my longrifle.
Generally dislike "what is the best ..." questions. I use NORMA cases exclusively and have found 'em to be excellent for my 270WSM reloads. On the 7th firing with no discernible case issues.
Intending to try Winchester in the future to obtain OQE (objective quality evidence) for seeing how the Win cases stack up against the Norma cases in my longrifle.
Re: Best factory brass for reloading
Winchester and Federal.
Winchester and Federal.
Re: Best factory brass for reloading
I also have a distaste for 'best' questions. The implication is that only the best will do. That's pure poppycock.
Good ammunition is good because of the care and skill invested in it's fabrication.
The components are like the stone Michelangelo employed in his statuary. As long as it's sound and consistent, the results will be as good as the workman's abilities can dictate.
Obviously, pure crap makes a poor foundation, but with reasonable implements, a good builder does a decent job.
There's standard, there's substandard, and then there's that stuff that folks who have more money than sense just have to have.
Avoid the junk and do fine. Win and Rem are what I use.
Greg
I also have a distaste for 'best' questions. The implication is that only the best will do. That's pure poppycock.
Good ammunition is good because of the care and skill invested in it's fabrication.
The components are like the stone Michelangelo employed in his statuary. As long as it's sound and consistent, the results will be as good as the workman's abilities can dictate.
Obviously, pure crap makes a poor foundation, but with reasonable implements, a good builder does a decent job.
There's standard, there's substandard, and then there's that stuff that folks who have more money than sense just have to have.
Avoid the junk and do fine. Win and Rem are what I use.
Greg
Re: Best factory brass for reloading
Most feel that Lapua is top of the heap. Winchester is an excellent factory brass.
Federal is pretty good if you can get it cheap / or free since many people don't seem to want to mess with it.
Most feel that Lapua is top of the heap. Winchester is an excellent factory brass.
Federal is pretty good if you can get it cheap / or free since many people don't seem to want to mess with it.
Re: Best factory brass for reloading
+1 on the Winchester!!
+1 on the Winchester!!
Re: Best factory brass for reloading
I like winchester, have had problems with primer pockets being too big on Federal brass.
I like winchester, have had problems with primer pockets being too big on Federal brass.
Re: Best factory brass for reloading
Depends on caliber and cost. I usually use Winchester because it's the cheapest but I've used remington 223 and 300win brass as well and it worked fine.
LC is probably my favorite for 308 and 223 AR loads but finding it in good condition, all same headstamp can be a pain in the ass sometimes.
edit: everything I read on here makes me think lapua is the absolute best but not all of us can afford that. Use what you can get for the price you can afford.
Depends on caliber and cost. I usually use Winchester because it's the cheapest but I've used remington 223 and 300win brass as well and it worked fine.
LC is probably my favorite for 308 and 223 AR loads but finding it in good condition, all same headstamp can be a pain in the ass sometimes.
edit: everything I read on here makes me think lapua is the absolute best but not all of us can afford that. Use what you can get for the price you can afford.
Re: Best factory brass for reloading
Winchester is the best bang for the buck. Lapua is better brass for 2x the cost, so is nosler, norma (too soft?)
Federal is too soft.
Note: I have been told and held the impression for many years that Remington brass was to be avoided if possible. However, I just used some Factory Rem brass for a .260 match gun and the results were so good that I now have to re-think my position on Remington Brass.
Winchester is the best bang for the buck. Lapua is better brass for 2x the cost, so is nosler, norma (too soft?)
Federal is too soft.
Note: I have been told and held the impression for many years that Remington brass was to be avoided if possible. However, I just used some Factory Rem brass for a .260 match gun and the results were so good that I now have to re-think my position on Remington Brass.
Re: Best factory brass for reloading
I buy what's on the local shelf, usually that's Win and Rem. If my brass prep won't give me what I want, I'll live with what I end up with. For me and most of us, it's way good enough.
I buy what's on the local shelf, usually that's Win and Rem. If my brass prep won't give me what I want, I'll live with what I end up with. For me and most of us, it's way good enough.
Re: Best factory brass for reloading
black hills match and winchester have never let me down
black hills match and winchester have never let me down
Re: Best factory brass for reloading
People responded with quality bass suggestions for a good foundation, but alot depends how you use and take care of quality brass. Headspace, annealing and how hot you load it, I have some Lapua .308 brass that has been loaded 20 times. Anneal, min. resize, tighten up primer pockets every 5 firing.
People responded with quality bass suggestions for a good foundation, but alot depends how you use and take care of quality brass. Headspace, annealing and how hot you load it, I have some Lapua .308 brass that has been loaded 20 times. Anneal, min. resize, tighten up primer pockets every 5 firing.
Re: Best factory brass for reloading
I have tried Federal, Remington, Winchester and LC(223 only) and I cant really tell a huge difference in accuracy. I do quit a bit a brass prep and try to keep them very consistent. Lapua is what I have heard is best, but never tried it.
I have tried Federal, Remington, Winchester and LC(223 only) and I cant really tell a huge difference in accuracy. I do quit a bit a brass prep and try to keep them very consistent. Lapua is what I have heard is best, but never tried it.
Re: Best factory brass for reloading
Usichtbar said it best.
As well the answer also determines your criteria for "best". First thing I look for is hard case heads as the primer pocket won't go wimpy after a few firings that are.
You can inspect/rework LC/FA for other attributes like off center flash holes, neck run out etc. I use my off center flash holes for 200/300 and center flash holes for 600 out.
With the introduction of the Russian primers that gives new life to older brass.
Thusly my all time favorite brass is LC and FA Match because the primer pockets are going to stay with me for years. I also run tight chambers which is defined as no part of the case moves over .002" on firing. .002" is based on unfired round and reamer made from those dims adding .002". I try to headspace my rifles on a GO gage and sometimes I can get fired cases to come out "0" on a MO Gage and sometimes it shows .001-2" shoulder movement.
I take fired cases out and drop them in L E Wilson Gage and they spec new for headspace.
Larry Moore told me 30 years ago to buy my own reamer to min dimensions and chamber all rifles with same reamer and your brass life will just keeping going and going.
Larry used LC/FA cases exclusively for match shooting and only time I saw him use commercial was for magnum etc.
Note: On 30.06 FA57 Match 30.06 brass has soft heads. They corrected the problem in 58 and from there on it was great. Also there was one lot of 30.06 brass sold by DCM back about mid 80s at Perry that had soft heads. It was LC but don't remember the headstamp.
I used to shoot with Marty Tyska (now at big range in the sky) who was ammo engineer at FA (as was Larry) and both told me if you take care of your brass you should never see a split neck on a piece of gov't brass. Thusly the only split necks I see are from brass that I annealed and did not stress relieve properly.
Marty walked me how to stress relieve about 1985 and I remember one statement he made, "If it turns red you just ruined it." The cases I had done and got them low grade red had 2/3rds of the necks split stored in loaded conditon.
How long will brass last? I have been using the same 400 cases in one course gun since 1981 and it is on the third barrel now. All cut with same reamer. Just loaded it up to shoot again yesterday to shoot this weekend.
I did a test on one case and I was able to shoot, size and reload quickly using two presses at range. It is a LC Match case and I quit at 157 reloads. Primer pocket still snug. I stress relieved every three shots. Still have the case and when I get around to it I will start shooting it again.
Thusly case life with the "right cases" is not overworked on resizing. For instance new 30.06 is .465 on base dim. Reamer cuts .467 chamber. On first firing cases come out at .4653". I have multiple FL dies that size to different base dims. I can go back to .465 but die I use for this brass sizes to .466". Also have another that sizes .468 and another that sizes .470 for BFCs (Big F----ing Chambers).
The finest commercial brass I ever saw was DWM. Primer pockets are dead tight and stay that way. It belongs to a friend and he got the brass back in 70s for a 8X60 hunting rifle and he was paying $2.00 a round then. I made him up another 100 cases from LC Match and he has been using them since mid 80s. He sends them down to me and I reload them and get someone to hand carry them back to Virginia.
Usichtbar said it best.
As well the answer also determines your criteria for "best". First thing I look for is hard case heads as the primer pocket won't go wimpy after a few firings that are.
You can inspect/rework LC/FA for other attributes like off center flash holes, neck run out etc. I use my off center flash holes for 200/300 and center flash holes for 600 out.
With the introduction of the Russian primers that gives new life to older brass.
Thusly my all time favorite brass is LC and FA Match because the primer pockets are going to stay with me for years. I also run tight chambers which is defined as no part of the case moves over .002" on firing. .002" is based on unfired round and reamer made from those dims adding .002". I try to headspace my rifles on a GO gage and sometimes I can get fired cases to come out "0" on a MO Gage and sometimes it shows .001-2" shoulder movement.
I take fired cases out and drop them in L E Wilson Gage and they spec new for headspace.
Larry Moore told me 30 years ago to buy my own reamer to min dimensions and chamber all rifles with same reamer and your brass life will just keeping going and going.
Larry used LC/FA cases exclusively for match shooting and only time I saw him use commercial was for magnum etc.
Note: On 30.06 FA57 Match 30.06 brass has soft heads. They corrected the problem in 58 and from there on it was great. Also there was one lot of 30.06 brass sold by DCM back about mid 80s at Perry that had soft heads. It was LC but don't remember the headstamp.
I used to shoot with Marty Tyska (now at big range in the sky) who was ammo engineer at FA (as was Larry) and both told me if you take care of your brass you should never see a split neck on a piece of gov't brass. Thusly the only split necks I see are from brass that I annealed and did not stress relieve properly.
Marty walked me how to stress relieve about 1985 and I remember one statement he made, "If it turns red you just ruined it." The cases I had done and got them low grade red had 2/3rds of the necks split stored in loaded conditon.
How long will brass last? I have been using the same 400 cases in one course gun since 1981 and it is on the third barrel now. All cut with same reamer. Just loaded it up to shoot again yesterday to shoot this weekend.
I did a test on one case and I was able to shoot, size and reload quickly using two presses at range. It is a LC Match case and I quit at 157 reloads. Primer pocket still snug. I stress relieved every three shots. Still have the case and when I get around to it I will start shooting it again.
Thusly case life with the "right cases" is not overworked on resizing. For instance new 30.06 is .465 on base dim. Reamer cuts .467 chamber. On first firing cases come out at .4653". I have multiple FL dies that size to different base dims. I can go back to .465 but die I use for this brass sizes to .466". Also have another that sizes .468 and another that sizes .470 for BFCs (Big F----ing Chambers).
The finest commercial brass I ever saw was DWM. Primer pockets are dead tight and stay that way. It belongs to a friend and he got the brass back in 70s for a 8X60 hunting rifle and he was paying $2.00 a round then. I made him up another 100 cases from LC Match and he has been using them since mid 80s. He sends them down to me and I reload them and get someone to hand carry them back to Virginia.
Re: Best factory brass for reloading
+1 for Winchester brass, it holds up pretty good. The federal cases that I have loaded dont last that long.
+1 for Winchester brass, it holds up pretty good. The federal cases that I have loaded dont last that long.
