Experience with different brass? Best longevity?

sgt_zim said:

I'm on my 4th reload with my first set of Starlines for my 45-70. I haven't even had to trim them yet, and I do a full length on each reload (if there's a way to only do the "neck," I'm not aware of it). The primer pockets are also in good shape, and this is on fairly high pressure loads - 405, 425, and 525 gr bullets between 1600 and 1630 fps.

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Could have been a bad batch

there's always that.

sgt_zim said:

there's always that.

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Iv'e used Starline on my 375HH and never had a problem the bad pockets were with 22-250

I am starting to run out of HXP brass for my 30-06. I love that brass. It would last forever in a bolt gun.
For my other rifles, I use Hornady, and anneal after every 2nd firing. Trim after every resizing.
I usually get about 7-8 firings before I scrap it. Hunting I use virgin brass.

BC.Pat said:

Lapua & Norma in that order.
( just a note *** heard Lapua was going to do a production run of 7mm rem mag brass in 2019)

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Yep. Wish, Lapua made more calibers though.

some of the best brass I ever used was lake city match 30/06 brass.
primarily used in a 30/06, it also made good 25/06, 6.5/06, and 35 whelen cases with 1 pass in a die or over an expander.
bruce.

Lapua, Norma and Nosler seem to have the best consistency and longevity. Remington gets a lot of flack but I’ve had good longevity from it. However, it’s consistency is suspect. Winchester and Hornady seem decent in both regards, but not the equal of Lapua, Norma or Nosler.
I full length resize and trim even virgin brass. I try to use virgin brass for my hunting loads, but I run all loaded rounds thru the action (at the range). I never use more than once fired for hunting loads.

For me, Lapua, Norma, RWS are very good. Hornady I avoid unless for varmint rounds where I can pick up common once fired cases for peanuts and bin them when they start failing.

One thing I have noted is forming 8x60 brass from 9.3x74R. With every make of brass I've tried other than Hornady, they need to be neck turned to chamber. Hornady drops straight in - it's as thin as tin foil! For the premium price Horady charge I really don't rate it. I'd rather use S&B or Prvi than Hornady!

I've not had a lot of luck with Starline although I rarely hear a bad word about it. The last batch of .45-70 I bought had five cases in 100 where the primer pocket was deep enough to cause misfires.

Norma, Lapua, Sako and RWS are good. If you play around with odd calibres and live in Africa you dont have choices.

The only brass available here for the .250 Savage, .416 Ruger and .450-.400 3&1/4” is Hornady, and if sorted and preped well, they work well.

Some Hirtenberger was made by RWS and Ive had great results with them in a 6,5x57.

Local PMP is rubish. Hard and inconsistent. Third world shit.

Years ago I used PMC brass in a 6,5x55. Proper annaeling and case prep saw me retiring them after 25 shots, when the first necks split. I haven’t seen them around in ages.

As a matter of interest. Some old Kynoch ammunition boxes state on the side in a yellow block: “made in England from Swedish components” those are Boxer primed Norma rounds and the work well. Ive reloaded some with Woodleigh bullets before to hunt with.

Pheroze said:

For the belted cases I highly recommend the collet resizing die: http://www.larrywillis.com.

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Thanks for this !

Pat

About 40 years ago I ran some endurance/performance tests on various brands of 30-06 brass. The brands available at the time were Winchester, Remington, Federal, Norma, PMC and various military, primarily Lake City and Frankfort Arsenal. This was before firearm related stress gauges were available, so the methods used by Ken Waters were used. The problem with those methods is that changes in dimensions of the brass case are the indicator of pressure, so that a tougher case might indicate a lower pressure than a case with less strength, but both may have been at the same pressure. Additionally, the internal capacity varied significantly between various brands and lot within brands. Of those tested the Winchester held up the best, however it was a qualified win. the overall best was some older brass headstamped Super-X and Super Speed. While these cases held together better than all other brands through several firings, newer cases headstamped WW Super were more similar to the Federal cases.

The result of the testing was that I settled on Winchester brass to the point of getting Winchester brass in a similar cartridge and forming it to the cartridge I wanted for which Winchester brass was unavailable. One example of this was getting 264 Win Mag brass, necking it down to .257 and fireforming it in a 257 Weatherby chamber. The reason for using Winchester brass was not that I found it to be superior to other brands, but that the brass consistency and dimensions were such that it eliminated a variable in building a load for a rifle. By using just Winchester brass when I got a head expansion of X then I had a similar reference point.

I use Norma and Nosler interchangeably in 6.5 Creedmoor and .243 Winchester. I agree with others that say Nosler brass is made by Norma - at least in some calibers.

My current batches of Nosler and Norma all weigh the same (within about a grain or so).

Norma also appears to be the maker of Prime brass in 6.5 Creedmoor. Prime 6.5 CM brass also weighs and shoots exactly like my Norma & Nosler.

The Nosler brass I've used appears to be sorted for extreme consistency, weight wise, (within about +/- 0.6 grains). Norma bulk (100 per bag) is also consistent, just not to the same level.

I just finished running a 50 piece box of Nosler .338 Win Mag brass through my Sako. Very happy with it as well, (except for the price, of course).

Primer pockets have held tight thru 7 loadings so far with Nosler 6.5 CM and I think I have some Norma that's ready for #6. I'll buy either brand when I see it on sale for a decent price.

shootist~ said:

I use Norma and Nosler interchangeably in 6.5 Creedmoor and .243 Winchester. I agree with others that say Nosler brass is made by Norma - at least in some calibers.

My current batches of Nosler and Norma all weigh the same (within about a grain or so).

Norma also appears to be the maker of Prime brass in 6.5 Creedmoor. Prime 6.5 CM brass also weighs and shoots exactly like my Norma & Nosler.

The Nosler brass I've used appears to be sorted for extreme consistency, weight wise, (within about +/- 0.6 grains). Norma bulk (100 per bag) is also consistent, just not to the same level.

I just finished running a 50 piece box of Nosler .338 Win Mag brass through my Sako. Very happy with it as well, (except for the price, of course).

Primer pockets have held tight thru 7 loadings so far with Nosler 6.5 CM and I think I have some Norma that's ready for #6. I'll buy either brand when I see it on sale for a decent price.

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Great info. I had a feeling Nosler brass was actually Norma (for the Weatherby calibers anyway)
I do find Norma brass a bit soft in the head when running hot loads in my 340wby. Usually only get 3 loads out of one piece before they won't hold the primer very well.