Thread: 308 Brass what is a good brand?

hey guys, getting a 308 made by Glen Maisey, have done alot of research involving powder/projectiles etc etc but Brass haha I know nothing.. what is considered good brass for the 308?

How much do you want to spend?

I have used all of brands listed below. There are probably others that I haven't listed that are also good or ok.

If money is just numbers, Lapua or Norma

If you spent all your money on gunsmithing but you still want something reasonable.... Hornady / Winchester / PPU / PMC (in no particular order)

Avoid Sellier & Bellot


I have seen more diversely primed brass advertised as once fired on the auction site than I have seen of anything advertised as more than once fired. Choose wisely if taking that route.

well I used to pay 300$ for lapua for a 6.5..couldnt rationalise more than that though

thanks longshot..Back to lapua I quess

Lapua or Norma is best if you can afford it.

If you cant and want good brass, use PPU or PMC.

I avoid Sellier and Bellot, Federal and Hornady.

I have found Sako to be a very good option, I run both lapua and Sako brass in my 308win with the same load works mint.
Sako is a fair whack cheaper.

Anything that holds powder, primers and projectiles for 9x (6.5 CM) and 12x (223) reloads+ so far this season will do me. Hornady and Nosler brass for 6.5, currently FC brass for 223. I’ll get around to annealing the Creedmoor brass after tomorrow’s shoot. FC I’ll toss when primer pockets get too loose. I don’t take myself too seriously but hold my own in hunter/PRS class.

I load ppu and s&b brass, whats the problem with it?

Originally Posted by blip

I load ppu and s&b brass, whats the problem with it?

I like PPU, but I find S&B quite brittle, it's hard to resize compared to the other types of brass I listed and I have had cracks in it on second firing.

Avoid s&b I found it hard as Hobbs of hell to resize.its the only time I've ripped press handle off/out trying to resize it.

Same problem here with S&B, brittle, hard, and also more likely to have the primer flash holes off centre.
Hornady is brittle too. Dont last long.
Federal too soft. If you want a sticky bolt lift before you get to max then Federal is the one.

PPU is excellent brass. PMC is good too. Norma and Lapua are excellent but really too expensive.

Winchester and Remington is alright too actually.

I used to use a lot of CAC in the .308 but its too old now. Aged and cracking. Got a "new" batch here now of it, but probably wont use it. Its all forty years old at least.

I had a good run with Winchester split necks eventually it really cheap and I had great results with it sako brass apparently is made by Norma

Depends upon your use and accuracy expectations. If mainly for hunting and you are adept at loosing brass (read expensive) you will be happy with something like PPU. If you intend doing a lot of target shooting go with Lapua.
In my 308s I use Lapua mostly and in one rifle Petersen. Plus I'm still using ancient CAC in another. CAC still rates as one of the best brass made. Obviously not freely available anymore though so hardly worth recommending.
I suspect if you are getting Dean Maisey to do the build it is something better than norm and will cost higher than norm so go Lapua.

I just anneal it