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?
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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?
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by blip
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
Get some once fired Sako ask around i can get 20 pieces that i used last week dialing in a 308 for a mate.
Lapua is the pick at the moment, although the new packaging seems to have more flat case mouths.
If buying it, I'd consider a couple of 50-boxes of loaded Sako Gamehead - that will give you 100 cases and you can almost save yourself $$ for the first reload at the price of a box of Sako vs reloading (based on $100 for pills, $90 for 100cases, plus powder primers and time). And, you get them fire formed to your rifle and the cases are perfect out of the box (the bullet jammed in there tends to keep the case mouths round!).
As far as the other brass brands, Federal tends to be really soft but dimensionally good. The Hornady and S&B are both hard as reported, a mate has good results from it annealing before the first reload but he's basically getting the brass free so... PPU, PMC, Win, Rem are all OK, Norma up there with Lapua but I have heard and seen people having issues with it as it can be a bit less resilient which I think could be the fact it's a little higher case volume than the Lapua so probably a little thinner. Another is the ex-military brass - don't overlook it as it is rock solid and typically heavier than commercial brass and if you can deal with the one-time job of de-crimping the primer pockets it usually lasts near forever. I have a set of Starline brass there, but haven't used it yet. Looks OK though.
I'm using Win brass at the moment for my sub loads basically just to keep it segregated from my standard loads - it's all range scrap bin salvage and it's been absolutely fine for subs (some people hate using 'recovered' brass for subs as it could have dimension issues or fit issues with the lower pressures, but so far for me it's been golden).
Sako and Starline are really good value for money.
ADI in the .223 is good, I’d try their .308 brass. Price is very good.
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I sell Hornady 308 fired once brass,now n then.Nobodys complained yet.
Peterson is great brass
Have had good run with OSA? (ADI) brass, very durable and consistent to date and well priced.
:DHaven't got mine yet.Quote:
Originally Posted by Trout
I only ever tried reloading S&B once, never again. But I reload a lot of Hornady for hunting, because it's easy to get hold of as lots of people at the range shoot factory Hornady incl myself. I find Hornady much better than S&B.Quote:
Originally Posted by No.3
Granted I do like PPU and PMC quite a bit more than Hornady, but for brass that is going to be lost in the scrub or grass in the heat of the moment, I find Hornady is good enough to use and bad enough loose.
I am also using Winchester for my sub loads in .308 and for the same reason of being able to know what is what. Not sure if it's just the brass but the loads work well, with holes touching at 100 even though the holes are the same shape as the side profile of the projectile.
Yep my policy is:
pick it up at the range
Anneal it.
FLS
Load it.
Shoot it
Mind sharing your sub 308 loads?
As the man said S&B are ... expletive.Quote:
Originally Posted by longshot
You like some more?Quote:
Originally Posted by Shearer
No. I mean I haven't got the first lot yet. Will collect it from HJ sometime.Quote:
Originally Posted by Trout
Oh okay.lolsQuote:
Originally Posted by Shearer
Yeah, the only reason I used Win cases is I had over 50 of them and they sell them as factory sub loads. The issue with using reloads that everyone seems to go on about is that the sub loads don't produce enough pressure to expand the case to seal on the chamber if it isn't 'once fired' in your rifle. I figured that the win cases must work if they sell them as factory loads and they aren't once fired so get 'em, full length size and good to go!Quote:
Originally Posted by longshot
I'm using 175gr Hornady Sub-X pills, Win cases, currently CCI primers (but to be fair it will be whatever is about going forwards), and 9.5gr of Trailboss powder. Seated to the cannelure on the bullet, crimped with a Lee factory crimp die.Quote:
Originally Posted by The bomb
From a 20" Rem barrel 1-10", that's getting 1060FPS about and stable through the target. Very quiet. If I recall right (it's written down downstairs) it's a 7" drop from my full power load 100m zero. For my scope it's set the scope to 6x and the 400 yd drop line is the 50m zero.
If you are going to be using TB powder, start higher than that and test without a suppressor so you can be sure that the pill exits and is stable, then work down to the velocity you want making sure that it exits on each shot and is stable.