Thread: preferred brass brands

People seem to express a preference for one type of brass or another. Is it down to quality, performance in a particular calibre or individual rifle, or something else? Asking because I have a bunch of different brands (all once or twice fired ex-factory loaded) and I think I should ditch a few in order to eliminate variables.

In case it matters, I'm reloading for .270 with 140 grain SSTs / 58.75 grains AR2213SC / Remington LR primers.

You are missing the best brass from your list !

My picks

1) Lapua
2) Norma

Yes, Lapua.

.

Wot sorta brass survey doesn't have Lapua and nowadays maybe Peterson on it?
From the list though -
Norma









Federal

My preferred brass is not necessarily the best brass.
I mostly use Federal or Hornady due to reasonable price, being readily available, and being good enough for what I do. I place a heavy emphasis on being readily available. When all's said and done I mostly load with federal brass.

I do have Lapua and Norma which I would agree are arguably the best, but I only have that because Federal/Hornady brass is not readily available in some of the more obscure calibers. (7.5x55 swiss for example).

There should be a new contender for the best brass soon. Sako ammo is not far off hitting NZ. Im interested to see how that does. Supposedly the brass is good for more reloads than other other brand.

Originally Posted by ebf

You are missing the best brass from your list !

My picks

1) Lapua
2) Norma

Ditto for me.

I would same Norma or Lapua depending on the caliber. Federal, Winchester & Hornady all would be suitable for a short range or bush hunting load. I load Norma (stamped Geco) for my hunting rifle but use Federal in my dad's as he is unlikely to ever take shots beyond 150m.

I really want to try some Alpha! It appears to be cheaper, more durable and more consistent than Lapua in the US (it is US made rather than imported for them though). If someone can import it for Lapua or less pricing i'll be using that for my precision loads.

I voted for "something else", as I like Lapua, Peterson and ADG

I prefer RWS, Lapua and Sako so I clicked 'other' (but I also 'liked' Norma and PPU).

Yeah, tried to edit the poll afterwards to add Lapua but couldn't figure out how - so for the purposes of the exercise, it would appear that "something else" should be taken to mean Lapua

Options were purely selfish, being the brass I have lying around at home that I'm deciding what to do with!

Originally Posted by mopheadrob

Yeah, tried to edit the poll afterwards to add Lapua but couldn't figure out how - so for the purposes of the exercise, it would appear that "something else" should be taken to mean Lapua

Options were purely selfish, being the brass I have lying around at home that I'm deciding what to do with!

A few, myself included pointed out the Lapua omission, but to be fair you did say in your posting "once fired factory". And whilst Lapua does have a line of factory ammo I doubt many would use it due to the expense and intermittent supply. So, us Lapua lovers are really referring to just the unfired virgin brass. Should have read your posting better.

Originally Posted by Oli1102

I would same Norma or Lapua depending on the caliber. Federal, Winchester & Hornady all would be suitable for a short range or bush hunting load. I load Norma (stamped Geco) for my hunting rifle but use Federal in my dad's as he is unlikely to ever take shots beyond 150m.

I really want to try some Alpha! It appears to be cheaper, more durable and more consistent than Lapua in the US (it is US made rather than imported for them though). If someone can import it for Lapua or less pricing i'll be using that for my precision loads.

I am not a target shooter, and must admit to being a bit in the dark about different brass myself. I sort brass into different makers because I know that different brands can vary in capacity and resulting load velocity. From your comments Oli1102 am I to think that some brands actually produce better accuracy than others as well as the better reload life that quality brass has ???

Originally Posted by mopheadrob

..... it would appear that "something else" should be taken to mean Lapua

Not necessarily, I rate Peterson 1st, Lapua 2nd.

when i first saw the heading i thought who has a favourite brass band. Duh. Norma off course as they are the only ones who make my calibre.