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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.
Ditto for me.Quote:
Originally Posted by ebf
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 :thumbsup:
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by mopheadrob
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 ???Quote:
Originally Posted by Oli1102
Not necessarily, I rate Peterson 1st, Lapua 2nd.Quote:
Originally Posted by mopheadrob
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.
Yeah some brands use harder brass or are manufactured thicker than others. For example Federal because of its softer nature will usually have loose primer pockets with moderate loads within 5 loads or so. Where as Lapua you might be looking at more like 15 or so (limited by cracked necks rather than primer pockets) and can go even longer if annealled.Quote:
Originally Posted by Moa Hunter
Some brands are more consistent than others. Internal volume is really the only consistency that matters and you can’t change (some use weight to gauge that consistency, as if outside dimensions are the same and they are heavier then they must be thicker... therefore less internal volume and different pressures). For example Winchester seem to be a good budget brass as far as internal volume consistency. But new out of the packet the case lengths, headspace etc are all over the place and they will likely have burred flash holes (quality control and simplified processes makes it cheaper). But with some work, sizing them all consistently, trimming and deburring flash holes you now have some pretty good and consistent brass... it just takes some work to get there. Norma and Lapua are more consistent out of the box and ready to just load... but you pay for it.
Amateur poll
Lapua!
Ok so does this mean that for general hunting we can mix brass but need to adjust powder load according to internal capacity, as an example my 2506 AI shoots 3200fps with Winny brass and the same load gives 3250 with Rem ??Quote:
Originally Posted by Oli1102
I use Lapua in my Tikka 6.5x55 and Norma or Hornady in my other three 6.5’s. Also found that S&B had some neck tension issues, so have put that to one side.
Yep, I'll admit to being amateur - both to reloading, and to this forum. See earlier post re. trying to edit the poll to include Lapua, and why it wasn't in the mix in the first place.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gibo
Its all good mate. Nothing i say in here is meant to offend you, was just a wee raz up :DQuote:
Originally Posted by mopheadrob
Who makes Sako brass @ChrisW? Probably Lapua!Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisW
In the forest service days the main 222 Rem ammo we used was Sako 50 gr and it worked well, the brass was good to reload as well.
I think you need to flesh out the something else options, a lot of responses in there. Mine is starline
Sako makes it :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyblown
I have Lapua for 243win and 6.5cm, Norma fir 300wsm. I've good things about Peterson brass, but havent tried it.
Both premium brand but if you're looking the most consistent/best brass. I'd Lapua every time
My 2c
https://sakocollectors.com/forum/thr...unition.14437/Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisW
Plug for Sako brass/ammo.
My first dealings with Sako brass was over 50 years ago when I bought my 308 Sako Forester. The dealer gave me a 10 round packet of Sako factory ammo.
In those days the government protected CAC who were still in operation and no other brands of factory ammo were available in NZ. The 10 rounds of Sako hardly gave me enough to set up handloading so I bought 100 Norma Re cases which were available. So, I have no recollection of that original Sako stuff in terms of quality, durability.
Recently had a lot of old Sako factory 22 Hornet given to me. Still to fire it.
The Norma Re stuff was very very good. I would hazard to say that the Norma 7.5 Swiss cases I am currently using is not as good as the old stuff - weight consistancy not as good.
Other experience is Norma 6.5/284 brass necked up to 284. Primer pockets gone west typically after as few as 3 firings. No such problem with necked up Lapua.
Have also brought in 100 cases of straight Norma 284W to try. It was a special run into the States. Specifically designed with stronger base plus a few other features. Have still to try it. It measures up as excellent and so it should given the cost.
The guys who make the AMP annealing machine say that Norma, Peterson and Lapua, in no particular order, are the best brass they've tested. They know a lot about brass.
I bought a couple of packets of .243 Sako Hammerhead 90gr (orange, white and black box) from Sportsway's in Fort Street, Auckland in 1974. It was good ammo and shot really well in my Steyr Mannlicher - dropped those Urewera reds without any issues. I had only starting reloading back then and can't say whether it was top brass or not as I didn't know too much about the subject.Quote:
Originally Posted by zimmer
I reload for a few rifles, and the answer for me is "It depends."
For the 223 I use for small game/pest control it is what is plentiful and cheap. For this I use the brass from the Hornady Training ammo.
For the 243's I follow a similar line and use some PMC I picked up cheap from someone that used a heap of factory ammo but didn't reload. Seems reasonably good.
For the 7mmRM's factory ammo was too expensive so I bought new Norma brass because it has a reasonable reputation, readily available and was 'on-special'.
Yeas, I'm a cheap bugger!
Lapua, when it is made in the calibre.
Norma otherwise - although I don't think it can handle high pressure loads as well as Lapua, it is very consistent.
For the .223, ADI once fired stuff. Once the primer pocket is tidied up it's great. Super accurate as well, and I don't cry when i lose one.