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brand of brass, one over another for accuracy loads

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brand of brass, one over another for accuracy loads

Old 01-19-2012, 05:17 PM
  #1  
Nontypical Buck
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Default brand of brass, one over another for accuracy loads

Well, I am in a discussion with a fellow shooter the other day at work and the topic came up of one brand of brass being more consistant over another as far as accuracy is concerned.
With Lapua being the top contender without question due to both price,availability and attention to perfection, what brand have ya'll seen to perform in your personal test over the others?
Have you shot your top performer load with one brand of brass to only test it with another brand to see what it would give you?
Also lets take all things into consideration that all brass is once fired, prepared the same, weighed, sorted, flash hole deburred, necks turned, long chamfered, trimmed to min. length, primer pocket squared, etc...

Last edited by SecondChance; 01-20-2012 at 01:37 PM.
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Old 01-20-2012, 03:20 AM
  #2  
Fork Horn
 
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The absolute best group I ever shot by a long shot was just under an inch. It was a five shot group with four shot's into .111" at 100 yds. The case was winchester. I don't shoot compatation so I think that I really don't have a rifle that the case will make that big a difference on. I know guy's chase all kinds of gods thinking they are making a better load but 99% of us have neither the skill's nor the equipment to make little things like that matter. If your a hunter the .125" extra, if you get that much, won't mean a whole lot.

I have used a lot of different cases. WW, Rem Fed, Norma, PMC and probably a few others. The best case is the case you have on hand.
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Old 01-20-2012, 07:12 AM
  #3  
Spike
 
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Default Brass?

IMHO it depends on what you are doing. If you are a "benchrester" where success or failure is measured by +/- .002" then brass brand probably makes a difference. I have a rifle that shoots minute-of-prairie dog out past 400yds consistantly and have a few kills out close to 600yds all with Remington brass. Am I saying Remington brass is the"best"? NO! I'm saying for what I do Remington brass meets my needs.
GOOD LUCK and GOOD SHOOTING!!!
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Old 02-12-2012, 05:21 AM
  #4  
Nontypical Buck
 
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While some brass may be stronger, thicker, more consistently weighed than others, I think most of the big names produce a great product for the hunter.

Benchrest is another story. Since I don't care about groups that go much under 1.5 inches (though I get an occaisional good'n) I just try to get my loads with batches of brass that come from the same boxes or batches.
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Old 02-14-2012, 02:57 AM
  #5  
Typical Buck
 
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I don't believe the average guy with average equipment can shoot good enough to tell the difference.
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Old 02-15-2012, 04:14 PM
  #6  
Fork Horn
 
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ive played around with brass in my .308 the most so when i refer to various brands, take note of the caliber. i trim short, i know 2.005 is min spec but i bring everything to 2.000 on the nose. my process is to fire once,deprime, tumble, neck size, trim, chamfer neck, debur flash hole then i can get 5 neck sizings (including the last one) from that point but tumbling every time. my neck sizing process is to deprime using a universal depriming die then tumble then lube and size. i do this before every sizing, including full length. after those 5 neck sizings i full length size, fire, neck size, trim, chamber neck and get another 5 neck sizings (including the last size). i do this for 15 neck sizings because i feel that i am loading hot, but not so hot that i am stretching the case to its limits. fyi 44.3 grains of n150 with 168 a-max and cci br2 primer. i also feel that 15 is not enough to cause enough brass migration/flow to cause a dougnut in the neck to i dont neck turn or ream. nor do i feel annealing is needed at 15 neck sizings.

hornady match has actually been a very good performer thus far. i have found that the neck tension has stayed very consistent when seating bullets. when both full length and neck sizing i have found hornady to be the most consistent after the first firing. as expected specific batches (ie 5th sizing, 7th sizing, etc) have there own tension and apparent hardness characteristics and thus i use specific firing batches for specific bullet weights. i havent actually tested one batch against another to see in there is a accuracy difference but given each batch feels slightly different through the die or when seating the primer i just keep batches appart for precaution. i have found case weight after prep to be very consistent at about +/- 5 grains in a box of 50 and about =/- 15 grains overall across serveral lots. i really feel these tolerances are tight when i look at other brands. one thing that i like about hornady is that out of the box i can make a load to fire form to the chamber without needing to run the die.

winchester has about the same case capacity as hornady maybe a little less overall. case tension is very consistent, although i havent tested win as much as hornady. primer pocket tension is not as consistent as hornady but winchester gets better with time. without a rockwell hardness gauge, i believe the necks to be harder then hornady and the heads to be softer. weight tolerances after prep seem to be actually pretty good, right on par with hornady but i have found a few in the batch that were way out. with winchester,fresh out of the bag i always run them through a full length die to remove imperfections in the neck.

i have used very little of remington in my .308 so i do not feel i should speak on there part, but in both 308 and 243 case capacity is smaller. about 2 grains of water in both 243 and 308. that is why i use if for my 308 varmit loads and in most 243 loads. if someone is going to use a reduced load, remington might be a good option. remington also requires a run thought the die for the initial firing

i also have a single bag of lapua .308 (not palma) cases. i have done very little work with these but without a doubt lapua takes the cake. they run smooth and consitent thought the die. my chamfer tool doesnt chatter when im chamfering. my trimmer doesnt squeak or grab when im cutting the case down. i also dont get as bad of a burr when i trim the case. primer pocket tension is perfect. stangely enough the lapua case has a slightly thicker neck then other brands, or at least the few i measured did. after prep work, the case weight tolerances were almost perfect. +/- 3 grains from my single batch which i know is ALOT better then what lapua averages but that is just what i have found. case length is 2.010 average +/- 0.002 before trimming. without checking my notes i remember lapua having less capacity then hornady, maybe a little more then winchester and more then remington.

i will be trying federal soon but time is short. cant get any lake city or ivi localy so logistically they are not a option. i may soon try norma or rws but right now i am very happy with using mostly hornady and winchester brass.

Last edited by dylan_b; 02-16-2012 at 11:54 AM.
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Old 02-16-2012, 06:26 AM
  #7  
Nontypical Buck
 
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I just stayed with the brass I got the best accuracy with from the factory ammo.That would be-
Norma -7x57
Federal-.280 Rem
Federal-.223
For the 12g both Win and Fed loads patterned best but I also reload a fair number of Rem hulls since with the right choke for the load they to still patterned well enough to get it done.
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Old 02-16-2012, 05:38 PM
  #8  
Spike
 
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mostly reload 7mm-08 & 7mm Rem Mag. for accuracy mostly 7mm rem mag, but i reload a handful of other cals and i have tried alot of differant brass. heres what i like to do. remington federal and win. are cheaper, lapua and norma on the pricy side. i cant seem to like norma at all not because of price ive just had no better luck with them, but i like lapua brass, can reload them 4 to 5 times and seem to hold up better. i can buy a cheap box of federal rounds and go unload them on trees all day, take them home and reload them maybe at best 3 times, avg of 2. pretty close the same with remington. i dont use win. because my rifle does not chamber them right. ive shot over 50 winchester casing through it, factory and reloads and i cant get them right and it really puzzles me i dont quite understand why. if you know how to anneal brass and it is convenient for you sometimes can pay off. i really like federals they are cheaper and i anneal casings for my 7mm, they dont leave a whole lot of trash in the action. i like to take the extra time to soften the casings and it save me in the long run. i can get sometimes 3 more reloads without trashing the casing because it cracked. annealing is really not that hard but can really mess up by getting the casings to hot. if dont right it works wonders...
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Old 02-17-2012, 12:09 PM
  #9  
Typical Buck
 
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Lapua and Lapua are my favorites.




Last edited by doubleA; 02-17-2012 at 12:17 PM.
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Old 02-18-2012, 04:19 PM
  #10  
Nontypical Buck
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Hey AA, now thats what Im talking about!!!!!!! Great looking shootn iron work!!!!!! Wonder if my Lt. would approve me doing that to my work AI AWM in .338 Lapua?
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