.243 cases

[Rupert J]

I need to buy some .243 cases. I use a Sako 75 as my main rifle. I'm not into target shooting, but I think I have OCD over accuracy! Question is; what is the best brand Of case to buy? I'm leaning towards Hornady because I love their stuff, but would Lapua be a better bet? Advice would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

 

[dodgyrog]

I can sell you 100 once fired Winchester cases for £25 posted - nowt wrong with them.

 

[charlieboy-shooter]

Hi, I found the Hornady cases needed a fair bit of trimming after every FL re-size and started to get split neck after 3 firings. That said I like them, very good grouping from my load. I get a very slightly better group with the Norma brass I have, but that said not enough to worry about not using the Hornady cases. If you have an Hornady cases use them. I found PPU to give a stiff bolt regardless of load, sorry can't comment on Lapua as I only have the 1 case.

Good luck

 

[Ranger22]

I have been using federal cases since I started reloading, still using my original 200. These have been fired teens of times, probably now onto their 14th firing. Only now am I starting to get split necks. May of lasted longer if I annealed the cases. Any of the known brands of cases will do, I get my brass for nothing so there is no way I would ever be buying Lapua.

 

[bewsher500]

ask five people get five different answers!

Lapua for the bling and bragging rights
Norma for lower pressure and longevity
Federal/Remington for stalwart sturdy stuff
RWS if you like hard to find stuff


so long as you stick with one brand, ideally one batch and prep well any one of them will do the job and be accurate
find one that works for you and stick with it

personally I started loading 243 on Lapua, found them very hard and required annealling after a few firings
No I shoot Norma in .222, .243, .270, .308 and 300WM

some of my .222 and .270 loads are well fired, not actually sure on some of them but certainly double figures.
never had a split neck and only recently did I find a few primer pockets less than tight. still used them one last time without issue before retiring

 

[Timney]

I've also found Federal to be excellent cases, although also getting a few split necks after three or four firings, not so much so with plain old R.P brass. Mind you, I also got split necks on some .308 federal fusion UNFIRED factory ammo which I managed to get changed by the dealer. I couldn't justify the cost of the Lapua brass in .243 but I did get a cracking deal on some once fired .308 Lapua brass from on here which I have to say do look very nice and shiny, after all that's all that matters (isn't it?? )

 

[Dorsettaff]

Lapua as Bewsher said.....'cos thats what everybody "recommends"

but I've had great results with Sako, Federal and Norma.

Norma are probably my "go to" but interestingly had the lowest SD & ES with Federal stuff!

Re split necks......anneal every 3-4 firings!

 

[243 Stalker]

I reload RWS cases in my .243 and am happy with the results. I started off some time ago buying a couple of boxes of factory RWS which gave me 40 cases to start reloading with. I am also fortunate that a friend who doesn't reload gives me his once fired .243 RWS cases. Depending on how often you venture out with the rifle, you will be surprised how long cases will last you. I have just over 100 RWS cases which I reload, colour code and complete a full rotation so I know how many times they have been reloaded.

ATB 243 Stalker

 

[Rupert J]

Thanks all very much for the info. There are a lot of opinions which is no surprise.
Good advice ref annealing too, as I do get the odd split neck.
Thanks again everyone. I think I'll see what I can get locally as sadly the CLA is just too far away this year.