Best Brass ?

[hendrix's rifle]

Ive just bought some Norma brass in 243 so happy its deemed a good one lol, having said that im reloading hornady in my 223 with good effect, neck sizing only. Had 10 or so firings off the last batch of brass, chronod them on the 6th firing and had a spread under 10 fps over 10 rounds or so. Using federal in 308 and no mither with them either. Maybe im just lucky lol

 

[LeftHandGuy]

RWS and SAKO for 308 were good. Very good actually.

PPU for 7.62x54r, 7.62x25 and 375 H&H has been decent.

Federal 375 H&H has been as good as the PPU, but certainly not any better.

Hornady for 35 Rem (because nothing else was available at the time) has actually been fine.

CCI Blazer brass for 357 mag has been a bit ropey. Cheap PMC brass has actually fared better, but since both were free I don’t care over much. Might try starline next.

 

[Lateral]

Lapua, & Norma.

Norma tends to have a bigger case capacity than Lapua, so the Norma case must be a little thinner, but the brass always feels more durable, and doesn't seem to work harden as quickly.

 

[Cranhill]

All good with Norma, RWS and Winchester but rubbish with Hornady

 

[alberta boy]

I've been reloading for about 45 years , so I've used a lot of brands . I've found RWS to be second to none and have never had a single problem with it . I've had good and bad from pretty much every other manufacturer , including Norma and Lapua . There will always be variations in brass quality from one batch number to the next . If I use a different batch number of brass made by the same company , I will reduce my loads and work back up . I buy very large amounts of brass so this isn't that much of a chore for me , I do realise however that this might not be practical for everyone . The thing to keep in mind is just because you've had good results with one batch of brass from a particular manufacturer , don't assume that the next batch won't have any issues .

AB

 

[Kevgun]

Lapua, & Norma.

Norma tends to have a bigger case capacity than Lapua, so the Norma case must be a little thinner, but the brass always feels more durable, and doesn't seem to work harden as quickly.

I have noticed this, I use both for my 22.250 and the Norma brass is on it’s 8th firing and still looks ok, I do anneal every 3rd firing primer pockets are still tight. Going to try some Starline for the 22.250 l have it for my 6.5CM and impressed so far.

 

[8x57]

Of the various cases I've reloaded if given a choice my order of preference would be;
RWS or Norma or Lapua, all have been extremely good but RWS have remarkable longevity. (The majority of my .308 is Lapua and has been excellent, but some Lapua .222rem cases that I purchased some years ago and which were expensive proved to be slightly disappointing with neck splitting after only two or three reloads.)

IMI and PPU are next on my list, very good results with both, followed closely by Sellior & Bellot. Then the American brands with Remington right at the bottom of the pile simply because I don't like the company though a couple of friends who reload Remington .243 cases are perfectly happy with their results. Personally I've actually found Winchester cases to be quite good despite what others say about the product and wouldn't be disappointed if that is all I could ever get provided that the price was right and they made cases for the cartridges that I want to reload, which they don't in some instances or at least they don't import them into the U.K.

 

[Rutland lad]

Interesting.
I note that there’s no GECO brass mentioned. Used it exclusively in my .300 winmag then reloaded the cases up to 5 times with no issues at all.
Someone did tell me GECO brass was actually RWS but I can’t confirm.
I have a number of RWS SAKO and LAPUA brass ready for my 6.5 x 55 load after the development is done.
I’m hoping (probably wrongly) that once the load is perfected in the LAPUA it’ll not change for the SAKO/RWS brass. Too many empty cases to waste !

 

[LeftHandGuy]

Interesting.
I note that there’s no GECO brass mentioned. Used it exclusively in my .300 winmag then reloaded the cases up to 5 times with no issues at all.
Someone did tell me GECO brass was actually RWS but I can’t confirm.
I have a number of RWS SAKO and LAPUA brass ready for my 6.5 x 55 load after the development is done.
I’m hoping (probably wrongly) that once the load is perfected in the LAPUA it’ll not change for the SAKO/RWS brass. Too many empty cases to waste !

RWS, Geco and Norma (and Hirtenberger for that matter) are all under RUAG. RWS and Geco are both German. It’s positioned as a Skoda - Audi type of deal where Geco is the affordable face of high quality. Whether they have separate manufacturing or not I don’t know. FWIW I forgot I had some Geco 308 cases and they got mixed into my RWS and got used interchangeably, and kept consistent accuracy.

 

[paul o']

Norma ,Starline S&B is also a good choice and Samson imi . Geco .

 

[Scotty99]

Lapua

 

[cjs66]

I use Lapua brass but, I've used Federal and Sako in a pretty hot 22/250 load and had great results and loaded up to six times, maybe more, no problem.
I tried the Federal in my 222 because of the success in the 22/250 but, I couldn't get the primers in, must be crimped in the 222. I also rate PPU brass.

cjs

 

[Sierra]

Good:
Norma, Lapua, RWS, PPU, Sako

Bad:
Federal & Hornady

 

[LeftHandGuy]

Does anyone know if there is any truth in the rumor that Lapua brass is produced on machinery supplied by PPU? I think I read it on here at one point....

 

[8x57]

Does anyone know if there is any truth in the rumor that Lapua brass is produced on machinery supplied by PPU? I think I read it on here at one point....

I don't know if that is true but a good friend of mine who did some research some years ago claimed that both companies sourced the material brass from the same place. I found that he was very reliable in his research being from a scientific background so I don't doubt what he told me was true at the time.

 

[LeftHandGuy]

I don't know if that is true but a good friend of mine who did some research some years ago claimed that both companies sourced the material brass from the same place. I found that he was very reliable in his research being from a scientific background so I don't doubt what he told me was true at the time.

Ta! I have certainly had very good luck with PPU brass.

 

[Acm]

I am currently using rws lapua and sako, but I had 120 nosler in .243 and that was the tits. Great brass

 

[25 Sharps]

Lapua, Norma, nosler all very good. RWS is also very good In .308......

Federal sole people have issues with, was my preferred .243 for forming to 6.5 CM and by all accounts lasts better than hornady creedmoor brass. GGG is also very good brass for reloading and cheap!

 

[alberta boy]

Federal is a bit odd sometimes . With certain calibers , like 303 Brit , good reliable brass . In others , like in my 7mmRM , I've had a lot of issues , including oversized primer pockets on new unfired brass .

AB

 

[Odders]

If we're talking new brass for repeatable performing ammunition right from the first load, then Sako or Norma.
Other than that, pretty much ANY brass performs well enough to match my ability once it's been fired in the rifle it'll be used in.
Heck; I've reloaded Indian milsurp OFV 7.62x51 brass three times when run through the same L1A1 & apart from the initial trim to length, it's required nothing else (it's binned at that point due to an abundance of caution viz potential case head separation issues).