[blarby]

Looks like rifle brass quality has been all over the place lately.


If you buy rifle brass :

What was the last brand you bought ?

What was its caliber ?

Were you happy with its quality ?

And most importantly....when did you buy it, and if so do you know when it was manuf. ? ( lot #, date, etc )


Just trying to collate some info for those who might need it.

[JLDickmon]

.223
Winchester once fired
$8.00/per hundred
want to say I bought it in 1996?

bought some new IMI .223 right about the same time,
$10.00 per hundred.. I worked up my 250 yd 2" group with it..

[blarby]

"New rifle brass !"

[squarles67]

Winchester brass in .270 was good
Winchester brass in .303 brit was good

Reminton brass in 32-20 not so good case length was all over place. Most case neck openings were not even square with the case.

All purchased within the last year

[jk2008]

Deleted

[Tex4426]

I use all lake city brass...mostly once fired..its alot cheaper...but bought some new a few weeks ago on sale..looks to be very good brass..never had a problem....there one of the largest brass companies and they make most of our military and law enforcement brass...I shoot 223...hope thers some value in this

[gamestalker]

All the brass I've been getting has been just fine, Rem., Win, and even Fed. have been fine. I buy a good bit of Starline too, and it has been excellent in every aspect. Now and then I come across some CCI or Speer, and those have been great as well.

So I guess I don't have any negative brass reports here.

[cfullgraf]

I buy mostly Winchester and Remington. Sometimes Starline. Rarely Federal, although I have bought some new Lake City recently. I have stopped buying once fired, too much variability.

If I was a serious competitor, I would probably try Lapua but for my use they are too expensive.

I bought a bunch of HXP surplus 30-06 ammunition for the brass once I "unload it".

I have new cases on my shelf purchased from 1980 to the present. I buy in bulk when on sale and I like to keep a stash of new cases on hand to replace failed or lost cases.

I load for 23 different commercially available cartridges. I buy cases for all of them. No problems that I remember.

[jk2008]

The last new rifle brass I bought was Starline nickel-plated 45-70. I was very pleased with the quality (Starline has never disappointed me). I bought the brass about 2 years ago ( I don't know the lot number).

[Craigman]

.270WSM winchester brand bag of 50.

I was excited for my new purchase and I also bought a MTM box, and when I was in the parking lot I opened it up and inspected the brass as I was putting it in the box.

7 of the 50 pieces had wrinkles and/or misformed almost melted type deformations in the mouths. I can deal with dents and what not, but this was bad. I went back in and was asking advice on how I should contact Winchester, and the guys there just opened a new bag and replaced them right away.

Not impressed

[Old Dog Man]

I use new brass only, just purchased 100 Win. 22-250 cases. Preped all and started loading. Never had a problem with Win. cases or Rem. cases, Just prefer Win. little more capacity than Rem. Al

[xmanpike]

270 and 243 Nosler Brass. Consistent and accurate.

[FROGO207]

The only RIFLE brass I have purchased was some 45-70 Starline brass about 5 years ago. No lot number available on several 50 round bags from a Gun Broker seller. They all have given me great service so far. I usually buy or find once or more fired brass and as such do not need to buy any new unfired so not much help to you I am afraid. IMHO I would not bother with new brass, especially for the common stuff as the savings of buying once fired brass is significant. If it is unknown times fired then looking for case head and primer pocket problems is a necessity but not a deal breaker if the price is good. And the price can be lowered on all of them by saving it until you have a decent amount and sell it for scrap. I am getting more than half my money back when doing it this way so brass expense is not such a large part of cost per round.

[USSR]

The only new rifle brass that I have and/or will buy is Lapua. My load development work has shown it to be superior to any other brass in the following cartridges: .30-06 and 6.5x55. Sadly, it's price has risen steeply in recent years.:(

Don

[blarby]

Amen, Don. It certainly has.

A lot of brass has risen in price, and seemingly quality has not stayed consistent with it ( lapua and starline being the noted exceptions)

[ShortFatHokie]

If you buy rifle brass :

What was the last brand you bought ? Winchester

What was its caliber ? .243 Winchester

Were you happy with its quality ? Yes, however I bought some Winchester brass for my 30-06 last year that was awful quality...well good quality just poor quality control...

And most importantly....when did you buy it, and if so do you know when it was manuf. ? ( lot #, date, etc ) I bought it in January, no idea of manufacture date though.

[poco loco]

Twice Privi Partisan: 6.5 Carcano for reforming to 7.35 Carcano and 7.65 Argentine, both very nice with little to no variation, easy sizing easy loading and they shoot great.

Can't speak to longevity yet but most everything I read is good and both rifles get loaded light anyway....I just don't see the need to stress a 113 yo Mauser, though craftsmanship on the 91's is amazing to me, just beautiful workmanship all through, Lowe built in 1899...

within the last 6 months but no lot numbers

Also Starline 45-70. First time with Starline and it's everything everyone says it is...very nice brass...

[poco loco]

The only new rifle brass that I have and/or will buy is Lapua. My load development work has shown it to be superior to any other brass in the following cartridges: .30-06 and 6.5x55. Sadly, it's price has risen steeply in recent years.:(

Don
I recently traded into a box of 100 new Lapua .308 and they are very nice, never could afford them but it was a nice pop for the trade......perfect anneal on every case, not a single burr or rough spot I could find on a one of them...

I wish I could afford them but I'm ok with the LC National Match cases I lucked into years ago. They're pretty nice and the combo outshoots me by a bunch so.

[hydeslinger]

I purchased several bags of Win 218 Bee brass when it was available last year. I have resized 1 bag and have noticed of the 100 pcs 4-5 were not correct, IE: the neck/throat was not square, and the incorrect pcs were several .001s longer then the others. I had to trim for length square the opening.
I have never reloaded new, always factory loaded and shot by me, but with the Bee factory is out of the question.
I hope this is an anomaly.

[ArchAngelCD]

A while back I bought a bag of new Remington .223 Brass. It's one of the few times I've ever bought new rifle brass.

[blarby]

Just picked up some Winchester .308 and 7mm -08 from the LGS.

Sadly, Winchester doesn't seem to lot # their components.

The .308 was dated 02/20/12 RCVD date, the 7mm was 08/03/10

( They "LGS" date by date receivd, and get ships from their distributor which has told them they get lots from Winchester within a week of the production run- for whatever that is worth)

Both seem to be of good quality. They have very consistent case-case weight, are undersized from spec ( so firing them will form up your chamber pretty good) and were the correct length. They did have some roundness issues in the neck area....but I FL size anyway, and it didn't leave me any what were irregular.

Just a batch of regular brass or two, I suppose !

[gpjoe]

1000 Lake City .223 - purchased new.

Bought mainly for range plinking with Hornady 55gr FMJBT and it has performed very well. Seems more accurate than any factory plinking ammo I've used (Federal, Hornady, PCM 55 gr FMJ).

Purchased this past February - lot # unknown.

[ArchAngelCD]

Within the last year I bought 100 new Remington .223 brass and new Remington 45-70 brass. I was a little surprised at how good it was because the current chatter on the NET is Remington brass is on the poor side of QC but mine was just fine...

[788Ham]

About 6 months ago, I bought 300 Lapua .223 brass, new, have heard its good brass. I wish I could afford Lapua brass for all of my rifles, best brass I've ever reloaded. I FL sized them, checked for length, primer pockets were tight, not a single flaw in any of the cases bought. I've reloaded some Rem. brass that only had 3 reloadings with them, split necks, not anymore. I know Lapua is expensive, but you know when you reload it, it will be the best brass going.

[wolfe]

http://http://www.firstclassbulletsandbrass.com/ (http://www.firstclassbulletsandbrass.com/)

Bough stuff from this place last couple times I bought stuff. Perfect brass, clean, shiny....

[ArchAngelCD]

http://http://www.firstclassbulletsandbrass.com/ (http://www.firstclassbulletsandbrass.com/)

Bough stuff from this place last couple times I bought stuff. Perfect brass, clean, shiny....
And how does this help when the OP is asking about NEW factory brass?

[cacoltguy]

I just bought a couple hundred pieces of Federal .308 brass which I use for my Springfield M1A.

As far as run of the mill, reasonably priced brass goes, I'm partial to Federal over Remington and Winchester. I did a little experiment and weighed a bunch of Federal and Winchester cases. Federal premium was much more consistent in weight while Winchester was all over the place. I really think that the consistency of Federal brass is a big reason why Gold Medal Match shoots so well in just about every firearm made and is usually the benchmark by which most ammunition is measured. It's nice and thick but gets a bad rap for being too soft. Personally I toss all brass (regardless of make) for my auto-loaders after 3 reloadings, so this isn't an issue. I've also gotten 10+ reloads for my bolt gun with Federal brass (neck-sized only) and never saw any issues that others complain about (loose primer pockets etc.) and never had a split neck. For the best money can buy though, I'd go with Lapua.

[s.forktraveler]

remmington ammunition primary shooter 220 swift--243 -- 270 i purchase new loaded rounds -- fire form -- neck size & store -- still have quite a lot of the remmington/ peters with $11.95 price stickers 20 pks loaded-- quality has varied with remmington over the years however i think their quality control has improved -- i like to play with the brass anyhow --

[rehorne]

Bought a box of 100 Norma 308 brass in Jan. No lot # on box. Checked length, flash hole, ect. No issues, put them through the head space gage, spot on. they were a little on the steep side $1.25 a case with sales tax. They are on their 3rd reloading now.

[MachIVshooter]

In order of preference:

Handgun: Starline, Remington, Winchester
Rifle: Remington, Winchester

I find more defective cases among Remington, but their annealing is better IMO and the cases last longer. There is usually an extra case in the bag, so finding one with a buggered neck or something else that makes it unusable doesn't screw up my count, just leaves me with no keychain piece.

[YankeeFlyr]

Got 500 rounds of Winchester 30-06 about 2 months ago...from Midway, all at once so it was probably from the same lot.

I had the trimmer set to 2.484 and some cases were short buy 0.006 or so...didn't weigh the cases but other than length there were also some necks not cut square :(

Other than that, no gross abnormalities in any one of the cases. Just the trims.

[beatledog7]

I have only bought new rifle brass once: Winchester .223, late winter 2011.

I bought 100 to help me learn to load, and one had a forming defect in the extractor groove that made it impossible to put into a shellholder. Tried to fix it, but gave up and tossed it into recycles. The rest have were ok but needed their necks squared up. A few were over SAAMI length by a few thousandths.

[YankeeFlyr]

Funny; I bought 3200 rounds of Aussie 7.62 NATO hardball mil-surplus back in 2004 (still have a good bit) for 19 cents a round!

GREAT stuff...but this ONE ROUND had a defect in the rim thickness. Yeah, it would have gone through the M1A OK, I think. But I could see it without a caliper. Hmmm.

This was originally released as first-run mil-qualified ammo. Just goes to show you; nothing in mass-production goes out 100.000%!

[s.forktraveler]

i buy new remmington factory loads 50 grn bullets for my 220 swift & 70 to 80 grn 243 -- fire form the brass & reload -- i am not comfortable with any round that i have not fire formed (maybe thats just an old age hang up) so if i buy just brass i end up loading twice -- while i have no science to back me up i believe remmingtons factory loaded ammunition has brass of higher quality & uniformity than that which they sell by the bag -- since i neck size only brass lasts me a long time --

[nastynatesfish]

Federal premium 308 win brass was awesome
Winchester 7mm mag brass same
Winchester 22-250 awesome, had one case with a bad neck out of 200
Hornady 223 brass. Still haven't done anything with it

[nastynatesfish]

I've been loading my 7 mag win brass for 6 years on the same 300 pieces and just started having some separation. Winchester is the same. I done believe in 6 and oil. I reload it untill I see cause to trash can it

[Hondo 60]

What was the last brand you bought ? RP

What was its caliber ? 223 Remington

Were you happy with its quality ? Yup

And most importantly....when did you buy it, and if so do you know when it was manuf. ? ( lot #, date, etc )
I bought it about 2 years ago, Sorry, no clue as to when it was mfg'd

[rskent]

I have always bought Winchester brass for my 223. I have been pretty happy with it.
At the end of last year I wanted to pick up some new brass and couldn’t find any Winchester so I bought 500 Lake City cases. Marked LC11. The cases were a little short, about .005. They chronoed ok and shot pretty good so I loaded them up. That was a mistake. In the first hundred or so rounds I had six or seven head separations. Not head separations in the sense that they blew off. Just a deep crease where the head meets the side wall of the case. It looked very much like I put WAY to much powder in the cases. So after pulling 50 rounds and reweighing the charges (they were fine by the way) I reloaded the cases with lighter bullets and dropped the charge 2 grains. I went back to the range. More head separations.
After asking around at the range, I was told that Lake City had let quit a few bad cases out the door recently. I have no idea how true or how many. But I pulled the rest of the bullets and loaded them in my old worn out Winchester cases and things went back to normal. I have since picked up a batch of Winchester cases.
Steve

[fguffey]

The last time I purchased brass? A year ago, I purchased 2,200 cases in what amounted to a trunk/foot locker full $80.00, all in original boxes, most unfired. It would not have been a bargain had it not been for the Norma and foreign made Sierra, 6.5mm50, 7.7 Japanese, 257 Roberts, 7mm57 and 8mm57 Mauser, 6.5mm55, 45/70, 33 Winchester, and it got better, then the seller added a RCBS reloader special press with a little rust and a collet type RCBS case trimmer with one collet and one pilot. Then there was the shot bags on the bottom of the trunk, because of the weight I considered the ammo was loaded, and the trunk did not survive the trip home.

The pilot was the old oversized one, meaning to use the pilot to trim the case had to be trimmed before sizing, ‘OR’ the pilot required grinding, or the reloader could get into mortal combat with the case trimmer when forcing the pilot into the case neck and again when removing the case from the trimmer. These things do not lock me up, when the pilot is larger than the inside neck diameter, I trim first then size.

My favorite trimmer is the trim/form die, again, form/trim, then finish with full length sizing.

F. Guffey

[fguffey]

Rsket,

“Not head separations in the sense that they blew off. Just a deep crease where the head meets the side wall of the case”

There is insipient case head separation and the beginning of case head separation and there is catastrophic failure.

Guys at the range said....etc..

I am the fan of cutting down on all that case travel, I am also the fan of determining the length of the chamber first and measuring the length of the case from the head of the case to the shoulder/datum of the case, what happens when the trigger is pulled in listed in step sequences of events, they (not me) are talking about a set of rules that apply to all receivers and designs equally, not me.

F. Guffey

[rayatphonix]

The last new brass was Nosler 260 brass. It's my first experiment with "high end" brass. Previously I've used Remington and Winchester.