Brass: winchester vs hornady

I dont reload rifle yet, so no comments there.

I prefer Win to Hornady, because Hornady cuts their brass short for their leverevolution rounds. Win I can mix with other brass without adjusting dies.

Most of the time I use Starline, as they are cheaper than the others at Sportsmans Warehouse, and I feel better quality.

coondogger said:

Although the internet is rife with complaints about unfired winchester brass, I’ve not had any problems with it. In fact, I’ve only had problems with the pricier Hornady brass. I’m wondering what people on this site have experienced with new brass from these two companies.

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Used to be Winchester was great stuff. It surprises me and saddens me to read that people are having problems with the stuff. Nothing lasts.......

I have experienced different rim thickness and diameter with Winchester brass. Some cases don’t fit the shell holder. Haven’t seen that with Hornady.

That said, I prefer Lapua or Starline if available in the cartridge I’m loading. Unfortunately, neither make 280 or 280 AI brass. So for those I use Hornady.

I've had various problems with all the different brands except Starline, Lapua, Norma and Lake City.

Those four brands have never given me a single hicup to my recollection.

I reload what I shot and accumulated over many years. Sadly, in that time I didn’t shoot .380ACP, so I tended to toss it when I picked it up with 9. Consequently, when I started loading .380ACP, I had to acquire brass from generous forum members, as well as buying it once fired from Ammobrass.com.
I came to appreciate the European cases over good ol’ USA. Fiocchi has been my preferred brass, along with S&B, and my small hoard of Austria’s *HP*.
For US cases, WIN and RP are my best brass, no issues to speak of, except when my Lee sizing die started giving me problems I ruined mostly Blazer and WIN. I started to think that Blazer was simply garbage...until I got a new set of Lyman 9mm dies, their MSR package. Since the switch I haven’t tossed any cases except those that I damaged the mouth. Truth be told, I’m with Steve S and really don’t see or feel a big difference between these various brass manufacturers. The only real reason I prefer the European cases is their headstamps appear laser cut...they really stand our, and hold up even after several firings. The US headstamps seem to get distorted a lot easier, making sorting by headstamp, which I do religiously, more challenging.
For what it’s worth, I loaded up 100 380ACP today with the only Starline brass I have enough to fill a Berry’s ammo box. I’m guessing I’d need to load rifle brass if I wanted to notice any difference.

The only new brass I buy is Starline. I have used several brands of once-fired brass. Winchester is the only ones I've personally had problems with. Case rims too large to fit into shell-holder on some cases is the main problem I've had with Winchester.

My favorite brass has always been Winchester and I will continue to use it for most of my shooting. I have noticed in the past 10 years that when the brass comes out of the bag the mouth of the case necks can be deformed but they straighten up when they are run through a full length sizing die. I have not had any problems with split necks but I do anneal the Winchester brass after the first firing. I continue to use the Winchester brass until a bright ring appears in front of the case web which indicates the case is about to separate. I have started using Lapua brass for some of my loading because I like the drilled flash hole under the primer, the annealing of the case neck and the condition of the case neck.