Collect brass or buy new?

[saskboy]

I havent started loading for my new .22-250 yet and shot off a box of 40 cheap whitebox winchesters. Should I keep buying the value packs or just buy brand new winchester brass? How many loads are people getting out of their .22-250 brass.

 

[colonelhogan44]

I'd just buy the cheap stuff, vaporize a few varmints, have a little fun and then load them up. But that's me, and I'm no expert.

 

[Maj Dad]

Brass is likely the same - the Remington & WW stuff is not loaded for matches, but can be very accurate. Relaod it & find a good recipe. If you just have to have the best, Lapua, Norma and now Nosler and others are waiting there for your $$. You get what you pay for, but WW & Rem may work just as well. My b-i-l loaded his at least 5 or 6 times, neck sizing, and scrapped them out of routine, not failures, etc.

 

[billybob44]

I would keep buying WW White Box for awhile. Start getting your tools together for loading==FIRST=a good load book+then the tools.
My 700 Rem. Varmint 22-250 likes Sierra 52gr HPBT (#1410) for targets, and Hornady V-Max 55gr. for Groundhogs. Sub MOA on paper, Sub MO Splatter on the "Hogs"!!

 

[The Bushmaster]

Please saskboy, buy new so I'll have more brass to collect. Can't help myself. I'm a "Brass Rat"...

 

[FTSESQ]

I buy new brass all the time... I just happens to have primers, powder, and bullets in it...

Seriously though, I buy cheap stuff and reload the brass from it, but I mainly reload .45, so you're talking low pressure. However, when I am reloading for maximum accuracy I will buy the good stuff.

 

[noylj]

For a rifle, I buy factory ammunition and then I have once-fired fire-formed to my chamber cases.
For pistol, there is what I do and what I recommend. I recommend that you buy new virgin brass, inspect each case, and resize it. Of course, what I do is to pick up brass as I find it, clean and inspect, and then use it.

 

[rhubarb]

Buy? I don't understand your question. Do you buy diamonds? Do you buy oil? No, like brass cases, these can be found in nature. Shoot, I think my range was built over an old ammo quarry. I walk around and find cases on top of the ground all the time.

The blue coffee cans hold 400+ .223 each. The gray tub at top still has a few thousand LC .223 I still need to sort by year. The other gray tub has a few different calibers. The white bucket is all 30-06. The blue bucket is mixed rifle and pistol. The rectangular tub bottom right is 9mm. I've only been collecting a couple of years, but it accumulates sometimes faster than you can sort it.

 

[don]

What? buy brass? ya gotta be kidding. I don't remember buying brass. At the gun range at which I shoot there is more brass than I'll ever need.

 

[saskboy]

My brother has about 140 once fired brass laying around, he doesnt want to sell it to me though. Ill just keep buying the value packs I guess. I have done lots of .30 cal loading and this new gun of mine is just begging me to reload some up for it. But I gotta get a good stash of brass first.

 

[bubbinator]

The day after Christmas was one of my favorite days of the year! I live central AL and lots of guys get new guns for Christmas. They all go out in local gravel pits and other places to shoot and zero their new toys. I have gathered in excess of 500 rds of once-fired rifle and pisto lbrass from 1 area. God Bless those folks who don't know you can zero a rilfe @ 100 yds in 3-5 rds. if you know what you are doing! I watched some guys shoot 60 rds. of WW 30-06 and still weren't on a 10" bull @ 100 yds. Thank you for $30 worth of brass.

 

[swiftak]

I just pick it up. Never bought a piece of brass in my life. I've got more brass than I can ever use at this point. (and my guns don't know its not brand new)

 

[rcmodel]

For a 9mm or other handguns, I would pick up mixed range brass.

For a very accurate varmint rifle, like your 22-250, I would want all the brass to be from the same manufacture, and preferably from the same lot number.

Be that buying WW white box and shooting it, or buying new brass from the same lot number is the only decision you need to make.

What you don't want is a bunch of mixed brass you found laying on the ground somewhere, a box or less at a time, out of sixteen different rifle chambers..

rc

 

[evan price]

22-250, I think I've found a total of maybe 25 pieces in 4 years. And those go to a family member.

 

[colonelhogan44]

I guess I better hit up a range, pay the 10 bucks and scrounge some brass...I have my own range, complete with a perpetual shortage of 9mm and .357 mag brass.

 

[qajaq59]

Buy the cheap stuff and save it. I don't think you'll find too many 22-250s lying around. And you guys that can pick it up are lucky. Our club has almost all reloaders and no one leaves any brass around when they leave.

 

[WV_Vizsla]

I pickup and sort pistol brass by the K's every year. Also reload Rem STS hulls if mine, factory or with Rem STS primers.
Rifle brass runs at 50K to 60K PSI - I buy new brass and toss them when need fourth trim.

 

[ballbags(again)]

I myself shoot commercial ammo and save everything. I then Reload it all. This way it is cheaper Much Cheaper

 

[the_right_reverend]

When I acquire a new rifle or handgun my first investment is a thousand or 2 empties once fired from ONCE FIRED BRASS or THE BRASS MAN and set of dies or on are occasion new brass from one of the online dealers

haven't used store bought ammo in at least 10 years with the exception of rimfire

 

[A and O]

I always come home with more brass than I shoot. Not always intentional either, I prefer to separate mine from the others to keep a proper history log. Kinda glad I've stockpiled HG Brass over the last few years being as to how California will be requiring fingerprinting for ammo and components for HG's next year. I won't be participating.

 

[BigBob3006]

I think that the answer to your question depends entirely on what you want, in performance, of your rifle and ammo. If you squeeze one of at a dog 500 yards out do you want some level of expectation of hitting it? A friend I had some years ago who had worked at Winchester, told me the cases used in their cheapo ammo didn't pass the muster for their good ammo. Different makes of brass do make a difference. Next time you're at the range see if you can pick up five empties of as many different manufacturer as you can. When you get home, clean them up, knock out the old primers, get your scale out and get ready for an education. Weigh them and check for variations of weight. Check for difference of length and measure case thickness at the neck.

I suggest that you buy at least 200 new Winchester cases. Prep all the cases and cull them by weight. Now I'm an accuracy nut and once I determine the mean weight of the cases I like to use that weight and plus or minus half a grain. Don't throw the cases that don't cut muster. they can be used for trading or for coyote loads. If you load for accuracy, you will not be loading steamroller loads. I like my .22-250 too push a 55gr bullet somewhere between 3560 fps and 3600 fps. The .22-250 can be pushed to 3700 fps but I've never found loads in that range to be the most accurate attainable. With loads in that range I expect to get about ten loadings. Before you start working on loads, detail your rifle. Make sure the bedding is OK and adjust the trigger pull. I also like to insure the face of the bolt is flat and square to the bore. I'd also suggest you buy a neck sizing die and leave your full length sizing die in its box.

 

[788Ham]

I keep all of my once fired brass and reload. I've got some brass that has been reloaded 5-6 times, since its been shot in my rifle, I just neck size them. Every 4th time shot, I check length, and trim if needed. Like another poster said, about every 4 trim, I toss them. When I need new brass, I reorder from Midway and start over.

 

[HOOfan_1]

I havent started loading for my new .22-250 yet and shot off a box of 40 cheap whitebox winchesters.

Did the exact same thing for my new .22-250 I wanted Winchester brass, saw the WWWB 40 packs for $28 and bought 2 of them. Compared to the Winchester Brass in the same store that was $51 for 100 unprimed, I figured 80 loaded cases for nearly the same price was a good deal

 

[jamesicus]

For the past several years I have replenished brass that I determine has outlasted its usefulness with new Winchester brass. I do not perform any selection or sorting, only neck sizing before loading.

James

 

[swiftak]

I've been a reloader for over 30 years and I have never bought 1 piece of brass. I'm not a bench rest shooter but everything shoots real good. Mine is all range pickup. All 26 five gallon buckets of it.