for .308 who makes the "best" brass?
- Thread starter jr81452
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jr81452
Member
follow up post
as i recieved many responses to my question i decided to buy a 100 round batch of each of the following brands of brass, norma, lapua, federal, hornady, nosler, and remington. i first checked them all for wieght, then dents that would require a fire forming shot to uniform the cases. then i checked neck wall thickness, primer pocket uniformity, and for burres in the flash hole. i then fl sized them and checked neck wall thickness again to be sure. after all that i will say hands down that lapua is the best. it was the most consistant in weight, with only 3 cases being out of my +/- .5 gr field (they were +/- .08gr). all the primer pockets where the exact same dimention and reqirud no uniforming, the flash holes where deburred at the factory, and the necks only needed about .0005" tunrnings to be consistant. and at that cutting depth 96 of 100 shined up all the way around the neck. the list of who makes the best brass in order of the above listed specs is:
lapua (hands down the best with very little prep time)
nosler (close to lapua, needed more neck turning and wieght was +/- 1.3 gr)
norma (weight was +/- 1gr but had flash hole burres and dented cases)
hornady (like buying bulk brass but the weight was +/- 1.8gr but no dents)
federal (weight was +/- 2.6gr, cases dented and needed ALL prep work)
remington (weight +/- 5.6gr case very dented needed ALL prep work)
on a scale of 1 to 10 i would rate them:
lapua: 10
nosler: 9
norma: 7
hornady: 5
federal: 4
remington: 2
so there is my info for all you debaters out there. i will now take 10 case from each lot, load them with my favorite load, and fire them until they start to fail. i will aniel five from each lot when i feel they need it and keep five to factory specs. i will post back when i have the results of those tests.
as i recieved many responses to my question i decided to buy a 100 round batch of each of the following brands of brass, norma, lapua, federal, hornady, nosler, and remington. i first checked them all for wieght, then dents that would require a fire forming shot to uniform the cases. then i checked neck wall thickness, primer pocket uniformity, and for burres in the flash hole. i then fl sized them and checked neck wall thickness again to be sure. after all that i will say hands down that lapua is the best. it was the most consistant in weight, with only 3 cases being out of my +/- .5 gr field (they were +/- .08gr). all the primer pockets where the exact same dimention and reqirud no uniforming, the flash holes where deburred at the factory, and the necks only needed about .0005" tunrnings to be consistant. and at that cutting depth 96 of 100 shined up all the way around the neck. the list of who makes the best brass in order of the above listed specs is:
lapua (hands down the best with very little prep time)
nosler (close to lapua, needed more neck turning and wieght was +/- 1.3 gr)
norma (weight was +/- 1gr but had flash hole burres and dented cases)
hornady (like buying bulk brass but the weight was +/- 1.8gr but no dents)
federal (weight was +/- 2.6gr, cases dented and needed ALL prep work)
remington (weight +/- 5.6gr case very dented needed ALL prep work)
on a scale of 1 to 10 i would rate them:
lapua: 10
nosler: 9
norma: 7
hornady: 5
federal: 4
remington: 2
so there is my info for all you debaters out there. i will now take 10 case from each lot, load them with my favorite load, and fire them until they start to fail. i will aniel five from each lot when i feel they need it and keep five to factory specs. i will post back when i have the results of those tests.
USSR
Member
USGI M118LR Brass
Good post, jr81452. Don't overlook current USGI M118LR brass. While the weight variance is quite a bit more than commercial brass, judicious sorting by weight can produce some spectacular results.
(Shameless plug) I also just happen to have some of this once-fired brass for sale in the classified section of this site.
Don
Good post, jr81452. Don't overlook current USGI M118LR brass. While the weight variance is quite a bit more than commercial brass, judicious sorting by weight can produce some spectacular results.
(Shameless plug) I also just happen to have some of this once-fired brass for sale in the classified section of this site.
Don
I've settled on one premium 7.62x51/.308 Win brass.
Lapua - exceptionally consistent from case to case.
Glad to see you discovered the same.
I'm sitting on a few thousand pieces of Lapua "7.62x51" headstamped brass, and hoard it dearly. It won't get fired in my Cetme, trust me.
Lapua - exceptionally consistent from case to case.
Glad to see you discovered the same.
I'm sitting on a few thousand pieces of Lapua "7.62x51" headstamped brass, and hoard it dearly. It won't get fired in my Cetme, trust me.
jr81452
Member
so USSR are you saying you have weight sorted the brass you have for sale? if thats the case, i have a friend who would be happy to buy i few k off you
USSR
Member
jr,
Not saying that at all. That's simply what I do with my own brass for LR work with precision rifles.
Don
trueblue1776
Member
Hirtenberger makes really nice brass, but difficult to find/get and expensive.
I think you will find that unless you are reloading on the upper edge of the powder range, or shooting bench rest, or at long ranges, the chances of noticing much difference in accuracy between different brands of cartridges is slim.
OTOH, when I was more serious about rifle shooting and reloading, I preferred the military stuff for 30-06. Most of the HS were from the 50s. Was stuff I bought for next to nothing at a gun shop many years ago. Some of them I must have reloaded 10 or 20 times, and rarely saw much in the way of case lengthening. Of course they had already been reloaded how many times before I got them, so maybe they were just worked out. I only had to trim maybe one in ten or twenty. I shot mostly mild loads in my 03 and 03A3 so no doubt that helped. The commercial stuff did not seem to last as long.
But, I also was shooting 303 British and was getting a neck split about every 5th case. don't recall what brass that was. Most of it made its way into the trash can.
OTOH, when I was more serious about rifle shooting and reloading, I preferred the military stuff for 30-06. Most of the HS were from the 50s. Was stuff I bought for next to nothing at a gun shop many years ago. Some of them I must have reloaded 10 or 20 times, and rarely saw much in the way of case lengthening. Of course they had already been reloaded how many times before I got them, so maybe they were just worked out. I only had to trim maybe one in ten or twenty. I shot mostly mild loads in my 03 and 03A3 so no doubt that helped. The commercial stuff did not seem to last as long.
But, I also was shooting 303 British and was getting a neck split about every 5th case. don't recall what brass that was. Most of it made its way into the trash can.
I get no respect I've been supporting Nosler for 20+ years and they won't divulge who makes they're brass and if they did, I couldn't share anyway But I will say if you knew who made Nosler brass you would not be discouraged from they're brass in that price range, it's the old you get what you pay for thing.
and if they did, I couldn't share anyway But I will say if you knew who made Nosler brass you would not be discouraged from they're brass in that price range, it's the old you get what you pay for thing.- Status
