How do you decide what case to buy?

[Winzeler]

Just this week I reloaded my first ever rounds for my .40. I just reused cases from factory ammo I had saved, and everything went off without a hitch. I'm also going to start loading for a .243 and a 7mm. The .243 doesn't have to be all that accurate, but it does need to be cheap. I want the 7 to be at least sub-moa. How do I pick the right cases to purchase for each. Do some brands last longer? Are the pricier brands going improve accuracy, longevity, or both? Are there any advantages to nickel plated cases (for the pistol too)?

 

[MT GUNNY]

cases

nikel cases ive been told are harder to size (hear say)
I think id start by buying rem brass for 7mm rem mag .260.22-250
winchester brass for 300win mag .308.243
so on and so forth
after that try somthing different

 

[Grumulkin]

I've used Federal, Winchester, Remington, Lake City military and Hornady brass. Of these brands I've used, I thought Hornady brass was the best. There was one brand of brass (maybe PMC but I don't really remember) for 44 Remington magnum that was terrible. The brass was thin and All of the primer flash holes eccentric; I threw it all away. The other brands were acceptable with a couple of exceptions that can be remedied by case inspection. In a batch of 100 nickel plated Remington, 222 Remington brass, 2 or 3 cases had primer flash holes near the edge of the primer pocket rather than in the middle. Lake City military brass I use in my 30/06 is very good as long as it's sorted for eccentric primer flash holes (I discard close to 50% of it but it's very cheap). I've seen no need to buy more expensive brass than the above.

As for nickel plated cases, the advantages are that it looks nice and cleans up nicely. I don't think it's hard to resize either. The reason I don't buy it anymore is that at least in new cases, each bullet probably takes some hard nickel down the bore increasing wear.

 

[Art Eatman]

As near as i can tell, it's a purely subjective thing. "How do you FEEL about Brand-X brass?" "Win with Winchester" or some such thing. Dangfino.

About all I can offer as a halfway-intelligent comment is that for any given rifle cartridge, odds are that you're better off with using all one brand. It's a uniformity issue, SFAIK. Then again, time you trim cases, chamfer case mouths, and maybe segregate by weight (If you're picky) it probably makes no difference.

I've never noticed any, these last 50-some years...

, Art

 

[P0832177]

Subjective is right! But, you have to realize that you get what you pay for!
All things aside you have to realize that some brass is only available from one or two Mfg.
If you want the best

1. RWS
2. Lapua
3. Norma
4. LC Match Brass in 308/06
5. IMI
6. Win/RP
7. Nosler/Hornady
8. Federal in 308 and 223 sucks! No case life!

 

[Ares45]

Are there any advantages to nickel plated cases

Nickel cases are touted by the manufacturers for ease of feeding and corrosion resistance. Fine and dandy if you only shoot them once. The drawback is that eventually the nickel will start to flake from work hardening during firing and resizing and flakes will scratch your sizing die.

 

[lycanthrope]

In .40 I load everything that says .40 on the headstamp.....except AMERC! I do, however, use an EGW undersize die to take care of "Glock bulge".

In 7mm Mag and 7STW, I can tell you that with hot loadings, Winchester brass lives about two loadings longer than Remington without splitting. For accuracy, stick with one headstamp. I can get sub MOA with either though.....

 

[GooseGestapo]

I usually use whatever I have in adequate quantities from what I've picked up off the ground at various ranges. I do sort by headstamp.

However, I have noticed some trends through the years, and this is what I've seen.

In handgun brass, I've gotten best results with Federal, particularily, .38spl, and 9mm.
Hornady, and some other smaller manuf.'s use Starline brass. Starline is the very best brass I have used for uniformity, and is what I use in 9mm and .38spl match ammo if not using Federal.


Rifle Brass:
Norma has been best, with Lapua close second. (in .22 and 6mmPPC, both needed primer pockets turned, and necks turned to match rifle's chamber). In my .30/06, none has proven equal to some Norma I obtained in 1975, and am still using!

Federal has been best of American brands, with Rem and Win close behind.

Some PMC I had in 7mm-08 would chamber only with difficulty in a Rem M-7. After neckturning however, it is the most accurate brass I have for that rifle.

Some variation can be expected in different lots of brass. For instance, I have some .243wcf brass by Federal, and there are two distinct "groups" of brass, some weigh 161gr +/-2.0gr, and others weight 174gr +/-. Near max loads in the former, are definitely over max in the latter. I mention this because a friend blew the bolt on a m788 in .243 about 10yrs ago. The load was a mid-level load, and had been safe in other brass. The culprit was in a different headstamp that had found its way into his brass collection for that rifle.

Hence, treat all brass as "unknown" until you have checked it out during prep.

Inspect regularily and discard at the first signs of distress.

In some chamberings, only one or two different brands are available. For instance, .300 Rem. UltraMag is only available in Rem in new -NUF; and only other manuf. of new factory ammo is Federal, so; I HAD to go with Remington, or buy Federal at over $40.00/box of 20!!!

 

[Winzeler]

I've read and appreciate all the replies. I'll probably go with Winchester for the .243 and Norma for the 7 RM. (I'm sure I'll try some Winchester for that, too.) For the pistol, I'll just keep reusing the old brass I've saved. It should last quite some time.