Norma vs Lake City .308 Brass?

[Scout21]

I can get 200 pieces of once fired Lake City 7.62x51 brass for $80 shipped. I can get 200 rounds of Norma loaded .308 for $205 shipped. An equivalent amount of unfired Norma brass actually costs a few bucks more than what I can get the loaded ammo for.

The Lake City is cheaper, but I'm pretty sure it isn't LR brass and will likely have been shot through a machine gun as well as have a primer crimp that will need to be removed. The LC brass is half the price, though. I'll have to get a reamer for the primer pockets, which will bump up the cost by $20 or so. I'm guessing the Norma will be better brass on top of being loaded rounds, which is a big plus.

If the Norma is a good bit better quality than the LC then I'll bite the bullet and spend more, but I don't want to spend needlessly if I don't get much out of doing so. I plan on getting as many loadings out of it as possible by annealing and trimming as needed, likely with middle of the road loadings. Will be fired out of a hunting bolt rifle.

What does the Road have to say?

 

[sisyphus]

most of my 308 brass is Norma and it's my preferred brass
like you, I saw how low Norma ammo was compared to buying brass and just went that route
do not regret it, great brass

 

[AJC1]

I bought 120 pieces just for the brass as you mentioned. If your shooting a bolt gun it's an easy choice.... if your shooting a gas gun it's not so simple. Military brass is robust and has heavy walls for durability. By that same token some people like ppu, and imi makes strong military brass. If it's a gas gun my first choice would be new imi no primer pocket tool required.

 

[Scout21]

I bought 120 pieces just for the brass as you mentioned. If your shooting a bolt gun it's an easy choice.... if your shooting a gas gun it's not so simple. Military brass is robust and has heavy walls for durability. By that same token some people like ppu, and imi makes strong military brass. If it's a gas gun my first choice would be new imi no primer pocket tool required.

It'll be in a bolt gun. I'll add that to the original post.

 

[AJC1]

It'll be in a bolt gun. I'll add that to the original post.

I bought 6 boxes of the white tail hunter 150 grn because at 24 dollars a box it's cheaper than everything else.... less than m80 ball. Check academy

 

[Scout21]

I bought 6 boxes of the white tail hunter 150 grn because at 24 dollars a box it's cheaper than everything else.... less than m80 ball. Check academy

I found it online for 20% less than Academy, even after shipping. No tax really helps.

 

[edwardware]

The LC brass sounds very expensive, but I pick up all mine.

If you're happy at ~1MOA+, or that's the best your rifle is capable of, or your bullets are cheap, or your skills are shy, the Norma will be a waste of money. If you're willing to fix/improve/practice/solve all the other challenges, then the Norma is really very consistent brass.

You could sort and tune batches of LC to be every bit as good, but not at those prices.

 

[rayatphonix]

+1 for the Norma. The 150 grain soft point shoots <1” groups out of my Bergara 308, and I end up with high quality brass I can reload.

 

[dh1633pm]

The LC seems high. For me Norma brass is expensive regardless of Caliber. It’s quality stuff. I use only LC brass for .308. It works. Norma might give better results, results I am not likely to see.

 

[Howa 9700]

What is purpose / intent of the brass or ammo? Spraying up a hillside or something that matters?

So once fired LC brass is about 25 cents per piece, which as brass goes, is about half of anything new you can buy these days. But this brass was fired from unknown gun.....will have to be sized.....then fire formed to your gun. Accuracy of this first load probably no better than the factory Norma, at which time it is now twice fired brass.

The new loaded Norma ammo is more or less $1 per piece.....includes powder, bullet, primer and brass and when fired becomes once fired brass fire formed to your chamber. The new, empty Norma brass I've seen lately was priced at over $1 per piece.

So guess it depends on what destination of the bullet is. My view from 30,000 feet would suggest buying the Norma.

 

[Scout21]

The LC seems high. For me Norma brass is expensive regardless of Caliber. It’s quality stuff. I use only LC brass for .308. It works. Norma might give better results, results I am not likely to see.

After a cursory glance on ammoseek, it was the cheapest I could find for matching headstamp. It's listed at $30/100 plus $20 shipping.

 

[IALoder]

I bought 120 pieces just for the brass as you mentioned. If your shooting a bolt gun it's an easy choice.... if your shooting a gas gun it's not so simple. Military brass is robust and has heavy walls for durability. By that same token some people like ppu, and imi makes strong military brass. If it's a gas gun my first choice would be new imi no primer pocket tool required.

I was gonna ask if it was for a bolt gun or gas gun... Beat me to it!

It'll be in a bolt gun. I'll add that to the original post.

Get the Norma, and enjoy it!

 

[Laphroaig]

Norma has jumped in to the American ammunition market with both feet! I'm not sure where they're making the products at? Sweden or USA?

Get the Norma, and enjoy it!

That's probably the best choice no matter where it was made. Ammo to shoot plus no crimps to remove.

 

[dh1633pm]

Let me see what I have to spare in LC .308. Prices have gone up. I certainly got mine cheaper. I invested in a small base die, swagged the pockets and made it look real pretty. Norma is good stuff, no denying.

 

[n2omike]

Application, application, application...
Blasting water bottles and steel offhand with an AR10, you buy the cheapest mixed head stamp brass and bullets you can find.
Informal target shooting with lower power scopes out to short/moderate range, mixed head stamp can be just fine as well.
Hunting deer/pigs at less than 200 yards, mixed head stamp is just fine.
Bench Rest/Bench Rest competition/Bragging rights... Let your wallet guide you. lol

Out to 200 yards, you will see little PRACTICAL advantage by using any kind of special/matching brass. Matching head stamp brass, such as all LC of the same lot will tighten things up a bit, and moving to all Norma will tighten things up a tiny amount past that. But, in a practical sense, it all comes down to application, application, application... and how OCD you happen to be.

Good Luck

 

[lightman]

Lots of good advice above!

The LC brass can be very good, or if it was fired in a machine gun, very difficult to work with. You will need some type of tool to deal with the primer crimp and possibly a small base die to get it to chamber in your rifle the first time. So thats an additional cost. And if it was stretched very much you may experience short case life.

Norma brass is usually very good and you should see long case life with it.

 

[Charlie98]

I wouldn't use once-fired (surplus) LC brass if they gave it to me. For that matter, I've pretty much sworn off LC 7.62mm ammo forever, much of it having to do with the poor quality of the brass cases.

I now source all of my rifle brass from either virgin brass, or MY fired factory ammos. My primary .308/7.62mm brass stash now comes from my fired Prvi ammos.

 

[Scout21]

I wouldn't use once-fired (surplus) LC brass if they gave it to me. For that matter, I've pretty much sworn off LC 7.62mm ammo forever, much of it having to do with the poor quality of the brass cases.

I now source all of my rifle brass from either virgin brass, or MY fired factory ammos. My primary .308/7.62mm brass stash now comes from my fired Prvi ammos.

That's surprising. I hear mostly good things about LC brass. Was it a particular batch that you had issues with? Was is LR brass or the machine gun stuff?

 

[AJC1]

That's surprising. I hear mostly good things about LC brass. Was it a particular batch that you had issues with? Was is LR brass or the machine gun stuff?

The problem with most lc brass is history. Range pickups ate fine... bought on line, you have no idea. I don't care for crimped brass. If you get the lr brass it's not machine-gun fired. In your bolt action situation military brass is pointless.

 

[Charlie98]

That's surprising. I hear mostly good things about LC brass. Was it a particular batch that you had issues with? Was is LR brass or the machine gun stuff?

Case head fractures (not case head separations... that's different.)
Corrosion, both loaded ammos and components.

These are some of the problems I've had with 'once-fired' surplus cases, including LC and WCC.













The biggest problems came from the case head fractures, which vented gas into my face, and blew out my magazine guts into my lap. Not very fun. Before you armchair analysts get all excited, those fractures were not caused by the extractor... I had the blowouts occur with the spindle valve turned off, and, finally, in my Savage bolt gun. The bad brass was across about 5 different headstamps of LC brass. I have my own theory on why it happened... that is, what happened to the brass... but that is my theory only.

Other failures... neck and case splits... happened on 2nd or 3rd loadings.

I've also bought factory Lake City bulk ammos, it looked like they swept it up off the floor and dumped it in a box. Discoloration and some corrosion specs.

I've bought Lake City pulled brass... same-same... filthy, with significant corrosion spots. The corrosion spots were likely why it was rejected, pulled, and then sold as components, but, again, that's a guess.

 

[DMW1116]

I have a supply of IMI, GGG, and Norma 308 brass that all came from the same bolt gun once fired. The Norma was the easiest to work with since it had no primer crimp. I’m working through the IMI and GGG now. Seems fine but I haven’t seen a difference yet. My rifle, my shooting, and my reloading skills probably won’t show me a difference. That said I’m shooting a PA10. I’d go with the Norma if I were using a bolt gun for more than entertainment purposes.

 

[BushMaster-15]

Norma has jumped in to the American ammunition market with both feet! I'm not sure where they're making the products at? Sweden or USA?



That's probably the best choice no matter where it was made. Ammo to shoot plus no crimps to remove.

Sweden and via RUAG ,Switzerland https://www.ruag.com/en/products-services/ammotec

MY cases of choice are Lapua ,Norma , PPU ,LC , or anything Swiss/German /Belgium manufactured I can obtain as it's ALL excellent composition brass . I've Not tried IMI in .308 but have in other calibers ,with NO complaints shooting or reloading .

I just purchased loaded Norma ammunition for 6.5 Creedmoor due to cost verses case purchase new or once fired . ; A NO brainer IMO !. I just finished assembly of cherry picked pieces for an AR-10 6.5 CM build .
As I'm awaiting Dies for 6.5 ,so I'm unable to convert .243 .308 or 22-250 cases anyway . I'm Not positive I want to alter other caliber cases to 6.5 CM . Gas guns Bolt Guns I keep ammo separated ,as I bump shoulders for chamber set backs and loads VARY . So I figure altered cases with 7.62x51mm might NOT be a grand idea in the overall scheme of efficiency .

 

[Scout21]

Let me see what I have to spare in LC .308. Prices have gone up. I certainly got mine cheaper. I invested in a small base die, swagged the pockets and made it look real pretty. Norma is good stuff, no denying.

Thank you!

 

[Howa 9700]

Since this thread has swerved a bit to include the topic of LC pull down brass, about a year ago, Midway was offering a 500 count box of LC pull down brass, which had been a loaded, but unfired round.......later having the bullet pulled and powder dumped, but retained the CCI 34 magnum primer. So for about 40 cents a round........same cost as OP's once fired LC brass, you could get new, unfired brass, with primer.

Since I was just starting to load for 308, could not find brass or primers (again.....that was a year ago), I bit on a box. The sample I got was mostly clean, usable and all of it has fired fine. It had 4 different head stamp dates......but about 40% of it was the same. I checked each piece.....to true up the necks, I ran it all through my sizing die with primer stem removed......then hit each case with chamfer and burring tool and loaded it.

Only allowances were to reduce powder charge by 1 grain for smaller internal volume of the case (due to heavy walls) and an additional grain for the first loading to allow for the magnum primer. After the first firing, you have to find a way to deal with the primer crimp, but after that, it's smooth sailing.

Look around and you can still find places selling LC pull down brass for 40 cents a piece.

 

[Howa 9700]

BTW, with no load development at all......starting loads using that LC brass printed 100 yard groups of about 1.5 MOA, which around these parts would be good enough to fill a gut wagon with one shot, one kill deer.