Nosler or Norma USA brass?

[.308 Norma]

I need some brass for my new 264 Win Mag. After looking for it in several stores around here, as well as doing a frustrating 30 minute search on the internet, it seems 264 Win Mag brass is going to be relatively hard to find. Without doing a lot more looking around, I guess I’m going to have to choose between Nosler and Norma USA brass from Midway for my new rifle.

Any opinions and/or experiences with either brand? There’s a little price difference, but not enough to concern me. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[IMtheNRA]

There are a lot of old threads on the internet that claim that Nosler brass is made by Norma. Some claim it is made by Federal.

I'd go with a known quality manufacturer over mystery brass, and buy Norma. Especially if Nosler is just rebadged Federal brass.

 

[Birdhunter1]

10 years ago or more I bought two boxes of 50 Nosler brass for my 243 and in the 100 case i think there ws maybe a 1.5 gr variance in case weight, so i ordered another 50 and they were from a different batch, they weren't the same weight, but those 50 were all within a grain of each other.
So a few years ago when wanting to work up a very accurate load for a .223 I ordered a box of 50 Nosler cases, all were very close in weight to each other.

As far as the life in them, I load my 243 ho and the first thing to wear out is primer pockets. I know I have exceeded 7 or 8 reloads and still have alot of cases that are in great shape. Maybe 10% at the most I have reached the end of their life, and this is all due to very loose primer pockets... like tap the edge of the casehead on a bench and the primer will fall out.
But again they are loaded very hot. The case necks, body, etc are all fine.

 

[Rule3]

Graf and Sons has 5 brands of 264

https://www.grafs.com/catalog/category/categoryId/689

 

[Bbear]

Precision Reloading: https://www.precisionreloading.com/cart.php#!c=176&ca=264 Winchester Mag
Powder Valley has it as well: https://www.powdervalleyinc.com/pro...4-win-mag&query_type_caliber-range-sort-by=or
Bruno's has some as well: https://www.brunoshooters.com/SRCH.html?Store_Code=BSS&Search=264+Win+Mag+brass
As does Midsouth Shooters: https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/search?SearchTerm=264+Win+Mag+brass

When I first got my 264 the only brass I could find was Winchester in 7mm Mag. I necked it down, trimmed as needed and loaded it up. I switched to Nosler and could never get the accuracy I got with the Winchester. After the fire that annealed most of my brass, I picked up some Winchester brass and it's like it's never changed from the necked-down stuff.
Just a sample of one though.

 

[possumbelly220]

Never used Nosler brass, so I can't say anything about it. Finding a piece of Norma brass at the range however is like finding the prize egg at an Easter egg hunt!

 

[Birdhunter1]

10 years ago or more I bought two boxes of 50 Nosler brass for my 243 and in the 100 case i think there ws maybe a 1.5 gr variance in case weight, so i ordered another 50 and they were from a different batch, they weren't the same weight, but those 50 were all within a grain of each other.
So a few years ago when wanting to work up a very accurate load for a .223 I ordered a box of 50 Nosler cases, all were very close in weight to each other.

As far as the life in them, I load my 243 ho and the first thing to wear out is primer pockets. I know I have exceeded 7 or 8 reloads and still have alot of cases that are in great shape. Maybe 10% at the most I have reached the end of their life, and this is all due to very loose primer pockets... like tap the edge of the casehead on a bench and the primer will fall out.
But again they are loaded very hot. The case necks, body, etc are all fine.

The ones that the primer pocket was so loose I didn't and still don't keep track of how many times I have reloaded brass, those may have been a dozen or more or less. I have had no issues with Noselr brass other than what I stated in the other post.

 

[Orcon]

I've never used No$ler brass but I do run Norma in my short mag. Very thick stuff that Norma brass, you'll probably not be able reach book maximums in terms of charge weights. I have to drop 1-2grains less than what I load in Winchester cases or it gets scary. Good brass though, heavy and strong.

 

[Jack B.]

I've always have used Hornady. But I load for only 30-06 hunting rifle . It's been accurate for me and has lasted through quite a few firings. Plus I full length resize. Use Hornady 150gr FMJ BT bullet , Varget powder. 10 rounds @100yds, bench rest , Remington 700 BDL with Leupold VX-@ 3-9 x 50mm scope. Brass has been fired 7 times. Flyer to the left was my fault.

 

[Bfh_auto]

I used Nosler brass in 260. It was good quality.
My brother uses it in 280AI.
I've only used Norma in 7.62x39 and I was lucky to find 30% with an SKS so case life was unknown.

 

[.308 Norma]

Thanks for the replies everyone. As luck would have it, we had to run to town this afternoon...right after I asked the question. I found a bag of 50 (Winchester brand) 264 Win Mag cases in Cal Ranch of all places...a farm and ranch supply store that carries a fairly decent supply of reloading components and equipment. I should have checked there first!
Anyway, thanks again. Fifty cases will last me a while.

 

[DM~]

I have some Nosler brass, and it WAS made by Norma!

That bugs me, as I don't like Norma brass much! I've tried quite a bit of it over the years, and it's always too soft!

IF I needed some .264 win. mag. brass, I'd just make them out of some other cartridge! They are very easy to make.

DM

 

[LoonWulf]

I run Nosler brass in a couple cals. The 6.5-284s been excellent, the .30-06 was on the soft side, and i quit using it.

Ive only had a few boxes of rhe magnum brass, that i got from factory ammo, and its been pretty good.

 

[troy fairweather]

The lot of norma 358 norma mag brass i had was great and loaded a good amount of it many times. I used some old 7 mauser norma brass that was good, but the new norma brass are soft. Never used any nosler