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Reloading Brass for 30-06
- Thread starter pleopard
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kerreckt
Member
I have pretty much used reloaded all those you list over the years. Lapua is the best in my opinion. "Best" being consistency of manufacture and durability. Is it worth the premium price? That is up to you. Norma, Nosler and Hornady would be my ranking behind Lapua. What I reload is once fired I buy. Mostly LC match. I always sort by headstamp and then by case volume. Winchester and Remington is very good and worth the money. That is my opinion and others will have theirs....best wishes
All the brass you listed are good for loading. Unless you've got a match rifle I wouldn't spend the extra for Lapua or other more expensive brass. I prefer Remington brass and primers and have good performance and long life from the RP cases. Winchester seems a little softer than RP but is good also. To get the longest life from your cases you need a case headspace gauge to adjust your sizing dies to only push the shoulder back a measured amount when sizing the cases. Hornady's Headspace set which mounts to your caliper is inexpensive and works with most all rifle cases. No question that Lapua and Norma are the premium brass in your list but expensive and for general loading Win and RP are less costly and good to go.
I think the Winchester is the least expensive ... sounds like that is what will be best for me. I'm reloading 30-06 hopes of finding the optimum velocity/accuracy trade off for my deer hunting rifle. I'll probably do the same for my 243 for varmints at some point but that's all I really care to mess with. I'm not into competition shooting ... just deer and varmint hunting.
ranger335v
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You don't tell us what you're shooting or what you're shooting at. But the fact you're asking this question says you're a reloading new guy and that means you're likely shooting a factory hunting rifle.
If so, buying costly cases would be a waste. Laupua can be slighly better in some ways but no new guys at all and very few factory .30-06 rifles will ever see enough difference between it and Win/Rem/Fed to come close to justifying the cost. When - if - you get consistant 3/4" or smaller groups you might shave a little more size off your groups but the difference won't be great and until then it won't matter.
If so, buying costly cases would be a waste. Laupua can be slighly better in some ways but no new guys at all and very few factory .30-06 rifles will ever see enough difference between it and Win/Rem/Fed to come close to justifying the cost. When - if - you get consistant 3/4" or smaller groups you might shave a little more size off your groups but the difference won't be great and until then it won't matter.
Yes, I am a reloading new guy ( notice my post count 
) ...
30-06 hunting deer, searching for the optimum velocity/accuracy tradeoff for my 1958 vintage Remington 721 30-06 and eventually my new Tikka T3 Lite 243
I'm not interested in competition shooting at present
This is the kind of info I was looking for. Seems that the most inexpensive of the above (Winchester) will do just fine for me
Thanks!
) ...30-06 hunting deer, searching for the optimum velocity/accuracy tradeoff for my 1958 vintage Remington 721 30-06 and eventually my new Tikka T3 Lite 243
I'm not interested in competition shooting at present
This is the kind of info I was looking for. Seems that the most inexpensive of the above (Winchester) will do just fine for me
Thanks!
gibble888
Member
721 is a great rifle for hunting. My fav load is h4895 and hornady 150 sst for whitetail. U can go from reduced load to max and all 3 of my 06s shoot really well with the same load. BEWARE: handloading is more addicting than bath salts...lol
medalguy
Member
Agreed, the end use determines the brass. For hunting any of those will work just fine. You might also want to take a look at GI brass as well, match brass being one of the best buys around. Size then trim is the watchword. Welcome to the world of reloading and watch your pocketbook== it tends to get thinner as your reloading picks up!!
oneounceload
member
You get what you pay for - buy the cheapest and replace more often and then determine the "savings"
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