Questions about brass

bassassassin007

I hear many people refer to certain brass manufacturers as "good brass" ie Lapua or Norma. Can someone tell me what makes brass "good"? Does it allow for loads to be more accurate? Can the brass be worked more times? Is it better for hotter loads, etc? I have been using Norma brass for 7mm Rem Mag but was thinking of trying Nosler or Hornady beacause it is a little easier to get and cheaper for me.

Also can anyone tell me about their experience with Nosler and Hornady brass?

Thanks, Dave

sandwarrior

bassassassin007,

So far my experience with Hornady brass has been very good. I used some .257 Rob. lite Mag for reloading my .257 and fireforming it to .257 Ackley improved. Several reloads and it's doing fine. No experience with Nosler Brass.

nononsense

bassassassin007,

Good brass or best brass is the most consistant in case wall thickness and cylindricity (concentricity). It's also malleable enough to contain the forces of the heat and pressure but hard enough to prevent primer pocket expansion from multiple acceptable loads. Remember that it's the quality of the chamber that will have a decided impact on the cases you choose to use. Great chambers work with most brass while a mediocre chamber will allow all brass to suffer.

I pay more for brass from a manufacturer when I need the absolute best performance and consistancy. There are circumstances that don't require the expense of the best and some of the other more mainstream suppliers will work fine. I have no problem using Winchester, Remington, Hornady and others when I'm not looking for the absolutes. I do use RWS and Horneber when I want the oddball metrics for performance.

Best = Lapua (in general)

Best = Dieter Horneber / RWS (very specialized)

Then:

Norma / Nosler

Winchester / Hornady / Remington

All others...


Best.

gotstolefrom

I'll hi-jack this thread for a brass question.
When at the range, and shooting something that I will reload, I usually clear my station of all the brass lying around before I shoot, to make it easier to pick mine up. I've been loading for 20+ years, so I have an abundance of brass lots with a known 'history'.

A fellow shooter I met at the range was picking up brass, any brass, until his range bag was full. I asked what he was going to do with all that 'odd brass'. He said he would sort it by caliber and make and reload them. He considered any brass that did not have the marks of reloading as once fired brass.

I've always wanted to know my brass, so I had never used 'picked up brass'. But, I have a hard time disputing his logic because 1) You CAN tell if a case has been reloaded and 2) ALL brass at the range is collected at the end of the day a dumped in a bin for a metal recycler to pick up, so the brass hasn't been lying around for an unknown time.

What are your opinions on use of 'pickup brass' ? Thanks

Tailgunner1954

GSF
With only a few crevats, my answer is "it depends". For some of my rifles (30-06 bolt, the wifes 7-08, and the 300 Tomahawk I'm currently building) I'm like you, but for my 30-30, M1 Garand, 375 H&H and handguns (IE the plinking toys) I'm more like the guy you were speaking about.

Crevat 1, A-MERC brass goes in the trash, along with the steel and aluminum stuff.

Calibers I don't use / those I have to much of, are donated/traded to friends that can use it.

nononsense

I've removed the definition.


bassassassin007,

"Does it allow for loads to be more accurate?"

Only if the load itself is accurate and if the shooter is capable. The best brass is more consist and lends consistancy to the shooting. You have to take the quality of the chamber into account as I stated above.

"Can the brass be worked more times?"

Yes, as long as the loads are not excessive and above the maximum pressure.

Is it better for hotter loads, etc?

Yes.

Best.

HandgunHTR52

I would say that if you are using your loads for general purpose (target shooting, hunting, etc.) then the major manufacturers (Rem., Win., Hornady, Starline, etc.) will work fine for you. I reload Rem for my rifle loads and Win. and Starline for my pistols (personal preference).
The "Best" brass is manufactured to tighter tolerences. That is fine if you are shooting Bench Rest, where a .1" difference in group size will make or break you.
If you are reloading for hunting, I would stay away from neck sizing only. I would also recommend using once or twice fired brass only. This should eliminate any chances of having a case failure or failure to chamber when you need it most. Believe me when I say there is nothing more frustrating and infuriating than not being able to chamber a follow up shot on that 150" whitetail because you just put the first shot between his antlers (cuz that is what you were staring at!)[:I]
One last thing, contrary to popular belief, 2" groups at 100 yards is perfectly acceptable for a hunting round. That will still put the bullet in the boiler room out to 300 yards if you do your part.

Ray B

Back to the original question, criteria for brass quality involves two areas: 1- consistency of molecular brass, observable in terms of hard/soft and springiness in returning to original dimensions after being exposed to pressure and heat; 2- consistency of case dimensions, which include small dimensions as thickness, particularly in the neck and size/uniformity of primer pocket. the more "match" grade cases will machine the flash hole, rather than the more standard practice of punching the hole.

The "tougher" brass (that which excels in #1) can generally be loaded to higher pressures and resultant higher velocities, so some say those brands of brass are best. The "match" brass that excels in #2 results in one cartridge being as nearly identical to another as can be achieved, thus resulting in smaller groups and better scores. Those that value those results will say that those brands of brass are better.