brass quality - hunting rifle

[Guy Miner]

Last fall I treated myself to a box of Nosler .25-06 brass. Dang it was purty. Everything had already been done... Very nice stuff. I did neck size it before priming & loading. My loads from it shot great as well.

I haven't been doing much handloading the past few months.

Today I hauled out a bag of bulk-pack new .30-06 brass for the new rifle. Uh huh... The necks were sort of "mangled" - smashed, dented, etc... Not even close to round in many cases. Primer flash holes had been punched with something crude. Sigh... Nothing an hour of my time couldn't deal with, but it sure had me fondly remembering the .25-06 Nosler brass I'd used last fall.

Sometimes you really do get what you pay for.

Guy

 

[gerry]

I'm thinking about buying some Norma 35 Whelen brass, some of the Remington stuff I bought last year is horrible for bullet run out. The Lapua 260 Rem brass I have is very nice.... the Nosler 264 WM brass I tried in the past was nice stuff too, the W-W 264 WM brass isn't nearly as good.

 

[joelkdouglas]

Yep--from my small sampling for 30-06 the best (most consistent) brass has been Norma, then Nosler, then Lapua. The Lapua brass is supposed to be "toughest" but neck thickness isn't as consistent as Norma and Nosler. Norma had the best consistency, but the Nosler isn't much behind.

And for some reason my handloads shoot best with the Nosler brass. I don't know if it's the prep or what that Nosler does, but my Nosler handloads seem to outshoot the Norma handloads.

Now if only Nosler would package brass in units of at least 100...

 

[joelkdouglas]

I should also add that in smaller sampling for 25-06, the Nosler brass is definitely better than Rem brass.

For 6 BR, the Lapua brass is beautiful. Every neck less than 0.001 thickness variation. I wish Lapua's 30-06 brass was as good as their 6 BR brass.

 

[DrMike]

I preferentially buy Norma, Lapua or Nosler brass if it is available for the cartridge I am loading. The other brass works, but it does mean that I will work a lot more as well.

 

[FOTIS]

Absolutely! My rem 7mm mag brass look like they have been steam roller-ed. My 270 Bee Nosler look great!

 

[nvbroncrider]

The extra money is well worth it. I figure I can pay myself $20/hr doing something else!

 

[buckfever]

I really like that Nosler brass well worth the money and Almost to nice to use. I will definitely buy some more.

 

[SJB358]

I'm thinking about buying some Norma 35 Whelen brass, some of the Remington stuff I bought last year is horrible for bullet run out. The Lapua 260 Rem brass I have is very nice.... the Nosler 264 WM brass I tried in the past was nice stuff too, the W-W 264 WM brass isn't nearly as good.

I agree with all you just said Gerry. The Nosler 264 and 338 brass is EXCELLENT, my Norma brass for the 7mm Mauser is excellent as well. I am slowly converting over to Norma as it is cheaper than Nosler brass and seems to be better so far. Brownell's usually sell it for around a 1.00 a case.

I am kinda stuck with WW 7mm WSM, but for that one, I take the time with cull's and out of round cases. I am really beginning to appreciate quality cases!

 

[gerry]

That's why I'm looking at the Norma 35 Whelen brass instead of the Nosler it is a bit cheaper. I have been toying with the idea of a pair of 270's a 270 Win for my wife and a 270 Wby to use in my Magnum Sako action. Nice to see Nosler has 270 Wby brass for cheaper than the Weatherby stuff, I bet all of the Weatherby brass is made by Norma though.

 

[SJB358]

I would imagine so Gerry.

 

[sask boy]

Hey gerry, where can you find Norma brass north of the 49th?
I have looked for but never seem to be able to get my hands on any

Blessings,
Dan

 

[DrMike]

I bet all of the Weatherby brass is made by Norma though.

At one time, all of Weatherby's brass was made by Norma. Whether that still holds, I can't say.

They do list quite a bit of Weatherby brass on their web site at the present, however.

http://www.norma.cc/en/Products/Components/Cases/

 

[Elkman]

I also agree that the Nosler is the nicest brass I have ever worked with. My latest posted groups were shot with Remington cases.

 

[gerry]

Hey gerry, where can you find Norma brass north of the 49th?
I have looked for but never seem to be able to get my hands on any

Blessings,
Dan

Sent you a pm Dan, these guys supply Norma, Lapua and Nosler brass.

http://www.rpsinternational.com/2013_No ... ft_feb.pdf

 

[nvbroncrider]

Well I've bought mostly 2nds and they are darn near just as nice as 1sts but cost half the price. So it works for me.

 

[Wis65x55]

I just got two boxes of nosler brass (different lots) for the 260 Remington. I did a 10 percent weight sample of each box. In the first box the mean weight was 166.16 gr with a SD of .31 In the second box mean weight was 166.28 with a SD of .24. Wow, I am impressed! Just need to find time to reload .
Keith

 

[PJGunner]

A bit over a year ago, I got a bit of a deal on some Herter's 7x57 brass. Price was right and the boxes were quite pretty. :lol: It said on the box, "Made in Sweden." Does make one wonder who made them. (Norma?) I will say they look very well made. I tried to uniform the flash holes and apparently these were drilled. They didn't need that done. 8) Primer pocket were tight so I left them alone and just primed the cases. I still haven't decided what to load in them. Too many other projects in the way right now and it's just too darn hot to work in my shed. I have to keep my powder out in the shed in a refrigerator and at this time of year, we have one of out rainy seasons. The humidity is high enough that if I take a can of power out of the "fridge", the powder could "sweat" and be damaged or totally ruined. I had to go that route when the powder supply got to the point that my better half became antsy about powder stored in the house. I can't say as I blame her but it sure has put a crimp in my load work ups.
Oh well, the time has been spent constructively. Dunno if reamed out flash hole and uniformed primer pockets will actually make much difference but the brass has been done. :roll: :lol:
Paul B.

 

[russ808]

+1 on the Nosler. I even made my own 300 blackout brass from the nosler 223 brass.
Russ

 

[338 Ultra]

I am buying Nosler brass when I can get it, for everything I shoot in center fire. Very happy with it and when I figure in my time to get the other stuff that has become crappy ready, it is cheaper. I used to love Win brass and Rem was a close second but not no more. Funny how things change quality wise and Nosler got into the brass business just at the right time. I have been insanely happy with this brass and I suspect everyone else in my neck of the woods is too cause when it comes in it goes out faster than you can imagine. I have used Norma 220 Swift brass in the past and it is the best brass I have used in Swift really nice stuff. Have used Lapua in a couple of calibers too in the past also excellent brass. Both are pretty hard to come by here in the best of times and the way it is today well you know, at least I have a snowballs chance in ( you know where) to get Nosler at my local haunts and I am more than happy with that.