wvbuckbuster
Handloader
- Nov 5, 2015
- 2,627
- 2,279
Has anyone used this brand of brass? Picked this bag up last year and forgot about it. Will try soon. Dan.
Winchester 30-06 brass
- Thread starter Guy Miner
- Start date
Joec7651
Handloader
- Apr 7, 2019
- 948
- 1,218
I’ve used some of the Sig brass in 308Win and 7RM. It’s good brass. It’s as good as Federal and Hornady. Better than Remington and Winchester.
RL338
Handloader
- Mar 23, 2017
- 3,277
- 5,291
The only experience with Sig was a bag of 6.5 Creed my brother bought. It is striking similar to the 6 Creed Nosler brass my son has. With normal prep Sig is good to go.
I was always a fan of Winchester brass. It was fairly consistant, easy to prep, produced great results, and lasted. All that said I have not bought any new Winchester brass since it is being marketed in the red packaging. It almost sounds like Winchester has gone to selling seconds to the component market. I hope they monitor these forums to get the feedback.
I can say that Hornady seems to have gone the other way. When I first tried it I would get one or to loads and then randomly cases would not hold primers. When components got so scarce I tried it again and it seems to have gotten better.
I'm not a purist these days and still am loading with Lapua, Nosler, Norma, Old Winchester, Remington, Hornady, Federal, JBA, Quality, and PPU brass. So far the PPU has been used for 5.56 in my AR platform but it seems ok. The JBA carries the headstamp for my 257 Ack Imp and produces GREAT load results. I'm on my 5th or 6th loading so will have to start thinking about a replacement. Even though I'm not a purist I don't use mixed manufactures brass in the same load and keep it all one.
I can say that Hornady seems to have gone the other way. When I first tried it I would get one or to loads and then randomly cases would not hold primers. When components got so scarce I tried it again and it seems to have gotten better.
I'm not a purist these days and still am loading with Lapua, Nosler, Norma, Old Winchester, Remington, Hornady, Federal, JBA, Quality, and PPU brass. So far the PPU has been used for 5.56 in my AR platform but it seems ok. The JBA carries the headstamp for my 257 Ack Imp and produces GREAT load results. I'm on my 5th or 6th loading so will have to start thinking about a replacement. Even though I'm not a purist I don't use mixed manufactures brass in the same load and keep it all one.
300WSM
Handloader
- Dec 24, 2011
- 862
- 488
Winchester used to be my favorite. Readily available and in everything I needed. It was good quality stuff.
I can't speak for the newer red and black bag stuff.
Olin, like others, has sold their soul to the devil (govt) with the govt contracts and forgetting about who really keeps them in business for the long haul
Wimchester Supreme used to be the best of the upper end of ammo like Federal premiums, Remington premier's, etc.
Perhaps, at least for the time being, that ship has sailed
Joec7651
Handloader
- Apr 7, 2019
- 948
- 1,218
Grafs has Petersen 308 Win brass for $1.06, and Lapua for $1.08 per case respectively. A better price than Nosler goes for. They have Starline as well for about half that. No ‘06 in stock though. Grafs is one of the places I’ve never had a poor experience.
My god the prices we pay now is terrible compared to just 3 years ago. I should just stop looking I suppose. I don’t really need anything, it’s more habit than anything else. It’s that or subconsciously I enjoy complaining. Lol
Edit: Not knocking Nosler brass, just meant it as a comparison.
My god the prices we pay now is terrible compared to just 3 years ago. I should just stop looking I suppose. I don’t really need anything, it’s more habit than anything else. It’s that or subconsciously I enjoy complaining. Lol
Edit: Not knocking Nosler brass, just meant it as a comparison.
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If you watch the Starline site they go thru cycles. Right now they have .270w in stock to buy. once they sell so much they will switch back to 30/06 cases. In past couple years I have had multiple opportunities to buy .270, 30/06, and 45/70 from Starline but I passed it up because I already had good stock in all three before this melee all started.
Lazy Bushman
Beginner
- Apr 17, 2022
- 139
- 190
There has been a lot of criticism of Winchester brass the past few years. I'm still shooting Winchester brass I bought back over a decade ago but it's not how old the brass is but how often it is worked/fired. I have experienced issues like that which @Guy Miner mentioned and it is frustrating but not all that often thankfully and either a slight rotation of the brass into the shell holder or a slight trim with a points file has done the trick......not that you should need to. I do have some of the newer Winchester brass in the red/black packets for my 7/08 that I only bought a couple of years ago but I'm yet to use them. Generally if I do have a case fail it is Winchester, but for the price I can't complain. To be honest I've probably lost more brass in the bush than what has failed me, hence cheap brass is good brass for what I do. Should my passion shift to putting holes in paper then that could well change.
300WSM
Handloader
- Dec 24, 2011
- 862
- 488
We all love Nosler but everyone/thing no matter how good always has a shortcoming or two.
Right now Nosler's is supply issues and they're plenty proud price wise.
I have a prediction...
If things don't change in the next five years Nosler will need to make some difficult decisions.
They've literally driven loyal customers (very loyal) right to Hornady's website and catalog of items.
Why? You can get pretty much everything all the time (even now) and their pricing is substantially less than Nosler. Performance? Shoot some Hornady. They work!
I don't want that to happen but something will have to give. I can't get anything but in the rare event it's available I'm getting charged double or triple
Joec7651
Handloader
- Apr 7, 2019
- 948
- 1,218
While I believe Nosler will always have a small loyal cult following as it always has. In the near future I think their supply strategy will be reworked out of the necessity to survive. They won’t be able to sustain on just SPS seconds costing More than others firsts.
We will only accept the supply chain excuse for so long, and I don’t accept it now as it is. Also, if it’s not an excuse, they really need to put someone else in charge of logistics because it’s costing them dearly. While others are filling shelves they are singing “Supply Chain Woes”. That song has been played too much as it is.
As far as cost is concerned, I don’t think it would be an issue if it were simply in stock. Within reason of course. Hornady isn’t giving anything up in quality to Nosler, and Interbonds are on shelves at $.78 per bullet as opposed to $1 or more per bullet for AccuBond. The key part of that statement being “on shelves”. I’m not going to put off load work up or range time when another manufacturer provides a readily available alternative of equal quality.
We will only accept the supply chain excuse for so long, and I don’t accept it now as it is. Also, if it’s not an excuse, they really need to put someone else in charge of logistics because it’s costing them dearly. While others are filling shelves they are singing “Supply Chain Woes”. That song has been played too much as it is.
As far as cost is concerned, I don’t think it would be an issue if it were simply in stock. Within reason of course. Hornady isn’t giving anything up in quality to Nosler, and Interbonds are on shelves at $.78 per bullet as opposed to $1 or more per bullet for AccuBond. The key part of that statement being “on shelves”. I’m not going to put off load work up or range time when another manufacturer provides a readily available alternative of equal quality.
300WSM
Handloader
- Dec 24, 2011
- 862
- 488
Yes
Yes
And yes!
The supply/demand excuse ship has sailed. That's nonsense. Other's are getting product on the shelf but Nosler still can't figure out how to do that...that very crucial thing...of getting product to the consumer.
Pricing..
Nosler's tariff is definitely more and significantly so in some cases compared to other mfg's but....
But...
As you said that wouldn't have been a big deal had supply issues never became an issue.
Shooters will shoot and need components to do just that. If they can't get bullets as much as it bothers them they source bullets elsewhere.
That's when the pricing issue starts to settle in. They realize they can get an adequate, maybe even better at times product, for a lot less money. Oh and the big key...they actually received said product.
As I said above 5 years (might not be that long)
If things don't change Nosler will look a lot different. Just a hunch but they can't just keep on this way unless...and I mentioned this before...they might phase out bullets to be in the rifle business exclusively.
Who knows but it appears to me they are doing a better job of getting rifles launched and available to the consumer than bullets.
Perhaps the bean counters seen the profit margins of rifles vs bullets with employee overhead or lack there of...
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TXbaldhunter
Handloader
- May 12, 2007
- 404
- 331
I use a lot of once-fired brass.It's a lot cheaper and have never really ran into any issues using it.My 30-06 brass was purchased for .18 a piece delivered.Hard not to stock up on it at that price.When you think about it,it's better to use fired brass for load work up anyway,so why not?
