Using New Brass

Since 338 Nosler bullets are as scarce as Hen's teeth I'm a little reluctant to waste them.
I'm wondering how much difference it will make to use new brass over fire formed for hunting since back in the day we all used new factory ammo and never thought about it making a difference.
I'm wondering just how much difference it really makes and what others experiences are.
I can always use a different brand of bullet to fire form the brass if needed.

truck driver":1q6prnci said:

Since 338 Nosler bullets are as scarce as Hen's teeth I'm a little reluctant to waste them.
I'm wondering how much difference it will make to use new brass over fire formed for hunting since back in the day we all used new factory ammo and never thought about it making a difference.
I'm wondering just how much difference it really makes and what others experiences are.
I can always use a different brand of bullet to fire form the brass if needed.

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I like once fired for hunting but new will work just as well. What Nosler bullets are scarce?

Just about all the 338 caliber is hard to find 225gr and up.

I saw both 225 and 250 AB's not long ago in a store I was in. If they are still around do you want any?

250gr partitions

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthrea ... s-x#UNREAD

Truck driver, I only use new brass for hunting, your chances of having a brass failure are much less. In 50 years of reloading I have never noticed enough difference in group size to make any difference in a hunting rifle.

I now use new brass for hunting. I work up loads with fired brass and then confirm with new brass. If I do use once fired brass I always run all the ammo through the rifle to be sure it all functions as well as new.

Tjay":18sewqkl said:

I now use new brass for hunting. I work up loads with fired brass and then confirm with new brass. If I do use once fired brass I always run all the ammo through the rifle to be sure it all functions as well as new.

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Just got some of the new Starline 338 Fed brass. Loaded up 6 with my hunting load with the 180 AccuBond, shot two three shot groups. Both were under 3/4". Loaded up a box of 50 to go along with my new 308 HSM head stamped that I did the same thing with last year. Load up a few, see how they work.

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I guess it's a phobia but for hunting I never use anything new. Everything I use has been tried and tested prior to opening day. In all my years in the field I have only had one equipment failure, and that was a Weaver scope that failed two weekends before opening day. I replaced it, and had to sight in the replacement on my way to elk camp, it got me through the season, and soon changed over to a Leupold. If a rifle/gun/cartridge combination works for me, it is never changed, modified or adapted without a great deal of thought and analysis. I am one of those who believe that the more you mess with something the greater the opportunity that something will go wrong.

truck driver":2y5dk8xi said:

Since 338 Nosler bullets are as scarce as Hen's teeth I'm a little reluctant to waste them.
I'm wondering how much difference it will make to use new brass over fire formed for hunting since back in the day we all used new factory ammo and never thought about it making a difference.
I'm wondering just how much difference it really makes and what others experiences are.
I can always use a different brand of bullet to fire form the brass if needed.

Click to expand...

driver,

I do not understand your concern.
Are you neck sizing or FL resizing the fired cases?

Funny thing is I've never killed a deer with factory ammo except with a slug gun and that was because I couldn't get reloads to shoot as good as they did from my 12ga.
All my brass had been well used and never annealed since I didn't know about annealing before I came here to this forum. I just used it till it failed and then replaced it with some range brass I would pick up from time to time. Yeah I was reloading on the cheap side.
Now I have more equipment and more knowledge about reloading and can't figure out how I ever created good ammo that shot tiny groups and killed animals at long for me distances.
I plan on fire forming the new brass so it fits my rifle chamber so it will be once fired.

Bill I have owned one Weaver scope and it failed the first day of deer season but the rifle failed the second day since they both got drenched with rain and the scope leaked. The rifle stock forearm warped and had to use a 2lb no bounce hammer to get the action out of the wood I missed a buck at 50 yards with it standing broad side, you could probably have shot around a corner with it since it was shooting over 10' to the right. Fixing it is another story so I'll let it go for now.
So yeah I have had a few experiences with over doing some things and have it go bad so I try to practice the kiss method as much as possible but every now and then need a reminder.

Ray I full length resize since I haven't been convinced that neck sizing is the way to go.
I'm not concerned about using new brass just wanted some opinion.

I always use new brass for my hunting loads. Never had a accuracy problem doing so. Just came back from Africa and used new brass in both my 338win mag and 257Weatherby. When I checked sighted both rifles there I placed 2 shot touching from both rifles. The PH said we were good to go. Everything shot was a one shot kill except one where I wobbled in the strong wind and the 1st shot at 260 yards was a gut shot. The quick 2nd dropped the Springbok.

I have always used new brass for hunting loads with great accuracy and a better piece of mind(for me) that the reliably and ease of chambering/extraction.

My 2 Cents

Elkman":29v7b4d9 said:

I guess it's a phobia but for hunting I never use anything new. Everything I use has been tried and tested prior to opening day. In all my years in the field I have only had one equipment failure, and that was a Weaver scope that failed two weekends before opening day. I replaced it, and had to sight in the replacement on my way to elk camp, it got me through the season, and soon changed over to a Leupold. If a rifle/gun/cartridge combination works for me, it is never changed, modified or adapted without a great deal of thought and analysis. I am one of those who believe that the more you mess with something the greater the opportunity that something will go wrong.

Click to expand...

I'm with Bill. I do notice differences in my shooting with new brass so everything I hunt with is fired at least 1x. I don't sweat brass failures since I set my stuff up for minimum resizing and check my rounds for function.

It wouldn't hurt to check them over a chrono to verify once fired vs new, but I've done it enough in my rifles that I'd rather use 1x fired. I believe the neck tension achieved by using your dies is probably most of the difference but I couldn't guarantee that 100%.

The answer is "it depends."

Some loads will shoot nearly the same, others will shoot quite differently. Over on the long range site, Broz went through a LOT of hassle finding out that his once-fired brass shot very different from the new brass he used for the load workup. I was surprised at the difference in grans needed and velocity obtained. He admitted it was the first time in a very long time he used new brass for load workup, and swore to never do it again.

Unfortunately, the only way to know is to test in your rifle.