Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles educate me about the brass used in factory loads

There are certain brands of ammo where the pressure from a shot seems to deform the brass, making the cartridge very difficult to eject.

I'm using (4) 7mm Rem Mag rifles. Usually if one rifle has difficulty ejecting the casing then the other rifles do also, at least to some degree.

There are certain brands where I never have a problem and others are consistently bad.

I suspect I already know the answer to this, but do certain mfgrs just use softer, cheaper casings?

Softer, yes. I don't know that it is the cheaper brands that do it though.

Like another poster, I've encountered brass so soft that I deformed the rim while priming. I can't remember which brand it was, though, either Nosler, Norma, or Hornady.

I've never had a problem with Remington, Winchester, or Federal.

In 223 federal is crap. Hornady runs zone of their loads at some pretty max pressures. Weatherby will do the same thing

Does Weatherby make its own brass or is it made by Norma for them?

The brands I really had trouble with were Sellier & Bellot, Herters, and Sako.

The first two weren't such a big surprise but I really expected more from the Sako.

Any brand of brass will work with reasonable loads however some factory ammo is quite hot. I have a second year 700 7mmremmag that has a very stiff bolt lift with factory S&B 175 gr loads. The same ammo falls out of my Ruger No. 1.
In either gun it 5 in an inch.

That same brass with "suggested" loads with any bullet falls out of the 700.

Since the 700 will become a 257 Bee next summer, I don't care.

IMO Winchester brass is hard with thin necks (at least 25-06s). It's the only brass I can use in my 22-06 wildcat. No other brand will accept a bullet dropped in a fired case.

Lotsa people don't like S&B or Privi brass, but I've never had any issues.

Start 10% under "suggested" and I doubt you'll have a problem with any commercial brass.

When I can get them I like the nickle plated cases. They don't last quite as long but extract perfectly. Look cool too.

Weatherby is Norma; unless something has changed recently.

Someone who is supposedly in the know told me that the headstamp wasn't necessarily the one who made it. He used the example maybe Winchester was running .223 and needed some .308 to be shipped quickly. Federal was running .308 and happily supplied Winchester .308 with Winchester's headstamp. I wouldn't bet the farm on that but, it doesn't sound too far fetched.

Winchester and Federal brass are very different. Federal is a soft thick brass where Winchester is a thin, hard brass.

What is this "suggested" load you speak of?

A proper reloading manual will list a minimum starting load, and a maximum load.

The proper thing to do is start with the minimum load and work up.

Sierra has accuracy and hunting load suggestions.

If you are using bullets that are alike with a factory load (Barnes factory ammo, reloads with the same Barnes bullet) and have zero problems with the factory ammo, you need not start at minimums.

The most important tool in reloading is a Chronograph. If you are exceeding quoted velocities for the surrogate factory load, you are on thin ice.

No big game animal was ever killed any deader with an extra 100 fps but lots of hunts have been screwed up by a empty stuck on the chamber.

I always use the slowest powder that produces the velocity and accuracy I need. A hunting rifle that will shoot 3 shots from a cold clean barrel in 1.5" is a lot better than one that will shoot five in 1/2" only after being "warmed up".

Also magnum primers are extra insurance if you hunt where your rifle and ammo will get cold.

Been stuffing hulls since JFK was president with no problems. Read the books and focus on the task at hand.

What makes it crap in 223?

I ask because I've never bothered to load Federal brass before (except in fouler shots & plinking loads) but recently decided to give it a try in .223.