Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Brass question for MD

MD, do you know if Norma makes .300 Wby brass for both Weatherby and Nosler?

I suspect Norma doesn't make any brass for Nosler anymore. Nosler decided to start making their own brass a few years ago, after having mixed results from buying from more than one vender, and bought the Washington state brass-making company Silver State Armory, then moved all the equipment to Oregon. They started making more and more of their own brass, and at least 2-3 years ago they reported it was at 60% of their total brass sales, and rapidly rising.

Thanks MD. I bought this brass probably ten or more years ago. I was thinking it's the same stuff (Nosler and Weatherby) because both weigh the same and had the same case length after the first firing.

Regardless of that, since they weigh the same I'm assuming I won't see much pressure/velocity variation between the two, is that a good assumption?

I'd pose the next question, and that would be whether Nosler brass quality has improved since making the move to make it themselves. Any comment on that, JB?

In my experience yes.

In my experience yes, if we're talking overall quality. The last batch I bought was .223 Remington at a local store, and it was VERY good.

Did an article on brass quality for HANDLOADER not to long ago, which listed the meaningful dimensions of various brands of brass. Also published it as a chapter in Gun Gack 3.

I wonder if the switch to making it themselves is the cause for their brass prices being crazy high? I have some Nosler 280AI brass I bought maybe 8 years ago or so. It was pricy, but not ridiculously so. The quality is good, but it isn’t in the same league as brass I have from Alpha Munitions. Alpha is priced competitively for high end brass now and Nosler always seems to be the most expensive brand by a large margin.

This question has interested me also. It seems that a Nosier has increased their brass offerings, so have Norma and Hornady. At the same time, Winchester and Remington brass have fallen out of the market for most brass offerings. I'm glad these companies are offering many of the less popular cases to keep those of us who shoot oddballs in supply.

One similarity I've noticed with Nosler and Norma brass is tight primer pockets that need to have a pocket uniforming tool run in them for good primer seating. This is especially true with belted magnums.

Are these just coincidences or care some of these brass offerings made by the same manufacturer with different headstamps?

I first bought Nosier brass about 8 years ago for my 257 Bob. It's very good brass that I doubt I will ever wear out of it anneal the brass.

I haven't seen that with my brass, but then again I don't go through a lot of .300 Wby brass, it's not one I do a lot of shooting with.

Reloading for it uses a lot of powder.

I have both Nosler and Norma 264 Win mag brass which I could not seat a primer without uniforming the primer pockets. 7mm RM and 338 WM Norma brass is the same.

Never had a primer seating issue with Norma-made new Weatherby brass or 2 batches of Nosler .300 Weatherby cases. Not a problem I have encountered, yet.