Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Biggest advantage to high quality brass

Great post and experience. Top tier to me is Lapua, as that is the most expensive brass I buy. I've checked that out every time I buy it and it always looks great. Just like if I had prepped it myself. Flash holes are drilled and very uniform and smooth, unlike other commercial brass you get. WW is about the worst I've seen. A lot of guys love PPU, but my swedish mauser doesn't like it. I've had cases split after 4 firings and never had an issue like that with any other brass I've used in that particular rifle. I generally just use Lapua in it to save the trouble. Although R-P has worked very well too. Lapua is also great in that it's always nicely annealed. It's always trimmed perfectly as well. I've measured and checked and it's always spot on, something you don't always find with WW brass. R-P has been good, just not as refined when you get it. Another good brand of brass I've found is Sig Sauer. I use that in my 308's and 22-250's. It holds up well and is pretty uniform when you get it. I've also use a bunch of Hornady brass and it's not bad, not nearly as good as Starline though, when comparing tit for tat with what I load for my Creedmoors. The starline seems to last longer and is more uniform out of the box. What I do find is the case capacity is almost exactly the same, so I use both brands with the same loading and get the same accuracy/precision. This makes it very convenient, but I just come to expect the Hornady will give up before the Starline does. For the most part, the beauty in upper tier brass is the quality out of the box and the longevity you get with it. In the end, it will save you money over other brands because it lasts longer. The catch is finding other brands that last almost as long, for a lot less money and then properly prepping your brass. After firing a lower tier brass in your chamber, it is then up to you to check it for uniformity and prep it correctly. Trim it to exact lengths, chamfer case necks, deburr the flash hole, uniform the primer pocket etc. etc. If the R-P, Hornady, WW, Norma or other commercial brass you load doesn't check out, toss it and find a brand that works for you...

Yes, Norma did make some of the Nosler brass.

I've used pretty much all types of brass. But have not bought spendy brass until lately when I couldn't find run of the mill brass. Back when I had more time than money I used to measure neck thickness and turned necks to uniform thickness, marking brass that had necks that were thick on one side and thin on the other figuring the whole case would be like that.

My 35 Whelen had a tight chamber cut by a very good smith. I messed around with different 30-06 brass necked up. Finally I bought some Nosler brass and it was way better in that 35. I'm not sure if it makes as much difference in factory chambers that are not so cut.

Ever since I started reloading 45 yrs. ago Winchester brass has always worked fine for me, the one exception is full power .44 Magnum hunting loads are assembled in Starline brass.

I spent as much time cleaning up a bag of Winchester brass that it would have been nicer to just get Lapua for the same price and probably more reloads... problem is Lapua doesn't make brass in 325 WSM! Nosler had some prepped stuff and that was nice... ready to go after visual inspection. I figure cost + time were about 1.25 : 1 nosler to win in terms of dollars and time. YMMV as they say.

Well I just bought a hundred pieces of Sig brass from Cabelas just because you said it is good stuff. They only have it in 308 but I can use it for my 7-08 or 260 easily enough. $28. for 50 and I had 50 bucks worth of reward bucks so I got 100 pieces for $10.

Quality brass typically lasts longer, usually due to the base/web of the case being beefier. Consistency in thickness/volume/weight should be characteristics of top shelf brass. I’ve really only checked volume consistency on three brands: Hornady, Nosler and Alpha. The Nosler and Hornady were very similar, but Alpha is simply stellar.

I have found SIG brass in 243 and 308 Winchester to be a good value with its reasonable price and very uniform neck walls.

I think you will like it. I am using it in .30-06, .308, 6.5 CM, and .300 WM. I forgot I had the bag of .300WM as I found it under my lading bench. LOL! I knew I had bought, but couldn’t locate it all summer.

I may save it for when I order my Criterion 308 barrel. I actually have a good amount of brass, trouble is most of it is Federal GMM brass that I saved from fired factory ammo. It does work and I have yet to have a neck crack. But it has thick necks and necking it down to .264 leaves me in the fitted neck brass category.

Good comparison, thanks for the info

Stay away from any Federal if you like hot handloads! to me, they are the softest! Love their factory ammo, but have had pockets opwn up with one firing, split sides, necks, just a waste. Have always had good luck with /winchester, but you have t prep them a one time job. I too "prefer" RWs, Lapua, Nosler, Norma, etc. But will use Remington and winchester all day lone, but prepped/sorted. I'm just now stuck with Horanay in my 338 RCM, so time will tell! Have a ball pard!