I've read a lot about Win brass poor quality control. That's all I've used in the past but decided to try another brand in 243.

Started loading for two rifles so also a way to keep brass separated.

Don't shoot my 243 a lot, mostly for predators with maybe some deer or antelope once in a while.

What brands should I be looking for ? Hornady, Starline or ? Trying to keep cost down so ruled out Norma, Lapua etc.

Will load 70gr for predators and 100gr for big game.

Ive been using Winchester, Starline,and Midway Dogtown brass.

all I use is winchester, but brass is from the 80's

If the alpha brass is out try PPU brass. These were surprisingly good and reminded me of Lake City Brass. They are heavier and tougher than most common brass, similar to military brass. Some took a lot of primer pocket prep as though they were metric or something not SAAMI standard, but this is a one time operation and not too onerous is you have a tool that bevels swages and uniforms the pocket simultaneously like the Lyman tool. Any brass can perform well if sorted but I like it when sorting is minimal. Once fired brass from a reputable outfit is another option, sometimes you can get something like Norma for less than the Winchester would cost.

Just be sure to check capacity or to work up loads again when switching brass especially if it is heavier.

Anytime I need new 243 brass, I just go buy 100 rounds of Federal blue box at walmart. It is usually cheap, its accurate and it puts deer and hogs down easily.

If you can’t get Alpha, I’d be looking at ADG or Lapua.

John

🤔you don’t want cheap brass........but don’t want to pay for good brass????

Winchester might have a bad lot here and there but so does Remington, Hornady, Federal etc. Winchester is as good as any if you don’t want to buy Lapua

I use Winchester, Remington, and some cheap stuff that I bought that was already primed, can't remember the brand. I cannot tell any difference between any of it, and I shot the 243 a lot, having 3 of them at the moment that I am reloading for.

It’s hard not to mention Lapua when asked a question about which brass to choose.

🤔you don’t want cheap brass........but don’t want to pay for good brass????

Winchester might have a bad lot here and there but so does Remington, Hornady, Federal etc. Winchester is as good as any if you don’t want to buy Lapua
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Thanks for the replies.

It might be that I'm just cheap

I've been working on a neighbor's 243 with some new powder. Pretty good results so thought I'd work on my rifle a little.

Want to keep brass separate so looking for other than Winchester.

I don't use my 243 much but thought I'd work up a couple of new loads just because.

Look around for used Lapua. I've found it for ~$50/100 for 1-2x fired. Otherwise, this PPU stuff seems pretty dang good.

Here is a member's site who lives here in town....

His brass is once fired stuff... and he has contracts with multiple Police Depts and some big known manufacturers to buy their once fired brass, from training for P.D.s to manufacturers using it to test their bullets, etc..

jJohn is a great guy and gives excellent service, especially to Campfire members...and very reasonably priced...

https://brassmanbrass.com/

give him a call....702.645.7542

I have even picked up once fired Lapua over there several times...his website is always not up to date on everything he has available.....

the once fired brass is always cleaned, so its ready to deprime, sized and then you get started...

I usually buy Lapua and Norma, but over the years, when I buy Remington or Winchester and weight sort it and prep it, accuracy is about the same. When I say that I prep it, I clean up the flash hole, uniform the primer pockets and lightly turn the neck. Then run it through the FL die and trim to length. All that work, though the reloads shot great, was what pushed me to Norma and Lapua. And Nosler is good stuff and needs no prep at all, but isn’t cheap and I don’t feel like I get the use life that Norma and Lapua give me. I don’t have hard data to support that ‘feeling’.

You might give this a shot. I tried the 308 and it was excellent, for a modest price to boot.

https://www.cabelas.com/product/SIG-SAUER-UNPRIMED-RIFLE-BRASS/2524034.uts?slotId=0

I just used some Sig Sauer brass in my 300WM. It did "not need prepping" ( well, I always run them into the FL Die and square the case mouths) and they are excellent. I also am trying some Jagmann brass, and it too is excellent, a bit thicker, so less internal capacity but they will last awhile. Between the two, the Sig Sauer I bought at Cabela's was "relatively inexpensive" and just as good as Nosler. Give them a try.

Thanks for all the info.

I ordered some brass, Starline and Sig Sauer. Sounds like the Sig could be very good and a good price.

I'm using Sig Sauer and Nosler brass in 243. Both are excellent.

I have 100 Jagemann 243 Win cases in the back of a FedEx truck that is about 40 miles away that should be here tomorrow. I should be able to post tomorrow how they look-specs-consistence-volume-yata yata yata. Before you ask. Natchez Supplies and made in Wisconsin

I'm ,back! The 243 Win Jagemann brass came in. They were in 50rd heavy duty plastic bags. Pulled 12 out and checked them. For looks, I would rate them A++++++++. Not even a finger print. They make Win and Rem look like GI pulldown. I checked the inside primer vent and only one had a little bit of resistance. No burrs.. They avg. 164.8gr +or- 1/2. Head space avg 1.624" unfired . High to low was 0.0015"unfired. OAL ave was 2.0365" +/- 0.001" unfired. Neck size was 0.016" with +/- 1/2 run out. Only bad side that I saw was the necks were over sized. Run them over the mandrel of my Lee collect die. No problem. The very best upside was the fact that they were less than $40/100. I will now see what the overflow vol.(QL) is after I shoot them with a starter load of odds and end bullets. Will get back.

I think the only way to finish off PPU brass is to lose it. Ive got over 30 firings on some that I just anneal every 3 or 4 shots.

Any idea who is making Sig brass? The reason I ask is to avoid the stupidly soft Norma brass--Norma seems to be making brass for various companies.

alpinecrick ; Lets do a 2 + 2 =4 All the Sig brass that I see for sale is listed as made in USA. Jagemann' home page states that they make 300 million pieces of brass a year. Do you see a correlation???

lol...ok, now that we settled that, I wonder whom in the US of A is making Sig brass?.......

Answered my question: "All SIG Sauer Elite Performance ammunition and components are manufactured at SIG’s new ammo plant in Jacksonville, Arkansas."

If you don't shoot it a lot, buy 100 pcs of Lapua and it will be best quality and will last you a lifetime.

I have never seen enough difference in brass to buy anything other than what is affordable close to home. Every brand of brass has been able to give me more than acceptable accuracy in anything I've loaded. And after 5 or six round's my primer pocket's are getting loose! Most inexpensive I can find around here is Winchester. Got a load with in in my 25-06 that went .111" for five shot's with 100gr SMK's. It's a hunting rifle, I think that will do! I use 117gr Hornady for hunting with it and it is just under 3/4" at 100yds. I really doubt the lapua or anything else will do much better if any at all. Why would I pay the price of Lapua? I think the last bag of Winchester I got ran about $35 for 50, that's .70 each time 5 rounds from each case is .14 per case. What's the deal? Looking for free brass? if you feel you can afford expensive brass, good for you, go for it. A lot of us can't!

Here's 5 shot's in one hole. The sixth was to see if I was even hitting the paper! 25-06 100gr SMK

Most anything is good, Norma is my favorite