From a reloading perspective, would you recommend one over the other?
Printable View
From a reloading perspective, would you recommend one over the other?
Funny you bring this up. I was watching a Nathan Foster thing on yt last night about rifle accuracy. They were sorting out an accuracy problem with a rifle, It turned out it was the fancy arsed brass and when they tried some lowly Hornady brass it shot great. I guess the target tells the real story. Me I just use whatever got hornady ppu s&b remington winchester I do have some norma but that would be the only one I haven't done hand loads in
I like the Norma in 223.
Personally I think Norma isn't all its cracked up to be. It's really soft and I don't think it takes high pressure well.
It's probably very consistent in thickness etc but I stand by my original statement.
If you don't anneal and don't hot load yay! It's golden, but it's not for me.
Nosler is expensive but I have never used it.
Hornady is a little inconsistent around the neck...you can change that by neck turning. It's a somewhat cheap and cheerful option... if you loose 5 out of 10 cases its probably a good option.
Everyone has a different end game and that's the deciding factor.
Lapua would be my first choice but not on your list.
Norma make Nosler brass
Hornady uses a harder alloy for their brass
When you understand internal ballistics, your a long way to correctly prepping brass to suit your application
You can then log external ballistics to ensure your planned terminal ballistics unfold as planned
Im abit the same as John normas meh . In saying that I used that and hornady in my rem mag for years . I like winchester brass in the 08 cases I load for as its cheap and availble but does get very fragile with out annealing lots of split necks in my LRM I use adg and in the saum also adg and just picked up 50 rem brass which is ment to be great. As 7Saum has said noslers made by Norma but pricey out of your list id got Norma first then Hornady
Norma used to make Nosler brass, apparently they have been making their own for a year or two now, or someone other than Norma is
The reason I have chosen those three is that I am going to buy some factory ammo for a new (to me) cartridge and reload from there. Those 3 offer the what I want in a factory load. I am leaning towards the Nosler but no nothing about their brass.
If you are going to reload, why not just get the brand of brass you know will suit . Or do you need components that you don't yet have.
What's your new caliber?:o
Hornady isn't the best.
4 mild loads in my 300PRC before primer pockets became loose, I don't feel the need to run hot loads for a few extra fps.
Big Norma fan, 12 reloads on my 6XC and 10 on my 7mm08.
Nosler I've just started using in my 7mm creed and it's seem like decent brass with consistent neck thickness.
As long as the norma or nosler shoot well in your rifle, grab either and fire away
norma seem to be sot to me, adg is where its at. i have gone to new nosler in my 300 saum. yet to await trilaing them. bertrams pretty good, softer than adg. hornady is ok, another problem had with llose primers after a few 300prc reloads.
Yeah. Could do but not really sure what would suit anyway.Quote:
Originally Posted by johnd
I have the components I need (except brass) but the price of brass is not a lot less than the factory ammo. Also it will give me a base line for accuracy and velocity I can expect from these rifles. New cartridges are 243win amd possibly 22-250. Both hunting rifles and I won't be pissing around in search of the 'perfect' load. Just something that works.
Sako :thumbsup:
Haha. I just sold the Sako and the Anschutz. I will surprise you with what I got next time you are back:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Hurricane
When I started out I was able to get Norma Re brass. It was good brass.
My most recent experience with Norma was when we went to 284 in F Class. I used Lapua 6.5/284 necked up and had no problems. Mates who used Norma only got 2-3 loadings before primer pockets gave out. Running 180gr at 2820ish and higher.
With my 243 i just got some factory ammo that was close to a load i had in mind that was available at the time and shot it at a target to see how it would go and that also gave me fire formed brass to start with. I do that with most of my rifles.
Will look forward to it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shearer
You sold the Sako .243? I thought that was a keeper.
I would opt for Hornady in that case. Easy to get more, adequate for the job, no biggie when a few go bush.
For the 243 Starline is a bloody good option. I'm using it to great effect in mine. I normally buy a few boxes of ammo and then reload but with this priced so well it didn't make sense at the time.
Very consistent, handles pressure well and is cheap as chips by comparison. Delta Mike stock it.
But of the three options you've listed, I would go with Norma. Yes it's softer than some but it's very consistent and you'll get plenty of reloads out of it. I'm reloading Norma on my PRC and yeah I get ejector marks, but I'm going on 6 firings (should probably anneal soon) with some of it and the primer pockets are tight and the necks look good.
Yes. The pretty Sako is now on a safari park further south:(Quote:
Originally Posted by Hurricane
It had been a safe queen for long enough.
I’ve run a variety of brass in lots of different calibres. In non mag calibres (6506ai, 708, 308, 284, 280ai) I’ve found Hornady ok, on a par with RP, FC, etc and less variation in weight than Win brass. In bigger non mags like 6506ai, 284 & 280ai I found I can run higher loads in Norma & Lapua as brass is thinner, greater internal volume, so you don’t hit pressure as soon. Nosler in 284 was similar to Norma but back then Norma was making the Nosler brass. As others have stated Nosler maybe using someone else these days?
In magnum (7RM) I’ve found some Hornady has tendency to split necks after 1-2 firings. This is brass re-cycled from factory ammo. I concluded that there’s quite a bit of variation in their brass in 7RM from factory ammo. Perhaps batch related? Or maybe cheap brass in their Whitetail brand ammo vs Superformance brand ?
from the options u mention - Norma if u benching and pushing for groupings and worried about 1/4min of angle. Cheapest most widely available if hunting when within 1/4 Min of buck is Ok
However Lapua brass is my favourite- Im a big fan of lapua brass mostly cause my 1st 6.5 was a 6.5 x47 this was before Creedmoor and the 260 came about Lapua was only mob making brass for it, for my 338 Lap Mag only brass when i got it available was Lapua- seems to last longer and forms easier cases are virtually all the same weight but at the price u wanna carry a metal detector in the bush to find dropped cases
weigh your brass whatever u decide on - sort it into batches of same weight when u load develop , it does make a difference how they group (apparently to do with thickness of brass being consistent etc. or so the benchresters tells me)