What brass is better in your opinion ??

Would it be Remington which I'm told has a thicker case wall or something else ??

I'm looking for good function in a semi-auto, longest reloading life possible, and yes cost is a factor

Dimitri

I use mostly Winchester, Remington or Federal. In no particular order. I don't know about anyone else but I have found that quality between the 3 can sometimes change from caliber to caliber. Then again maybe it's from lot to lot............?

Howdy Dimitri. I have used rem, win, hornady, bha match, fed and military brass. I don't no that I have noticed a difference in accuracy from one to the other, and all my loading is done for bolt guns so I don't no if one would feed better in a semi or not. When switching brass brands you should always start light with loads because some brands do have a thicker wall especially mil brass. Of the brass I listed the Hornady seems to be the most consistant though.
Joe

Winchester is probably the best commercial brass...I really have no preference as I get my brass free...So if I only get one loading out of it or as many as 20 loadings I really don't care. I do have a lot of Remington brass and about 10 other brass manufacturers in my (very) large collection of resized/decapped, cleaned and trimmed brass. Preferences? .30-06 Winchester. .30-30 Remington. .45 ACP TZZ. 9mm Winchester. .357 magnum Winchester/Remington. .38 Special Any ol' brass.

Good to see we are back again...

Thanks for the replies

Well since they are all "about the same" I'm gonna stick with Remington its the only one I know that Canadian stores carry.

What do you guys think about once fired brass if you clean, and full lenght size it ??

Glad to be back together Bushmaster as well, we are missing 10Ring though for now anyways

Dimitri

Almost all I have is once fired brass. I may have around 500 new brass of various calibres, but the rest that I use is Range pickups that I know are once fired. Once fired brass is like getting new brass that has been proof fired for you...

Thanks for the reply Bushmaster

Well a store that sells reloading supplies sells 8mm once fired for 10$ per 50 sorted by headstamp be it Remington, Federal or Winchester.

And since not too many people own semi-auto 8mm Mausers I'm going to assume that it was fed through bolt actions meaning it wasnt as banged up

Prof firing is good. Dont want weak brass breaking up and hurting me because it couldnt take alittle pressure

Dimitri

Dimitri wrote:

What do you guys think about once fired brass if you clean, and full lenght size it ?? Dimitri

Nothing wrong with once fired brass Dimitri. I have .357 MAG nickel plated Federal brass that I "harvested" at the range once fired 25 years ago and it is still usable, but it has only been used for very mild target loads (2.8gns of Bullseye with a 124gn 9mm Conical bullet).

As for brand preference, I used Winchester mostly because it is good quality and I can get it over here in bulk lots cheaply (100 cases for $AUD18). Apart from that PMC gets a good usage from a lot here as does ex military brass.

Take heed of what Bushy says....military brass is thicker in the wall than commercial brass. This won't affect the chambering, but can increase pressures. Make sure you research your load data carefully and start your loads at least 10% lower and work up slowly looking for pressure signs. Also, maximum loads aren't always the most accurate. Keep good records of the grouping capability of each load, you will most likely be surprised at the results.

Are you in a shooting club Dimitri? I have been a member of shooting clubs of once sort or another since 1977 and I have learnt so much about reloading and shooting from these clubs....and the target shooting is grea fun and a real challenge. A good place to hone your shooting skills.

Cheers, Vince

Vince,

Thanks for the reply

And no I'm not a member yet in a shooting club. Tiring to figure out where there is one close by though

Dimitri

Vince...I've weighed military brass and civilian brass and they seem to weigh the same give or take a few grains...Maybe in years past they were different, but I doubt that they are now..

Bushy, suppose I should have made mention that the only military brass I have contact with out here is the aussie stuff, and it is definitely thicker than civilian brass.
The main one I have used is .223 (5.56mm) brass. The current military rifle we have over here is an aussie model of the Steyr AUG, we call it the F88 AUSTEYR. I reload .223 for a hunting partner who has a Howa and we "get" mil brass fairly easily. The aussie mil rounds are different to the M193 Ball. They used to be the SS109, but now we are producing them here at ADI. Can't say I have measured the US M193 cases so maybe there is no difference there from the commercial brass.

Time for a scotch I think.

Cheers, Vince

I'm on it...Scotch it is....

I use Winchester brass whenever possible.
Norma and Lapua make nice brass, but big $
Mil surp brass may, or may not be heavier than commercial stuff. For example, 30-06 brass... standard mil surp stuff is heavier than commercial, IME. By 20-30 grains, which is significant.
However, LC (Lake City Arsenal) Match brass weighs the same as Winchester brass, at least in the batches I have.

If i get new brass it's now only Winchester or Starline....However, the bulk of my once fired is a mix of what ever i find and pick up at the range

Most of my shooting today is from a bench, and I prefer Lapua and Norma.
Both are excellent and Lapua is nowhere near as expensive as Norma. US made brass seems to be going downhill. I notice both Hornady and Nosler have come out with a better quality brass in recent months that cures a lot of the ills we've been finding in some of the others. Just one mans opinion. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal