What brand of brass do you like?

[Alzado]

Ok, I'm just curious which brands of handgun & rifle brass everyone else likes for reloading and why. What do you consider pros and cons of specific brands? Military verses factory and so on. I know I have my favorites but I would like to know your opinions.:coffee:

[Shiloh]

Winchester. It was always available and I have never had a problem with it.
I shoot so many kinds of brass from military, commercial and range pick up.

I have Greek military HXP brass that I use for the '03 Springfield. It has worked very well for me and has been annealed
about 3 times and loaded countless times. Primer pockets are still tight.

SHiloh

[rexherring]

I prefer the free stuff I find at the range.:-)

for hunting loads in my .45 Colt I like the Federal or Starline as it's a little heavier. My .06 seemed to like the military brass.

[Huntducks]

Handgun anything that will reload and cycle.

Rifle WW in most LC Match 7mm-08 and 260

[jmort]

Winchester and Starline

[JLDickmon]

I don't always buy brass, but when I do...
depends on what it's for..
the 45 gets range pickup because I lose most of them anyway...

everything else depends on whats available and/or on sale

sometimes Winchester, sometimes Starline when I buy new..
sometimes something else..

what was the question again?

[Gibson]

http://media.midwayusa.com/productpage/vendorlogos/941.jpg

[ipijohn]

Starline for 41 and 44 MAG. All CF rifle I use Winchester and everything else (pistols) I like the FREE brand.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I prefer R+P,
but I'll try 'em all

I've had issues with S&B in pistol brass...9mm or 40

Amerc is probably the worst.
Jon

[xacex]

Free! But if I pay for it it has to be Starline. I have been known to buy large quantities of Lake City in the past.

[leadman]

I have been buying Lapua lately. I have found it is actually cheaper because it is very durable and lasts much longer than other brands. It also is ready to load when you buy it. No work needed to the primer pockets, flash hole or case length.
I also use free brass if I can get it.

[Shiloh]

Amerc is probably the worst.

Jon

My limited experience with Amerc was loose primer pockets.
Thank goodness I haven't seen any in a long time.

Shiloh

[40Super]

All except Amerc and R-P(pistol mostly). I "prefer" Win & Starline(for the high pressure pistols) but like(in order)= Fed(F-C), S&B(thicher walls),,Speer,Blazer,Magtech.

[HighHook]

Winchester for Cast Boolits has served me well for years.

[MT Chambers]

Tops is Lapua, otherwise Starline, Rem. W-W, in that order.....Jameson has also been good to me.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

R&P for rifle and starline for handgun would be my first pick

[Bigslug]

When Dad and I were heavily into Highpower competition, we would do all kinds of brass prep - sorting by weight, uniforming primer pocket depth and flash holes, even turning necks for a spell. Then we discovered Lapua - it's only expensive until you consider that you don't have to do any of that stuff to it.

Handgun brass. . .I like what I've been seeing from Starline, and would unhesitatingly go that way for higher pressure stuff - .357, 10mm, .44, etc... But for low pressure stuff like .38 Special and .45ACP, I'm a HUGE fan of whatever I find lying on the ground.

[Wolfer]

I prefer free of course but when I buy I like Winchester for rifles and Starline for revolvers.
My 45 ACP gets whatever comes in the once fired batch I buy.

[.22-10-45]

Starline for handgun, and original length .38-55, RWS for Hornet & .222Rem., Buffalo Arms Co. for .40-50 B.N. & .40-70 Str. & B.N., RCM for .25-25 Stevens.

[Andrew Mason]

what ever i pick up or have on hand.
im a volume reloader,

i generaly dont even sort my cases.

[runfiverun]

R&P for rifle and starline for handgun would be my first pick

this one.
i have really good luck with norma brass in many rifles that know the difference too.

[willk]

Starline in handguns with nickle for .45 Colt and .32 H&R to keep them separated from .44 and .357, Winchester for .223, 7TCU and .300 Whisper, cause it is cheap and it forms well as well as .243 and .308 and finally Remington for Remington specific rounds being the .221 Fireball and 7 BR. No one and I do mean NO ONE would ever form 7BR cases from anything unless they absolutly had too.

[geargnasher]

Starline is the only handgun/straight rifle brass I will buy new.

Lapua, RemChester, and some military is the only rifle brass I will pay for, only because Starline doesn't make it.

Gear

[Old Caster]

It completely depends on caliber and use. Many people shooting benchrest use Lapua but none of us would use Lapua for 223. I agree that Amerc is the worse manufacturer there is. Their brass primer holes are enough off center to sometimes break a depriming pin in 38 specials. Some Aguila has tight primer pockets and might mess up your cycle when you suddenly realize the primer isn't in far enough and hangs up when trying to turn to the next shell. Most of the time you can just feel it and stop but your rhythm is ruined. If I had to make a choice for the best there is, I would have to pick Norma hands down but the price is so steep that except for special ocasions there is no point and lots of brands are fine for normal shooting especially so with pistol.

[uscra112]

For pistols, it's R-P or more likely range pickup. I generally chuck any foreign stuff I pick up during initial sorting. I don't shoot pistols seriously enough to buy Starline.

Rifles, I've used lots and lots of R-P, but I bought Norma for my K-31, and I seek out Lake City for .30-06 and .223. Lot of work swaqing primer pockets, but you only do that once. Weights are quite consistent. Also hardness.

Have a habit for the .25-20 Single Shot and it's offspring the .22 Lovell R2. Bought 300 pieces of Jamison for those. Really good stuff. Sadly, Jameson went OOB. Hopefully I've got enough to last me out.

Consistently WORST brass I have ever had is Bertram. Don't like Federal much - too much weight variance.

[SlippShodd]

this one.
i have really good luck with norma brass in many rifles that know the difference too.

I'm in LuckyDawg and R5R's camp with the R-P rifle brass and *-* for pistol, if I was ever to buy brass for pistol. Mostly I just scrounge that and I don't seem to have any handguns that much care to any negligible extent. My rifles wouldn't know what to do with Norma brass, however 3 of them favor loads that won't fit in a Win case, but the R-P will take it.
My old man wouldn't buy anything but Remington ammo, and all of his guns were of the same brand. He figured there might be a performance correlation to shooting ammo loaded by the manufacturer of the gun. So my early endeavors with guns were influenced to the point that pretty much any gun I bought, got started with Remington ammo. Until I got into reloading. But I still have a prejudice toward the Big R brass.

mike

[Alzado]

JonB, I'm curious what kind of issues you've had with S&B in 40. Reason I ask is because I've just aquired 7000 once fired S&B brass.

[marlin39a]

RP, Win, FC in that order for most rifle and handgun loads. LC for AR and M1A.

[Boyscout]

Winchester for Rifle, Priv-Partisan for Mosin-Nagant, Winchester or Starline for pistol if buying new. Avoid Fiocchi because of off center flash holes and broken decapping pins. Use S&B 45 ACP but have trouble with tight primer pockets.

[Aje]

Starline for all handgun & 45/70, Lapua for precision rifle. Also got a few Bertram for the 45/75 because thats all I can get there a bit average for $4.00 each.
I Was given about 500 S&B 357mag & 45acp cases, couldn't get a primer into about 1 in 5 of the 357's but the 45's were fine

Aje

[kenyerian]

I like RP for forming 7TCU and 22 hornet if I'm buying new brass. My boy and my grandson's have picked up my thrifty ways and always come home with a lot more Brass from the Range than what they take so for the more common calibers I never have to buy anyto load up plinkers. For any special hunts I do I'll buy some new brass or if they are on sale I'll buy some factory loads to practice with , save brass and use them to work up hunting loads. Some times Cabela's and Vances have factories loads almost as cheap as just buying the brass.

[koehlerrk]

What do I use.... PRVI Partizan for my 7.5 Swiss and 22 Hornet, R-P for my 22-250, Hornady for my 204, and Winchester for everything else.

[ubetcha]

I kind of started doing some checking on my existing assortment of 30-06 brass that I have on hand. They consist of Fed,R-P,and Win.I first stated off by cleaning and squaring the primer pocket,deburring the flash hole,sizing and trimming to 2.465.I then weighted them,but they were all over the place.Not very consistence.I mix up a combination of water and some rubbing alcohol and water weighted them.The majority of Winchester brass was the most consistent.I know I could eliminate most of that work by purchasing lupa or Norma brass,but that take away all the experimenting.I do think I will purchase some new Winchester brass and follow the same procedure.

[mdevlin53]

Had some AMERC in 45-70 almost all split on first firing on good they are is for dummy rounds. I have had good luck with starline and Remington.

[zomby woof]

I've always liked Winchester brass for handguns. You can't beat Lapua for rifle brass.

[Lizard333]

Free for pistol brass. Not picky and don't sort.

For my military rifles I prefer Lake City. Bolt guns my first choice is Remington followed by Winchester.

If its free, I shoot it. 98% of the brass I own was range pick up or traded with range pick up.

The other two percent I bought for scrap value only.

[canyon-ghost]

I'll use Winchester if it's all I can get from the reloading store, it's pricy. But, I buy bulk (500) Starline. http://www.starlinebrass.com/ Somebody always picks up the phone when I call and nowdays, that's a valuable thing. Another human on the end of the telephone is ten times better than digital, electronic sophistry.

[PS Paul]

For heavy .45 Colt loads, before there was Starline, there was Federal. In THAT caliber, I have WW, Magtech, Fed, Starline and a little RP, which are shorter out of the box. Each has a use, but nowadays, starline sees the bulk. Magtech (CBC on headstamp) has that swaged crimp on the case, but it smooths out over repeated loadings. It is well-annealed and a little "soft" at the neck, so for light .45 Colt loads, I like it.
For .357, WW in avg. loads and starline for heavier loads. Thicker case=higher bullet pull. Especially if using a bullet with no crimp groove or cannelure like some of the plated stuff out there that i have to sometimes use at indoor ranges.
I've used some WW nickel-plated WW in .357 and had one in 5 case necks split the second loading. Don't use those much any longer unless I must. but I have about 300 sittin' around, so sometimes I do.
I've used some S&B in .38 and .357 and the occasional "hard to seat" primer is an issue. Usually I can just turn the case 180 deg. in the shellholder and that allows a new primer to be seated...... In rifles, honestly I have WW, federal, PPC (so-so), Rem, Prv, Hornady and some odd military, but I've not done anywhere NEAR the playin' around as with revolver and pistol brass.
Paul

[Dave C.]

Winchester for the long line ( 50yds 38 spl & 45 acp).
Mixed cases for the short line (25 yds).

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

JonB, I'm curious what kind of issues you've had with S&B in 40. Reason I ask is because I've just aquired 7000 once fired S&B brass.

Crushed cases during seating j-words.

I don't sort the brass, I just load from a pile of cleaned mixed brass. While this could surely be due to not enough expanding from Lee's powder through expander die, BUT I haven't had any crushing issues in 40 with other brands of brass, except Amerc.

also I've had issues with cast boolits and Lead fouling in 40, that I have never rectified, I just gave up for the time being. That could also point to insufficent expanding before seating, then the case could be swaging the boolit smaller...causing the leading.
Jon

PS, I know some may like S&B and think it's good brass, but I've been part of many conversations were reloaders dislike S&B. I'm not sure where you got the 7000 S&B 40 cases, but ya gotta wonder why they sorted them out to sell them...I suppose it could be all one guy shot and doesn't reload ??? Good Luck.

[cz75shadow]

Lapua and Norma for the precision stuff. I have also found Sellier and Bellot to be excellent with nice tight primer pockets. I tend to avoid Federal in rifle brass as the primer pockets tend to loosen after just a couple of firings. For pistol I prefer Remington, but whatever I pick up at the range usually works fine.

[Lizard333]

S&B has got to be my least favorite brass to reload. I use a Dillon 550b to reload and when an S&B case comes though my press it brings things to a grinding halt. I compare it trying to seat a primer in an unswaged pocket from military brass.

Maybe it isn't that bad but it's close........


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[geargnasher]

Speer .40 and .45 ACP brass has some murderously tight primer pockets too. I toss those in the recycle bucket when I find them at the range.

Gear

[Alzado]

JonB, i picked up about 50,000 once fired cases fired from a law enforcement shoot last year. I sorted the cases out myself and ended up with about 7000 S&B cases in 40 and 3000 cases in 45ACP. I haven't loaded many of them yet so I was just wondering your take on them. As far as your leading in your 40, I have had the same problem but after about 3 weeks and alot of head scratching and research, I have figured the problems out. If you are interested in what I've found to cure my problems, shoot me a PM and I would be glad to give you the info I have gathered. Thanks for your posts. Alzado

[Moonman]

Starline or Winchester, Lapua is also very good.

[Humbo]

I exclusively use Norma and Lapua brass for rifles, unless they don't make brass in a particular caliber. For pistol I mostly use Starline or Winchester, except for a few calibers where I actually came across Norma brass. The only brass I refuse to touch is S&B.

[olaf455]

I prefer the free stuff I find at the range.:-)


+ one...

[fcvan]

My best stuff is stamped Midway, which i bought it in the 80s in 45 ACP and 41 mag. The only other brass I have purchased new is Starline. The rest has all been once fired or range pickup.

[ShooterAZ]

I like IMI and Starline brass for my handguns, LC for my rifles.

[ihmsakiwi]

Starline for all pistol straight walled cases and Lapua for 7BR. Winchester Hornet brass is the pits. Remington brass OK for all others if I cant get Lapua.

[winelover]

Yesterday I was load testing NOE's 265 RNFP in my Marlin 1894 (44Mag) carbine. I charged 10 Federal and 10 Remington with 8.5 grains of Unique. All other components were exactly the same. The Remington cases shot a 1 1/2" tighter group.

I also had 20 cases charged with 16.5 grs. of 2400. Again, all components were the same except for the head stamps. This time it was WW versus RP brass. Both did equally well, however the WW shot closer to POA.

Brass selection did make a significant difference in my situation. YMMV.

Winelover

[Alzado]

Thanks for all the replies. I had no idea that Starline brass was so popular. Guess I will be picking some up in the near future.

[captaint]

When I started loading for the 6mmBR I bought some Lapua brass and it was very good - consistent. Couple of years back I bought some brass (45ACP) from Starline and I was a little disappointed. The primer pockets were a little loose, for my money anyway. I like them tight. enjoy Mike

[dromia]

Favourite is Lapua but they have limited calibres, followed by Norma and then Starline. Next in line would be PPU and R-P, I would never touch Jamison brass weighing that in for scrap is the best that you could do with it.

[Ido356]

I use range brass, but I do sort by head stamps and reload in batches of the same head stamps.

When I first started reloading I was all about quantity, but I soon changed my focus to quality.

I pride myself with making ammo not only cheaper, but more accuate than off the shelf, and that is what brought me to this forum, to take my ammo to the next level, by casting my own boolits.

[Sax.45]

I use R-P brass mostly for rifle. For high pressure pistol first choice is Starline, then hornady. Hornady is a little soft at first but after one or two loadings it works great. For lighter pistol mostly R-P, and anything I can pick up. I get quite a bit from the local ranges.

Sax.45

[skeet1]

For 7.62X54R (7.62X53R) I choose Lapua the cost is cheaper than any of the other imports and is as good as you can buy. I have been getting mine from Kaltron, Inc 1-800-683-0464 for $30.00 per 100. I don't think you can buy hardly any brass for that anymore.

Ken

[Mlt2]

I like Winchester for my 308 bolt gun. I also have great luck with Starline with my 44 mag, must have 10 reloads on that brass and still going. Wish everything would last like the 44 brasss does lol. Also helps I load it light.