Who makes the best rifle brass?

[BumbleBug]

I'm interested in rifle brass for loading the most accurate ammunition. I noticed that Hornady, Nosler, Norma, Rem, Win, Fed, Lapua, etc. all are head-stamping brass these days. Some are very expensive (Lapua). My days of sorting, culling, weighing & turning are pretty much over. What's the best brass to start with for standard chamber hunting & varmint rifles when you are seeking the best possible accuracy?

TIA...

...bug

[tobnpr]

Well, Lapua...it's known to have the among the greatest consistency, along with Norma.
Grab a box and weigh every case...then do that with Win or Fed...

But keep in mind, you mentioned "hunting and varmint rifles". IMO, you'll never see the value realized.

If money's no object go for it, but without all the other important aspects to precision reloading in place (like concentricity, neck tension) there's no significant advantage gained. And for shooting critters in particular, large or small, you'll never know the difference.

For precision shooting, case capacity, neck thickness and consistency are important in terms of fractions of a minute of angle. But the advantages gained are indeed, small- but important and tangible for that application.

You say you've turned and done all this- how much more accurate was the ammo produced with all that, versus not?

That said, because of the quality of the brass it will take more reloadings, but not enough to compensate for the 3x price tag. JMO...

[snuffy]

You forgot Hornady.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/218...ster-box-of-50

As I hear it, the Hornady is pretty good.

As far as the choices you gave, the top 3 are Norma, lapua and Nosler. The Nosler is ready to go all accuracy case prep steps already done.

[chiefr]

IMHO the best is NORMA followed by Lapua, & PriviPartisan.
Pistol brass: Starline.

[603Country]

I've used Lapua, Norma, Nosler, Hornady, Winchester, Federal, and Remington. I honestly think they all work just fine, though I spend much less prep time with Lapua and Norma and no prep time at all with Nosler (made by Federal). The longest case life I've seen (so far) was with the Norma, but since I haven't used all of the makers' cases equally, I can't say that with certainty. From now on, based on what I have seen, I'll probably stick with just Norma and Lapua. I didn't get the greatest case life out of the Nosler cases, but that's likely more my fault than that of the brass itself. I used the Nosler hard and with pretty hot loads, and finally started getting a lot of split necks, but I got that with Hornady too.

That said, if you don't shoot an extreme amount of reloads, you hate prep work, and you want easy to use and extremely good cases, buy the Nosler. It's already fully prepped. Load it and shoot it. It's really good stuff.

[Dan Newberry]

Lapua...

[mikejonestkd]

My groups shrunk by 1/8" at 100 yards just by switching to Lapua brass. Plus, it certainly last longer than other brands.

Still, for normal hunting/ informal target shooting there's not to much of a difference between the major brands An 1/8" difference on a 1.5" rifle isn't a big deal, but is is noticeable in a .5" rifle.

[iShoot17]

I would have to agree with the guys above speaking of Lapua brass. I have never used Norma and only used Nosler a few times. I tried Hornady a couple times and will never use it again. My choice for price, lifetime, and ease of use is Winchester. It may take more prep work initially and what not, but I have had it shoot very well for me in all my rigs. Whether that be varmint, hunting, or target rifles.

[Jimro]

Lapua is probably a toss up with Norma.

Although my go to brass is Winchester and Lake City (for 5.56 and 7.62x51).

Jimro

[BumbleBug]

Originally Posted by tobnpr

...You say you've turned and done all this- how much more accurate was the ammo produced with all that, versus not?

Thank you for your excellent & well considered remarks.

Well, I found that several of my rifles (if not all) shoot much better with "straight" cartridges. That is to say, making loaded rounds very concentric. To me, the difference was noticeable & significant, perhaps 1/4 MOA or more. In particular, a pet .270 & a .22-250. I use RCBS competition dies to reload these & a Sinclair concentricy gauge to check them. I realize, that for hunting, the old adage that 2" or so at 100 yds being "good enough" is true. Where's the fun in that?

Unless you have a tight target chamber, turning case necks shouldn't be required. Also, you shouldn't have to worry about off-centered flash-holes, varying case wall thickness that expand inconsistently, varying internal capacity changing the pressure curve & other quality problems. The worst brass I've ever bought were some bulk .22-250 Winchesters. Flash holes were off-center enough to spot with the necked eye & there were big variances in weight. After I culled about 50% I called Midway & asked to exchange them for some Remington, for which they willingly agreed. (BTW: I've bought some excellent Win brass since!)

What prompted my question was that I had someone tell me they only use Norma brass because of its accuracy. Also there is a thread in here about "inherently-accurate" cartridges & my belief is that a lot has to do with the quality of the components available. When shooters took to the 6.5-284 for long range, they did all sorts of voo-doo to make good cases. Now you can buy first class 6.5-284 cases from Lapua & Norma. Trying to start with an excellent pedigree, Hornady began by producing first class 6.5 Creedmore brass for their newly launched cartridge. Good idea.

You can buy exquisite bullets; the powders available are consistent & excellent; all major primers are supremely consistent. The weak link is still the case.

IMHO...

...bug

[Bart B.]

The most common overlooked issue in pursuing rifle accuracy to the Nth degree, in my opinion, is the relationship between bullet diameter to the barrel's groove diameter. If the bullets are at least .0003" larger than the groove diameter, most any decent (not necessarily the most expensive) case will shoot no worse than 1/3 MOA at 100 and 2/3 MOA at 600 yards. Even with a 3/10ths grain spread in charge weight of the right powder, a 1% spread in case weight, proper full length sized unprepped cases and up to .003" bullet runout in SAAMI spec (not tight) chambers. Sometimes even better.

Bullets smaller than the barrel's groove diameter rarely, if ever shoot really, really accurate all the time regardless of case quality.

A friend of mine was one of the first shooters who took to the 6.5-284 for long range; he did not do all sorts of voo-doo to make good cases from Winchester brass. All he did was weigh 'em to about a 1% weight spread and turn their necks to a uniform diameter so his full length sizing die's neck would size them just enough to hold a bullet; no expander ball used. No other case prep whatsoever was done. Ended up winning matches with such stuff.

[csmsss]

Don't forget LC Match brass for .308. It's excellent stuff if you can find it.

[TXGunNut]

For the cartridges I shoot I like Hornady best, Norma and Lapua may be better but availability is limited and my funds are as well. I used RP for years until I tried Hornady. No culls, no trimming, no weighing. May cost more than RP or WW but I think the Hornady's are worth the small premium for cases that need minimal prepping.