your favorite brass brand in cartridges or rifles with a brand name attached...

[Magnum Wheel Man]

1st off a little back ground... I'm a bit of a collector, but shoot all my firearms... also a pretty big reloader ( almost 75 different calibers )

because of the variety, often my supplies are not very "deep", & these shortages are driving me crazy, so I'm making a big investment in both time, & money, building up a supply of reloadable cases ( 400-500 cases on calibers with a single fire arm, up to a couple 1000, on calibers where there are more guns, or on cartridges that I shoot a lot of... I'm sorting my cases by head stamp, & admit that in general, I'm building a supply of the brand I have the most of... on calibers that I have more than one gun, I develop loads for each specific gun, using different brands of brass ( for example, in 30-06, I use R-P brass for my Remy 700, Winchester brass for my woodsman carbine, Federal brass for my custom bolt action, & milsurp LC brass for my Garand )

now to my question... do you like to use, or is there really any merit ( for example ) to using Winchester brass, for .243 Winchester, or R-P brass for 7mm Remington Magnum )

again I'm pretty happy using or building a supply of the brand I have most, but am just working my way up to the .270... I have one 270 Winchester, a Winchester model 70 JOC tribute rifle, & about half & half Winchester & R-P brass do you think the rifle / ammo combo, after I'm gone, has any more value if I used Winchester over R-P brass, considering it will have been shot, & the ammo load will have been developed for this rifle ???

BTW... mixed headstamp, & smaller quantities of brass I'm not keeping, I wet tumble, bag up, & put on the table at the one local gun show I sell at each year...

probably a silly question, but it's a big & time consuming project to build up ammo for a fire arms collection... my own thoughts, are... um... maybe, unless the new owner hates Winchester brass for some reason, in which case they likely wouldn't be interested in the rifle... ( in the case of the JOC rifle )

the 30-06 example, is Springfield, so I don't much care which brand of case I collect to shoot in those rifles ( unless I match brand of brass to brand of firearm... which I could do in some cases, but not all )

so you discriminating collectors & shooters... your thoughts please

 

[FrankenMauser]

In .270 Win, I get the best brass life with R-P brass. That's about the only value I care about.
However, it would probably hold its monetary value better than less-desirable brands like S&B, FC, etc. if that matters to you.

For my ".243" (6mm wildcat), I use R-P brass.
A) Because it fits the tight chamber with no modification. (R-P brass is generally well under SAAMI minimums.)
B) Because it provides decent brass life, and, in bulk, I can buy large enough lots to sort the chaff from the wheat, and weight sort. It takes some time, but for a fraction of the price of premium brass, I get the same consistency after I process it.

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

For rifles, Norma when it's available, or Lapua. Otherwise, start with factory ammo from Hornady or Remington, probably, but I really, really, really want Norma or Lapua.

There's no point in using a brand of brass because the cartridge ends with the same name.

 

[Jimro]

I've had good luck with Winchester brass in 308 Win.

More coincidence than anything else.

Jimro

 

[AllenJ]

I don't believe there is any merit in using Winchester brass with Winchester cartridges or R-P brass with Remington cartridges.

As for the JOC rifle I don't think it would add value to have WW brass rather than R-P, it may add curb appeal to someone though.

 

[WESHOOT2]

No.

 

[603Country]

Norma, Lapua, and Nosler are the ones I like the best. But, I have a lot of Winchester and Remington too. When prepped, the Win and Rem shoot just about as well (or as well) as the first three I mentioned. And, about a year or so ago I was testing loads for accuracy in my 223. Once I found the best load, I shot it in new cases, lightly used cases, and then shot it in well-used mixed lot cases (Rem, Win, Hornady, Nosler). Quite honestly, the mixed lot cases shot groups only a little bit bigger. I doubt that a hunter would notice the difference.

 

[cw308]

I have used Remington & Wincherster, both worked well. I'm now using federal FC cases, they are a thicker brass, I had to reduce my load slightly. I like this brass, haven't had any reloading problems, My reloads are in the mid range, used only for benchrest shooting. Caliber is 308 in a Remington 700 trued & bedded with Rock Creek M24 5R barrel 21"

 

[Jim243]

When I purchase a new rifle caliber, I purchase 500 new cases at the same time. So head stamp is never an issue, for high-power rifle I like Remington cases, for 223 it is Winchester, but like any other reloader, I too scrounge brass, so a large collection of mixed head stamps is always around.

For plinking it makes no matter, for long range accuracy I use all the same head stamp. For pistol anything I find on the floor as long as it's brass.

Jim

 

[44 AMP]

When I purchase a new rifle caliber, I purchase 500 new cases at the same time.

That's a fine idea, and great when you can do it. For a "new" rifle caliber it ought to be possible, most of the time.

But with some old calibers, particularly the uncommon ones, it is not always possible.

At one time, I thought one should have 1,000 rnds (or cases) for each caliber. Reality has taught me that having 100 rounds in more readily done, and even 100 rnds in some calibers isn't an easy task.

I don't believe there is any increased value from having Rem brass for a Rem rifle, chambered in a Rem caliber. Or the same with Winchester. Most people will look at the gun, chambering, and #of cases when determining value in $, NOT who's cases they are.

Different brands do make a difference in loading and ultimate performance, but I doubt you are going to find any dedicated loader willing to PAY MORE because you have one brand vs another.

There are some calibers where there is only one brand of brass, essentially. If there are more than one maker listing it, but you can only get one brand, then ere is, essentially only one brand.

In .458 Win Mag, all I ever use (or see) is Winchester cases.
In my .350 Rem Mag, all I ever use is Remington cases, as far as I know, no one else has ever made any.

If you are talking about feeding several rifles in common calibers, 100 isn't enough, 500 is reasonable, and 1,000 cases isn't what I would consider excessive, if you are talking about a long term or lifetime supply. (which of course depends on how much shooting you plan on doing)

For other calibers, especially the bigger ones that don't usually get shot as much, 100 is a good base, 500 is a dream, sometimes. I've managed to get about 300 for the .458, .375H&H, and .350 Rem Mag (virgin brass), as well as a few boxes worth of fired stuff. For those rifles, I think I won't ever need any more.

for feeding a couple of semi autos, 4 bolts and a lever gun in .308 Win, 1,000 isn't a really long term supply, comparatively speaking.

Having it all the same headstamp is nice, but for some guns I'd rather have a lot of mixed brass than a small amount of single brand cases.

here's a question for the dedicated brass rat, do you separate Winchester, WW SUPER, Super X, and Super Speed .30-30 ?

 

[Blindstitch]

44 AMP,
But with some old calibers, particularly the uncommon ones, it is not always possible.

Exactly what he said. I have two odd caliber rifles 6.5 jap and 30-40 Krag.

Neither is easy to pick up ammo off the shelf. Ok so I've never seen the jap ammo on the shelf but I know it exists.

30-40 krag is produced once a year along with the brass and the collection of 100 rounds that I have was hard to get.

I have about 300 round of 6.5 jap and 200 of that was from PPU brass. I was lucky to get 5 boxes of norma with the rifle.

Stockpile what you need if you need to. Some of us don't have the option.

 

[Magnum Wheel Man]

do you separate Winchester, WW SUPER, Super X, and Super Speed

I do....

 

[green_MTman]

nosler or norma

 

[Jim243]

here's a question for the dedicated brass rat, do you separate Winchester, WW SUPER, Super X, and Super Speed .30-30 ?

You must be talking about me (LOL). I don't shoot 30-30 so the answer is no. But the only caliber I use mixed head stamps for is 223 but do separate the 223 from the 5.56 otherwise no.

The rest are sorted by the same head stamp 35 Remington - Remington, 30-06 Springfield - Winchester & LC, 270 Winchester - Remington, 243 Winchester - Remington & Winchester, 7.62x39 Russian - Mixed (mostly Remington), 223 Rem - Winchester & Remington & S-B, LC, WWC, FC all mixed I do not sort this but I do prefer the Winchester in this caliber. If I do a special run like the 75 grain Hornady A-Max I will use a new bag of Winchester brass for that load.

For Pistol it is all over the place since it is mostly range pickup or Midway USA bulk purchase, and I do not sort this except by caliber.

Jim

 

[FrankenMauser]

here's a question for the dedicated brass rat, do you separate Winchester, WW SUPER, Super X, and Super Speed .30-30 ?

Yep.
Even if it is, theoretically, the same case... they're still different lots.

Most of my brass is fairly new, but I've dealt with the full range of Winchester headstamps in .243 Win, .30-06, and .30 WCF.
If there wasn't enough of a particular headstamp for a full box of ammo, the brass got set aside for 'special purposes' or low grade plinkin loads.

However.... I no longer use Winchester brass for .243 Win, only have virgin Winchester (if any) for .30-06, and I no longer have a .30-30.

 

[F. Guffey]

Fair and objective, all the old shooters I know preferred Winchester because the case weighted less and as a rational the light case offered a small bonus of a small increase in volume.

Out side of that I find it very boring to discuss 'favorite cases'. I have loaded 12 different loads of 10 rounds each, I have taken a rifle to the range and fired all 12 different loads. each group had a different head stamps, manufacturer, bullet and powder. All 10 rounds in each group shot groups that could be covered by a quarter. Some of the groups shared the same hole.

The new owner was given 6 boxes of ammo with 2 different loads in each box, he zeroed the rifle with the first round out of the box. he shot 10 rounds then over on the other 10. Sorting cases, no problem, with 12 different loads and 12 different head stamps, all I had to do was sort by head stamp.

F. Guffey

 

[Pathfinder45]

Well, for a vintage Winchester, I find it esthetically pleasing to have vintage ammo to match. I have gone so far as buy old corroded ammo because it had vintage Silvertip bullets, break it all down and rebuild the ammo with as period correct components as I could obtain.

 

[chiefr]

1. Norma & Lapua (Tie)
2. Prvi
3. Starline
4. Nosler/Hornady
5. RWS/SBP
6. Federal
7. Win
8. R-P

I have noticed a decrease in quality of the last 3, with R-P at the bottom of the barrel.

 

[skizzums]

excluding the high dollar brass, I like PPU a lot for .223, its very soft, which may not lead to lots of loads, but its just easy to work with and keeps consistent primer pressure after heavy loads. not a huge fan of their loaded ammo, but like the brass

 

[Magnum Wheel Man]

as I'm collecting cases, some are hard to get right now, I'm building a supply of 7 X 57 which is one of the cartridges I shoot quite often... been buying PPU brass since it's one of the most available... I've not reloaded much of those yet, but I'm surprised how many hold it in such high regard, with where they fall on the price... it would seem they are a very good value... I may look at Prvi for other calibers that are in shorter supply

I don't have enough Norma or Lapua brass to justify building a supply of those, besides the amount I'm talking, they are too expensive for me to stock up in large numbers, when trying to do so, in so many calibers...

most of my current R-P brass is "vintage" purchased mid 70's through mid 80's... I've not noticed a general decline in quality, but certainly have on a few calibers ( I don't remember which off the top of my head ) but remember I was starting to not like some of them, before I got into this restocking mode... but the 223 cases ( I bought 1000 once fired R-P cases ) seem pretty decent...

worst I've bought lately are Hornady cases... I both dislike the short cases for the FTX bullets, & the 460 S&W cases I bought new, were cracking at the case mouths on the 1st loading... I had to anneal those, before I could load them