Quality brass

[AlaskaHunter]

Norma and Nozler has the reputation of quality cases.
Since the days are short, I measured the variation in neck wall thickness of four different brands of 300 H & H cases.
5 cases were measured for each brand.
Measurements were taken using a tube micrometer on 4 quadrants of each case neck.
Nozler had the least variation with every case neck having a range in neck thickness <= 0.0004"
Norma was next with every case have a range in neck thickness <= 0.006"
Federal cases all exceeded 0.0006" variation, with the highest 0.0009"
Hornady were most variable, with all necks exceeding .0006 and highest 0.0012" range in case neck thickness.
Federal and Hornady had consistently thicker neck walls (mean thickness = 0.0121, 0.0125")
Nozler and Norma had thinner neck walls (mean thickness = 0.0115, 0.0117")

 

[Don Fischer]

I'm not sure just how much quality is required. Only guy's I've ever heard of measuring neck wall were mostly competition shooter's firing rifles with very tight chamber's. I've never done that. Chased that perfect case years ago and found out the best for me was Winchester case's, I could find them anywhere! Something I did notice back then was I could use a bit bigger chg of powder in Win case's than I could in Rem and Norma case's. It was explained to me that the Win case was a thinner case allowing more volume inside the case. Rem was a bit heavier and Norma was the heaviest case I ever used, if of course my info was right. I did like those Norma case's but couldn't tell you why, they were really hard to find back then! I've never tried a Nosler case, Win and Rem do fine for my use and cost a lot less. Have heard a few complaint's about Nosler case's but if that was all I could get when I went for case's, I'd get them!

I have used a lot of different case's scrounging case's over the years and for the life of me I can't find a lot of difference from simply firing the rounds. I don't care for Federal case's much but then that is probably because I haven't used a lot of them and unless you know someone using a bunch of Fed factory stuff, they are a bit hard to come by! I don't live that far from Nosler, maybe 70mi but I don't recall seeing much Nosler case's other than at Noslers store. I think the best quality in any case is cane they be relatively easy to get a hold of!

 

[AlaskaHunter]

One rule of thumb is if the neck thickness variation is less than 0.0010" it is not worth turning.

I did buy 100 Winchester cases in .270 Win from Cabelas about a month ago....
my first Cabela's purchase in over 20 years....

As of this morning, Cableas still has Winchester brass in stock in 7mm mag, .223 SSM,.270 WSM,.300 WSM

 

[Brian in Montana]

You guys are getting awfully technical with measuring of neck thickness and such. I pretty much just get Winchester brass. I've had good luck with it. The brass is hard and seems to be able to take some abuse. I just always anticipate spending some time and elbow grease on the front end being meticulous about case prep. I think it's good "quality" brass, but it seems to take a beating in Winchester's package and shipping process.

I also uniform the primer pockets and flash holes the first go around too. My impression is that's where Nosler and Norma have the edge - you pay more for a more refined product. With Winchester, Federal, Remington, and others it's more like - bam... Here's some casings in a bag. Like I said, I think Winchester is good, but they require more work to get them ready.

 

[BillDoe708]

I have always used Winchester except for my 300 saum is Remington

 

[elkhnter]

Bought 100 rounds of Hornady brass when I bought my 300 Weatherby. Hate it, wish I’d never bought it. The most inconsistent brass I’ve ever tried to load.

 

[Bater]

Norma is ok but Nosler is generally a bit soft and subsequently has a bit shorter life compared to other brass in the same price range. Lapua, Petersen’s and ADG are superior to both in every way

 

[ImBillT]

A lot of Nosler brass is Norma brass.

RWS makes the most uniform brass

Norma is second in uniformity, but is soft, so it doesn’t last long with really hot loads. A lot of Nosler brass used to be Norma, that was then sorted by Nosler, so Nosler can be quite uniform, but they sort it before certain steps that I often take, which can actually undo some of their sorting, resulting uniformity very similar to Norma despite Nosler’s efforts.

Lapua is a close third, and is one of the hardest, so it’s great for running hot and lasting a long time in the process.

My limited experience with Federal is that it is usually more consistent than Remington and Winchester, but is quite soft.

Remington made some really great batches of brass intended for competitive shooters, and they also made some absolutely horrendous stuff. The good stuff is mostly limited to older .222, 6BR, 7BR and .308Win.

Winchester is generally AWFUL in terms of uniformity, but it is very hard, so it can last a long time if you anneal your necks.

 

[std7mag]

For a hunting rifle shooting at game under 400 yards, the average person isn't going to notice a difference in neck thickness.
Heck, the vast majority won't even measure it!

Shooting precision matches is where you see it most often.
These guys are weight sorting primers!
Charge weights are to the granual of powder.
Heck, most of the F-Class shooters i know don't measure or turn the necks.

Some of the most consistant brass i've found on my limited budget is PRVI Partizen (PPU).

I've bought Nosler brass. Nice that all the prep is already done.
But i double check them anyways.
So if i'm going to the effort of checking them, i may as well save the money spent and do the work myself.

 

[Red_7.08]

Thank y’all for all the info. This is very helpful.