I am going to start with a fresh batch of brass for my 280AI, and would like to know what brand of brass most of you prefer and why. Any reasons why one is better than the other,...or is this a ford/chevy kind of thing?

thanks

I`d stay with brass and forget nickle for a wildcat I had to rework cases for. The nickle tends to crack and become flaky after a few sizeings in normal usage, reworking will just have you replacing brass or chancing scratching your dies.
I personally prefere Win more than Remmingtons brass but everyone has an opinion on that.

Well, for what it is worth, in the past I would have said it did not matter much.

However, I have had some pretty sorry results with Remington brass as of late. I have some Remington brand .338 Win Mag brass that splits the necks often times before I even fire the darned things.

I opened a new box of Remington 7BR brass the other day and four of the hundred would not even hold a primer. This is brand new brass and the primers just fall right back out of the pocket!!

Also, I have friend who really likes his 280 Ackley Improved and he swears it shoots best with nickel plated Winchester brass, PERIOD.

For what it's worth, R F

JustC,

I'm somewhat of a nitpicker and do quite a bit of testing. Everytime I want to run a test, I go out to the public range and pick up ten cases of every make of case I can find. No attempt is made to get cases of the same lot. Cases are selected only by manufacturer. I deprime them and clean them with soap and water. Then toss them into the case cleaner. I then full length resize thrm and throw them back into the case tumbler. After they tumble overnight, I start measureing them. I check them for length and weight. I measure case neck thickness and primer pocket depth. I then trim for length and measure them for depth from the case mouth to the inside of case web. Winchester cases always prove to be the most consistant and closer to SAAMI specs. On top of it, Winchester cases always seem to last longer than any other brand. As for nickel cases, I'm with Ol' Joe. However if nickel is the only thing available in Winchester cases for the .280, I'd get the nickel.

I know this sounds like a lot of work, and it is, but try it some time. It will open your eyes. I don't want too start a fight so I won't name the brand, but there is a brand you couldn't run fast enough to give me. Besides, being retired, I sometimes neeed make busy work. Good luck.

[ 06-12-2003, 01:19: Message edited by: BigBob ]

JustC -- I like Norma and Winchester brass then the others if I have to shoot them. I do not like Nickle, if I am going to resize it several times. Good shooting.

I'm on the Norma boat too.

I'll add to this that I purchase Nickle Brass almost exclusively these days but only for Std. Calibers. If I have to fire form or resize, stick with brass, Nickle dosn't lend itself to that. The ease of cleaning, slick feeding, better in long term storage / tough enviroments and resizing makes it a hit for me. I load for dozens of cartridges and have been using Nickle Brass since Fereral introduced Nickle Plated Match Brass for my .222 Rem. back in the early 70's with no problems. Keep your Nickle Brass from solvents especialy Hoppes and the like, it will cause it to flake. Nickle Brass is only Nickle plated brass contrary to what some think.

Now on to the Win vs. R-P question. The bulk of the R-P Nickle Brass I have gotten through Midway these days has a 4 - 8% reject rate for wrinkled case mouths, flaking nickle, bad priner pockets. The Winchester stuff 0 - 2% at worst. Win. brass is usualy more expensive. Consistancy, I find is about equal. Some lots are better than others, luck of the draw. Rem. brass tends to have a slightly greater internal capacity than the Win. Over all case life seems to be about equal as long as the loads are kept reasonable.

Hope my $.02 helps, either way work your brass in Brands / lots and you shouldn't run into any trouble.

Scout Master 54

Your best brass is Lapua, followed by WW and Norma IMO....RWS is great brass but not readily available...I'm not a great fan of Remington brass but it is acceptable, just not in the same class as the others mentioned...

In 308 and 223, the IMI brass out of Isreal is really good stuff.

I quite agree with the selection of Lapua brass. Unfortunately it is not available in all calibers.
Neither is Norma. What I most like about both companies is they drill out their flash holes in the primer pockets so there's not need to deburr them from the inside. You don't get that internal projection caused by punching out the holes. I don't know about nickel brass. It sems harder to work. I do know it often scratches the holy bejeebers out of the inside of a sizing die. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

Cal.... I think you see the scratches in Nickle Brass most easy because it's so shiney. If I look at my brass cases with a magnifying glass they are aparent there just as well. Like any thing keep your dies clean, lubes attracts dirt and hence the scratches as we know. I found aresol spray break cleaner from an auto parts store, cuts that old lube / dirt and especialy the waxy bullet lube build up in lead bullet seating dies fast and easy (cheap too). It dries quick! just don't use it indoors. As for sizing hard I can't find much of a diffrence if they are lubed. I'll agree the drilled primer holes make life easier. Thanks' for you fine input.

Scout Master 54

JustC,
I have been using a 280 Ack.Imp for nearly 13 years now and I have always used the Winchester nickle cases.I started with 500 cases and still have 400 left. Most of them are loaded at least 8 - 10 times before they are discarded. I neck size only after the initial fireforming and I have not had any problems at all. I tried a RCBS die but it was working the cases to much and then when I went to neck sizing only, the problems ceased. I use a 7 Weatherby Mag. die to neck size with and have no problems at all. DRBOB

Thanks guys. I will take a look at what I can find as far as the Norma and I will look at the winchester nickel as well. At the price of the winchester, I can buy almost 300rnds for the same as the Norma and Sinclair won't have anymore Norma before sept they said.

I'll throw in my 2 cents worth on Remington brass. Several years ago I bought two boxes of factory .45 LC ammo. I shot it in 3 different guns: Ruger Blackhawk, S&W M-25 and a Colt SAA. All were new. I ended up with 12 cases out of the 100 rounds fired that split. Now remember, this was in 3 different brands of firearms. Since then, I only use Remington brass as a last resort. Have had great luck with Winchester and Norma.

Stay away from the bulk Rem Nickle it is cheaply plated nickle cases will flake off after a few reloads, the Once fired Win Supreme Nickle are much better, but the Federal Nickle Prem Brass is the best of the bunch as far as nickle goes. I use these in my hunting loads only. Just use dry lube inside the neck when resizing due to the thickness of case/nickle coating and they will last you a long time.

As far as reg brass, Lapua/Norma, are tops in my book, followed by Federal or WW.

AlaskaBushMan, thanks for the input on the federal brass, that was going to be my next question.