Just curious what experiences you people have had with bulk brass manufactured by Winchester versus that produced by Remington. Is one of a higher quality, greater consistency, etc., than the other? Winchester seems to be a little less expensive, in general. Thanks in advance for input.

I can't tell much difference. Haven't had a problem with either. Most prejudices seem to run toward Winchester. Typically, Remington brass is a little heavier in the web area and thinner in the shoulder/neck. Winchester usually has a bit more internal capacity, but that may vary from caliber to caliber. I happen to have nothing but Win in some calibers and Rem in other calibers and can't really say that I have a preference.

Remington nickeled brass tends to be rough on the interior surface of the neck and has to be cleaned with steel wool or something similar.

I have never had a problem with Remington in the past. I just bought some Remington 7x57 brass and after firing it was nearly impossible for the expander to pass through the neck when lubed with motor mica. I had to push the handle of the press with both hands and put a lot of force on it. I've never had this problem with any other calibers. It was with a new die so I don't know if the expander is too big or the case necks may be too thick. I lubed them with liquid rcbs lube and they worked much better but still very tight.

I use Remington brass in .22-250, .6mm, .25-06, 7mm Mag, and a host of ther calibers. Never had a single problem with any....

JB WI,

I use Rem and Win brass for rifles and handguns, I never have problems with both of them. Of course it exists "better" cartridges made like IMI, Lapua, Norma,... But not available for all calibers and more expensive than Rem/Win brass. I use these kind of high quality brass only for match target loads.IMHO.

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BER007
Keep the faith in any circumstances
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BBER007@HOTMAIL.COM

I have found cases with cracked necks in bulk brass, but all new brass should be inspected for such things.

When necking up some bulk Winchester 22-250's to 250 Savage, I had a terrible time with necks collapsing into the case body, even though using the Redding tapered expander sold just for that purpose. I tried mica, case lube, & waving a dead chicken over the press at moonrise. Still I lost about 40% of my cases.

What dramatically helped was an article by Seyfried on case forming & annealing. I annealed the Winch cases on the theory that the brass was too hard to let the expander spindle pass through. The softened necks expanded to .250 with much less trouble.

I'd love to expand the necks on some Federal Gold medal or Lapua 22-250's (if they make them) to see if they work better. A buddy necks Gold Medal .308's up to .358 with zero loss.

BigIron

[This message has been edited by BigIron (edited 01-19-2002).]

On a cost/effort efficiency basis how did the dead chicken work out?

The dead chicken idea works well, at least on locomotives (in my experience) but you do require a qualified witch doctor. (ours was $4 US, and we had to pay for the chicken-another $1) LOL - Dan

Don't know about that chicken thing. We may have to get PETA involved

My experience with the two brands is that Remington is typically a little more soft, but, more widely distributed.

W-W stuff seems to have less burrs around the flash hole.

R-WEST

Big Iron,
Try easing them up to 25, use a 6mm die then a 250 and you won't have that problem with WW brass, or at least I have not..use lots of goo inside the neck...

I like both Rem and WW brass, but remember that one should probably cut a grain or two of powder with the thicker Remington brass if you are max or near max, and you will still get the same velocity with lesser powder.

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com