Who makes the brass that Barnes loads for sale as factory ammo ?

A guess would be Remington since they are all part of the same family.

Thanks Baxter.
The reason for my initial post is that I have acquired a number of once fired Barnes cases in .300 WM. I notice most of them have off-centre flash holes and I don't know if I should be concerned. ( see pic in link below )
https://drive.google.com/file/...VZW/view?usp=sharing
Maybe as Baxter says the cases are made by Remington. I looked at some Remington .375 H&H cases I have. All flash holes are pretty well centred. I reload mostly with Norma and have checked 30.06, .375 H&H, .243 W cases today. Flash holes in all are quite centred ( see typical centreing in pic of Norma 30.06 cases )
https://drive.google.com/file/...v6g/view?usp=sharing
I am planning to use the Barnes brass for load development and maybe selecting some for hunting use. I would like to ask if anyone thinks the off-centre flash holes will restrict developing loads to full accuracy potential. Has anybody any info on comparing cases with centred flash holes versus off-centre ?
Maybe I am stressing over a non issue but I don't really know.
I assume that Barnes has their ammo contract manufactured by some third party. I couldn't imaging Barnes using these cases if they were manufacturing in-house. But then again I assume Barnes tests their ammo in quality control, was happy that this met specs and released it for sale.
I develop handloads for use to 400 yards and am just a bit worried these cases might cause erratic ignition and under performing loads. Would really appreciate comments and suggestions. Thanks.

BArnes has always been pretty good about answering questions in the past. Might want to send Ty an email, tyh@barnesbullets.com is the last one I have.

As to the flash hole, the Vortex Ammo I tried for my 270 shot as well as my handloads. Which is damn good. Not sure if they have off- center holes or not though.

I contacted Barnes and received a prompt reply.
Basically, they say a degree of off-centre flash holes still fits within industry standards. However, Barnes preference is for centred flash holes and they are bringing this to the attention of their brass supplier.
Apparently, plain brass is supplied by Norma. Nickel plated brass is supplied by Remington.
Barnes loads and tests their own factory ammo lines.

I guess I just have to try the brass I have and see what sort of loads I can come up with. Hopefully all will be good.

Thanks for the info. It’s funny, I was going to say Norma because that’s what I was told when they FIRST started loading ammo, but then was told they transitioned away to “another” brand, which I presumed was Remington due to the relationship.

I’m going to pop the primers on my brass to check the flash holes just for kicks...

I wouldn't use the off center cases for anything I cared about.

maybe just some trigger time where well where a miss is just a dirt poof and not a goddammit.

In the grand scheme of things off centred flash holes is not going to make any difference whatsoever, after all, Berdan primed cases have two small very off set holes with a fixed anvil formed in the centre of the primer pocket.

Only issue if the flash hole is too off centre is that you could bend and break depriming pins when reloading the cases.

Surprised to see that level of poor quality control from Norma who normally promote and pride themselves on excellent quality products.

quote:

Only issue if the flash hole is too off centre is that you could bend and break depriming pins when reloading the cases.

Thanks Eagle, good point.
I took a few cases with really off-centre holes and carefully ran them through the FL die. Was relieved to find absolutely no hint of contact at all with the decapping pin.
Next step will be to load up a few in the next couple of weeks and see how they shoot.

Baxter, did you check any flash holes in your Barnes brass ? Could you post a pic if you find anything unusual ?

Cheers

Revisiting this thread to say after making and shooting different loads with these Barnes cases I think the off-centre flash holes reduce both accuracy and accuracy potential. I won't be using them for any hunting loads.
My .300 Win Mag rifle is a Tikka T3x Lite. I replaced the original barrel with a True Flite 24 inch, 1/10 twist barrel.
It shoots really well with Barnes TTSX 180 gn and Hornady SST 180 gn. Load components are Norma brass, Federal 215 Magnum Primers and RL26 ( TTSX ), AR2213sc ( H4831 ) with SST. For both projectiles the accuracy sweet spot lies in the 3000 - 3050 fps range.
A limitation is little latitude to experiment with COAL due to the magazine restricting this to no longer than 86 mm max. It is a hunting rifle so rounds must feed from the magazine and loads must shoot around that max COAL.
With Barnes brass I used Sierra Pro Hunter 180 gn and Hornady SST 180 gn, Federal 215 Mag Primers and made a variety of loads with IMR4350, AR2213 sc, RL26, RL17, AR2217 ( H1000 ). After about 150 shots with various charges there was just no indication of velocity sweet spots or any consistency indicators. Flyers were common. Any charge adjustment that should have tightened group size frequently resulted in the opposite.
After 2 or 3 range sessions and increasing frustration I gave up with this Barnes brass.

Interestingly not long after obtaining the Barnes brass I acquired a parcel of Sako .300 Win Mag ammo ( courtesy of an AR member ). Sako brass is also made by Norma. Like standard Norma brass all flash holes in these cases are punched dead centre. I shot 9 rounds of it finding mediocre accuracy and decided to pull the remaining bullets, prep the brass and use it for my own loads. I shot some for the second time yesterday using Fed 215 Mag Primers, Barnes LRX 175 gn, Hornady SST 180 gn, Federal Trophy Bonded Tip 180 gn bullets and AR2213sc, RL26 and IMR4350 powders. Barnes LRX shot fantastically with AR2213sc ( same POI as my current hunting loads ) and pretty decently with both RL26 and IMR4350. IMR 4350 looks very promising for the SST's. A little tweaking should have a great load sorted at the next range session. The Federal TBT's need a bit more work or maybe another powder so remain a work in progress. In this session I've probably used 100 bullets and already found at least one very good load.

I don't know how much brass weights factor in this scenario but my Norma brass weighs from 212.8 - 215.8 gns, Barnes from 235.2 - 262.0 gns, Sako from 262.6 - 265.6 gns.

Other than decapping.
Why would off center flash holes matter? No Berdan flash holes are on center. In fact, they are off center by design.

posted 06 April 2019 14:52
Other than decapping.
Why would off center flash holes matter? No Berdan flash holes are on center. In fact, they are off center by design.[/quote]
[quote]one of us

It's beyond my level of understanding. Maybe someone like Alf with extensive knowledge can explain. After considering earlier comments on this thread I was of the opinion there would be no issue. Certainly all shots ignited normally and the Chronograph did not show abnormal velocity variations so why indeed was there no progress towards accuracy as there has been with Sako brass....?? I'm stumped.

I now see that Eagle already said what I just said.
Sorry.
Does it matter if the powder is ignited from the center, or from the side? As long as the holes are uniform?
I doubt it does but have never seen any testing on it, mainly because it would take some odd brass with which to conduct the test.
I would like to see some actual test data; not theories and supposition.

I had previously weighed some Barnes brass in 338 WM and it weighed closer to Winchester than to Norma. Here's what 10 cases of each brand weighed on average:

Norma 208.7 grains (virgin)
Barnes 230.6 (once fired)
Winchester 231.2 (virgin)

This occurred within the last three or four years.