Hi,
I need a short course on the different types of brass cases that I currently have. From most of the posting, I think the best type for all-around shooting in the .243 caliber appears to be the winchester. I read over and over again that remington is OK, just not as preferred as the win due to the differences in consistency, primer pockets, etc...
What about the others? I have Federal, some Norma, some PMC, some "frontier", some "super speed". Does anyone have info on these others? Some of these are not familiar to me.
Thanks for any help.
Mike

You'll find most brands satisfactory -- just don't mix them.

Winchester seems to be in "fashion" currently, and is fine, but I have never had any problems with Remington, which is what I shoot in my .243's. Remington is usually a little heavier overall, especially in the head area, and has slightly less capacity than Winchester. I think the complaint on Remington is consistency, but I haven't run across those problems myself.

"Designer" brass at haute coture prices is available from Norma and Lapua. I'm sure it's excellent brass (although Norma brass used to be extremely soft in the head area, something which has probably changed), but I can't see either being superior enough to run-of-the-mill American brass to matter.

The only PMC brass I have used is in .223, and seems okay. Frontier (Hornady) is made by whatever supplier they contract with and is up to standards. Federal is quite similar to W and R. The "Super Speed" or "Super-X" you have is Winchester.

Now watch the curses rain down in subsequent posts on some brand or another.

Depends on what you want out of your brass. If you are trying to eliminate undesirable variables and reduce the time you spend prepping cases then you want Lapua brass. If, however, you enjoy sorting brass by weight, working on primer holes, etc then use any brass you want. It all depends what you want and how you like to spend your time.

THE ONLY brass I ever had that had off-center flash holes was Winchester!! For all around use, I don't find WW cases to be any better than Remington. I am not a bench rest shooter, so I suppose WW brass COULD be better for extreme accuracy loads, but would not bet on this! For amny years, the .22 Remington was once of the best bench rest cartridges before the PPC rounds arrived, and of course, Remington was the only manufacturer of this round for a number of years!!

Thanks for all your input.
I guess I'll just clean them all up, sort them by maker, and start checking them for consistency. I have a little tumbler on the way (that will make this jpb a little easier).
I'll let you know what I find out.
Thanks,
Mike

The only one that can justify weighing brass is a dyed in the wool benchrester, and he will be shooting a zero tolerance chamber...Even then the difference is minute.

I doubt, in fact, I have proven to myself, that weighing brass, cutting primer holes, checking primer pocket depth and a world of other cuties is bothersome and non effective on hunting rifles and I don't even bother to do this on my varmint rifles anymore...I believe its designed to entertain reloaders more than anything else.

I sort the brass by make, keep it trimmed and shoot it...Most of my guns shoot in the 1/2 to 1" class for 3 shots, some for 5 and thats about as good as it gets....

I have a 6x45 with a "0" chamber, that the 223 cases have to be outside necked reamed to chamber and it could be reloaded without resizing in a pinch.... it avearged .320 5 shot groups, for 5 groups.....Once neck reamed, I reload and shoot it, trim every 4 loads or so. Toss cases after the second trimming loads are fired...start all over.