I've used Win brass for years. Plan on trying either Norma, Lapua or Nosler brass. I'm not so much worried about quality with the 3; it's the volume I'm concerned about. The Nosler web site they are heavier than Win/Rem. The Nosler tech rep today said they were on par with Win. I'm looking to keep volume near the same so I can keep my loads as identical as possible. So what I'm asking is which of the 3 has the same volume in 30-06 as Win?

Big Al

Your question leads to another...why so concerned with small volume differences in brass cases? Your rifle may shoot better with different cases...you can also use diff. powders that fit better (spherical powders, etc). I use both Nosler & Lapua & like them both. I think Lapua may be the best brass cases made. Preferable to Norma. RWS
has the reputation of being the very best, but also costly.
Best Regards, Tom

GSSP,
Second bisonland's thoughts on Lapua, outstanding brass in all respects. Several years ago, purchased some 300 once fired Lapua 308 brass from military source and cycled those same brass some twenty plus times before retiring them. Had one or two split necks and figured they had more than done their job. Primer pockets still useable at that time to boot! Mind you, all shot in bolt gun, not gas gun, but still great service. Norma has always shown to have loose primer pockets after few firings, 2-3, and that I do not like just as Federal brass. Winchester brass works ok, but not as high on quality as the Lapua. Just my experience.

Tom,

Good question. I agree that the volume difference, larger or smaller, may cause a variation in accuracy, better or worse or nothing; I'm just hoping I don't have to start from scratch with some of my better, preferred loads.

I am already trying Ramshot Hunter (spherical). Hunter has thus far given me the fastest velocities I've seen in this particular rifle and it "throws" like a dream from my Harrell's Premium meter.

I've never seen RWS brass for sale; ANYWHERE!

Big Al

Driver,

You guys are edging me towards Lapua; aren't you?

RWS Brass is available from Huntington's, but its
not in every cartridge.
I haven't used it, so can't say from experience, but those whose experience I respect, say its the very best brass.
However, I would still go with Lapua Brass.
"If I were you" type of thinking, I'd just buy some Lapua Brass & then compare, that's what I'd do..
otherwise, its an academic discussion.
I only get concerned with case capacity with different brass is when I'm at the upper limits of loading/bullet depth, etc...like when I make my .30 Newtons from parent brass & in the parent brass, the powder gets somewhat compressed. (Where in the original old .30 Newton cases, it
doesn't). So, I can see where you're coming from...but still extoll the virtues of Lapua Brass! Best Regards, Tom

I can't speak for Nosler or Norma brass, but Lapua is wonderful stuff. You might price some at Brassman Brass. He is pretty comptetive.

I use Norma in mot of my wildcat stuff. In a 280 it gave me about 3-5 grs more water capacity than a Rem. And I was looking for max capacity. But, with that said working with a strain guage I found that I would usually start getting about .005 head expansion at 63-65,000 with Norma brass. So I use it with wildcats because from experience it will give me a good indicator when I reach the pressure range I normal load to.
But for my normal(standard rounds and published wildcat) loading if possible I use Lapua.

Lapua all the way! I have yet to load anything in Lapua brass and not get great accuracy. OK, because it is comparatively pricey, I don't load it in all my rifles, but it IS good stuff!

Of late I have been loading new Win .223 Rem brass, and was pretty cheesed off to experience how the loose the primer pockets were straight from the factory. In Lapua, it is usually the other way around.

Other than a different headstamp, I can't see how Nosler intends to compete with Lapua in the calibers where both offer brass. Nosler brass is usally more expensive, anyway.

- mike

RWS is the best. Tough to find though (and yes expensive).

Lapua is just a notch below. Sadly, limited in calibers offered.

Norma is damn good, a distant third though. Made in plenty of calibers, easy to find.

The rest, without offending anyone, aren't even in the same ballpark.

for the little performace gained the cost does not justify the expensive brass....stick with WW brass!

i bought six boxes od LAPUA BRASS...does that tell you some thing...buy the stuff and you will not regret it
daniel

quote:

Originally posted by Alaska Bush Man:
....stick with WW brass!

Second Bush Man. Amongst highpower competitors of a certain vintage, WW brass was known to be tough, withstanding repeated firings better. It was also believed to be thinner than other makes. The combination translated into a distinct advantage for long-range loads requiring maximum charges.

The usual knock on Winchester brass is that it was not as symetrical as the European makes; had greater weight deviation among cases and greater asymetry in the necks. It also did not have nicely milled and drilled primer pockets, etc.

The symetry question was solved by shooting everything once in practice or at the short stages, then sorting by weight and neck concentricity, using only the best 25% or so for the long range loads.

The primer pocket issue was usually just ignored, but fanatics insisted on using the uniformer tools on their long range cases. These were the fellows who also turned case necks. They didn't win many matches.

But there are exceptions to everything: Last I knew, the top long range highpower competitiors hereabouts were still using their carefully hoarded multi-case lots of Remington BR brass. Long discontinued by Remington, these cases have small primer pockets. In these cases they use the Russian PMC small rifle primers. It's said that this combination is quite wonderful indeed.