Or in other words the heaviest.

Gentlemen,

I found myself more comfortable working with thicker / heavier brass rather than thinner.
For example, when I try to run Winchester's bulk full sized brass through Lee Collet Necksizer, it doesn't even grab it. It goes through it untouched.

Meantime when you have the heavy stuff, you feel a good grip from the Collet die. That way I make sure it does it's "chiropractic" job on the neck of the case.

Anyway, from my experience (but I tried only 5-6 brands) Hornady Match seems to be the thickest / heaviest. It's 12 grains (in average) heavier than Winchester's - 170 against 158.

Which kind you, guys, found the heaviest besides military of course, which we are not considering at the moment

Thank you in advance for sharing your experience

oldflint

I've only used 3 brands: Win, Hornady/Frontier, and Lapua. I agree with your assessment of the Win and Hornady brass--neck tension is quite variable on seating as some bullets slide right on in, and others take a more normal effort w/ the Win. The Hornady I feel is on the other extreme, being almost too burly and less workable through the neck. Lapua has been the most consistent (and most accurate) for me. FWIW.

oldflint:

Over the years I have weighed a lot of 308 Win brass. The heavy brass that I have encountered is as follows (weights are for resized, trimmed, deburred, and unprimed brass):

F C - some lots are heavy (172 to 177 gr), but others fall in the same range as R-P and WIN;
IMPERIAL - usually heavy to very heavy (171 to 193 gr), but I have some that is lighter than most WIN brass;
n n y - 170 to 176 gr (for one box of 20);
P M C - 178 to 183 gr (for 1½ boxes of 20);
S & W - 166 to 175 gr (for 3½ 10-rd packs);
SAKO - 178 to 185 gr (for 1 10-rd box).

I've never had any Hornady or Lapua brass to weigh.

Hope this helps!

Cheers, Al

First of guys, thank you for your replies.

High_Slot,
Thank you for your input.

ClassicAl,
Your numbers are greatly appreciated.

quote:

Originally posted by LeeOtis:
I'm assuming that you are aware that the Lee collet neck sizing die is adjustable...

LeeOtis,
If you mean using decap mandrel with different (smaller or larger) diameter, yes I am, but for now I have only the original.
If you mean screwing down the die an extra 1/4 turn, I tried. The pressure from collet sleeve doesn't seem to be enough to squeeze the collet and reduce the neck's inner diameter to mandrel dimensions. Or, maybe, brass is elastic enough to bounce back a little.
If you know any other ways of adjusting the Collet Die, could you please give me a hint?

quote:

Originally posted by LeeOtis:
...You did not mention the caliber of brass other than stating you were not considering milsurp...

In the name of the topic I stated "308" kinda presuming if I didn't mention "Norma Magnum" it would mean "Winchester"

quote:

Originally posted by LeeOtis:
... please consider (military) LC Match...

I would. Gladly. But unfortunately, to my knowledge, LC Match is not that widely available in Canada. The ones I came across were either Berdan primed, or had crimped primer, or I didn't really like the uniformity of the brass.

Thank you again, gentlemen.

oldflint

Most any military brass is thicker and hearvier than the commercial stuff.