I am restocking my ammo supply for my 500NE.
I have loaded some rounds with Hornady brass and have ordered a single box of Norma brass to try in my 500 for the first time.I was wondering what experience others have in loading with this brass for their 500NE.

While I love Norma brass for smaller calibers, I have found it very thin and brittle in 470 and 500 Nitro Express. I no longer use it and prefer Jamison brass as my first choice and Hornady second. I was getting head separation on my 470 NE rounds after 2 reloads with Norma brass.

If you can get it, BELL is the best there ever was IMHO. I have a stock for each double caliber I shoot (and then some).
Cal

I had some new Jamieson brass on hand and loaded some up.I had loaded some a while back too.It seems that they don't fit or chamber as nice as the Hornady cased rounds do.What I do to test the fit is remove my barrels from the action,then drop the rounds in the chambers.If the rims have a perfect flat fit with the face of the chamber and the rounds slide out by themselves when I tilt the barrels I know the fit is perfect.With Jamieson I don't get this fit.I need to force them out with a cleaning rod and sometimes have to use a little pressure to insert them into the chambers.From the looks of it,it is as if the chambers were made to fit the Hornady cased rounds.I doubt I will get as nice a fit with the Norma round also.

That surprises me as Butch usually regulates his rifles with loads using Jamison brass for his handloads. I hope he is not getting lazy and using Hornady factory stuff!

The problems others have had with Norma brass puzzels me! I've never had a problem with Norma brass even in very high pressure rounds. The only reason I can think of why my Norma cases have lasted many reloads without a case seperation others seem to get after only a couple of reloads, is I never full length size brass after it has been fire formed in my rifle. With neck sizing only I have some Norma brass that is ten or more years old with no telling how many loads they have fired!

Maybe I've just been lucky!

I loaded some up today with the Norma brass.It fits really nice into my chambers-just as nice as the Hornady brass.I like the rims on them-very flat and solid.The brass does not feel as tough as the Hornady brass but it seats the bullets with a little less bulge.Bullets seat really smooth.

Michael and Sam did some extensive tests prior to leaving this site. One of the studies they undertook concerned pressure and velocities of using identical loads in different brands of brass.

Without fail, everything they tested gave lower pressures when using Hornady brass, while retaining design velocity. Why or how, I couldn't tell you. If interested, you might contact them over on the B&M site.

I'm no fan of Hornady factory ammo for DG but I've been using their brass almost exclusively for the past few years.

Hornady brass looks and feels a lot like my Win 308win brass-brass that was extremely good-similar to some old Lapua brass I have only a little thinner.

I also had head separations with Norma brass in my 470. I've had very good luck with Hornady.

quote:

Originally posted by Marty:
I also had head separations with Norma brass in my 470. I've had very good luck with Hornady.

I am not surprised.The Norma brass looks and feels like the Hornady brass does but after the Hornady has been fired 3 or 4 times.

It has generally been an issue with the comparative "softness" of NORMA brass, compared to Kynoch or the offerings from Hornady.