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.308 brass--which brand do you prefer?
- Thread starter DP425
- Start date
Re: .308 brass--which brand do you prefer?
I enjoy Lapua, however I don't have any experience with the other brands you listed. Lapua has always been consistent and of very high quality for me. Pretty much ready to load out of the box, minus a few dinged necks once and a while.
I enjoy Lapua, however I don't have any experience with the other brands you listed. Lapua has always been consistent and of very high quality for me. Pretty much ready to load out of the box, minus a few dinged necks once and a while.
Re: .308 brass--which brand do you prefer?
I prefer Lapua over Hornady. Cannot give personal experience with Norma as I have not tried it. I know several people who have and have never heard any complaints.
I prefer Lapua over Hornady. Cannot give personal experience with Norma as I have not tried it. I know several people who have and have never heard any complaints.
Re: .308 brass--which brand do you prefer?
Top tier
Lapua (best brass)
Norma
second tier
Winchester (most cost effective)
Bottom tier
Remmington (soft)
I don't know where Hornady, Lake City, ... comes in on this scale.
Top tier
Lapua (best brass)
Norma
second tier
Winchester (most cost effective)
Bottom tier
Remmington (soft)
I don't know where Hornady, Lake City, ... comes in on this scale.
Re: .308 brass--which brand do you prefer?
Lapua has worked very well for me so far. Consistant and accurate. I'm up to about 7 loads now on my Lapua and its still fine.
I've also loaded WIN and FC brass, but no more than a couple of times each and they were ok too. The WIN cases had the most capacity and FC the least, so the same load varied quite a bit from different brass type, so make sure you understand that a single load is NOT interchangable with different brass types.
Lapua has worked very well for me so far. Consistant and accurate. I'm up to about 7 loads now on my Lapua and its still fine.
I've also loaded WIN and FC brass, but no more than a couple of times each and they were ok too. The WIN cases had the most capacity and FC the least, so the same load varied quite a bit from different brass type, so make sure you understand that a single load is NOT interchangable with different brass types.
Re: .308 brass--which brand do you prefer?
I've only used Lapua so that is all I can speak for.
I guess first thing you gots to decide what you want out of your brass, and how much $$$ you want to spend.
On my GAP 308 the things I really liked about Lapua brass were -
#1 Consistancy ( volumetric and dimentional), and minimal prep
#2 Case life. I got 17 reloads out of a batch before I got a failure. YMMV on this. I just wanted to see for myself how many loads I could get. During this whole time the primer pockets held up, TIR well within 0.001, and velocities were consistant.
All the above I believe can be attributed to better initial quality in manufacturing. You pay for it though...
As far as cons...well, like I said price, but if your time saved in prep is worth something than IMO it's worth it. Another, is if you were to ever go to a match were you pretty much had to wipe your a$$ of a good portion of your brass, than you might feel a bit butt hurt.
My .02
I've only used Lapua so that is all I can speak for.
I guess first thing you gots to decide what you want out of your brass, and how much $$$ you want to spend.
On my GAP 308 the things I really liked about Lapua brass were -
#1 Consistancy ( volumetric and dimentional), and minimal prep
#2 Case life. I got 17 reloads out of a batch before I got a failure. YMMV on this. I just wanted to see for myself how many loads I could get. During this whole time the primer pockets held up, TIR well within 0.001, and velocities were consistant.
All the above I believe can be attributed to better initial quality in manufacturing. You pay for it though...
As far as cons...well, like I said price, but if your time saved in prep is worth something than IMO it's worth it. Another, is if you were to ever go to a match were you pretty much had to wipe your a$$ of a good portion of your brass, than you might feel a bit butt hurt.
My .02
Re: .308 brass--which brand do you prefer?
If you have to buy new cases get Lapua. I shoot Hornady and it is great brass. But I get it free after my guys shoot their department TAP. If I had to buy I would be buying Lapua.
If you have to buy new cases get Lapua. I shoot Hornady and it is great brass. But I get it free after my guys shoot their department TAP. If I had to buy I would be buying Lapua.
Re: .308 brass--which brand do you prefer?
Lapua. No prep.
Remove from box
Prime
Charge
Seat
Shoot
Very rarely is a Lapua pice of brass messed up out of the box in my experience. No messing with trimming or chamfering/deburring like with my Remington brass.
Lapua. No prep.
Remove from box
Prime
Charge
Seat
Shoot
Very rarely is a Lapua pice of brass messed up out of the box in my experience. No messing with trimming or chamfering/deburring like with my Remington brass.
Re: .308 brass--which brand do you prefer?
Lapua
In australia we can get Lapua .308 brass for about $80.
Most gun stores sell other brands in the vacinity of $60-70 for other "lesser" brands of brass.
These other brands (exception is Norma), usually have less life and require more prep work.
So for me its an easy decision. Buy the best, save time on prep work, get more reloads out of it, and generally feel happier knowing im putting the best components in my handloads.
Also, i started handloading for my .308 shortly after purchasing the rifle. I decided i had enough paying good $ for crappy factory loads.
I guess if you have hundred or thousands of .308 brass lying around, good reason to use those
Lapua
In australia we can get Lapua .308 brass for about $80.
Most gun stores sell other brands in the vacinity of $60-70 for other "lesser" brands of brass.
These other brands (exception is Norma), usually have less life and require more prep work.
So for me its an easy decision. Buy the best, save time on prep work, get more reloads out of it, and generally feel happier knowing im putting the best components in my handloads.
Also, i started handloading for my .308 shortly after purchasing the rifle. I decided i had enough paying good $ for crappy factory loads.
I guess if you have hundred or thousands of .308 brass lying around, good reason to use those
Re: .308 brass--which brand do you prefer?
I favor the Lapua as well for all the above reasons and it's what Corbon was using (they had Winchester brass on my last purchase, but Lapua was hard to come by then), but do a lot of work with Winchester as that is what Black Hills (and some Corbon)uses... I have a box of 50 of the Norma Match Grade brass, but haven't loaded it yet... Will be loading it soon however and will post back my impressions of it...
I favor the Lapua as well for all the above reasons and it's what Corbon was using (they had Winchester brass on my last purchase, but Lapua was hard to come by then), but do a lot of work with Winchester as that is what Black Hills (and some Corbon)uses... I have a box of 50 of the Norma Match Grade brass, but haven't loaded it yet... Will be loading it soon however and will post back my impressions of it...
Re: .308 brass--which brand do you prefer?
For cheap brass I choose Remington over Wincherster, it is softer and easier to work. I am currently shooting a batch on its 9th go round. I have neck sized it about 5 of those times.
You might consider picking up some brass that wont make you feel so bad if it gets lost.
SScott
For cheap brass I choose Remington over Wincherster, it is softer and easier to work. I am currently shooting a batch on its 9th go round. I have neck sized it about 5 of those times.
You might consider picking up some brass that wont make you feel so bad if it gets lost.
SScott
Re: .308 brass--which brand do you prefer?
For .308:
Lapua (strong, most consistent out of the box)
Winchester / BH (must sort)
IMI Match (good stuff - hard to come by)
Federal (soft)
LC Match (good if you sort/tune)
Remington
Norma is great but soft
Have not tried Nosler
For .308:
Lapua (strong, most consistent out of the box)
Winchester / BH (must sort)
IMI Match (good stuff - hard to come by)
Federal (soft)
LC Match (good if you sort/tune)
Remington
Norma is great but soft
Have not tried Nosler
Re: .308 brass--which brand do you prefer?
With minimal FL/neck sizing with a Redding die, I have reloaded Lapua brass for a match chamber up to 48 times and disgarded without a case failure. Primer pockets were not real tight, but still held. This was fired in 1 rifle, shoulder bumped .002 and neck tension .002 at first and .003 later. Not sure why I threw it away. Now I would like to load to failure. I am now shooting so many rifles that I do not get that many rounds on one as quickly. Might need to sell some.
RTH
With minimal FL/neck sizing with a Redding die, I have reloaded Lapua brass for a match chamber up to 48 times and disgarded without a case failure. Primer pockets were not real tight, but still held. This was fired in 1 rifle, shoulder bumped .002 and neck tension .002 at first and .003 later. Not sure why I threw it away. Now I would like to load to failure. I am now shooting so many rifles that I do not get that many rounds on one as quickly. Might need to sell some.
RTH
Re: .308 brass--which brand do you prefer?
Lapua Brass is the best and now they come weighed in purple boxes, if you buy in bulk all the same lot. Most consistent, and excellent for run out. Won't have to trim nearly as often as most brass and flash holes are already cleaned of burr. Just size and go. Not cheap but you get what you pay for. Check around can still be had for under $60 a hundred.
Lapua Brass is the best and now they come weighed in purple boxes, if you buy in bulk all the same lot. Most consistent, and excellent for run out. Won't have to trim nearly as often as most brass and flash holes are already cleaned of burr. Just size and go. Not cheap but you get what you pay for. Check around can still be had for under $60 a hundred.
Re: .308 brass--which brand do you prefer?
I'm 7 + with my Nosler custom brass. I've found a sweet spot and haven't had to trim cases or squash necks yet
I'm 7 + with my Nosler custom brass. I've found a sweet spot and haven't had to trim cases or squash necks yet
Re: .308 brass--which brand do you prefer?
I have some Hornady match brass....Ordered Nosler custom and that was what turned up.....Not nearly as good as Lapua or nosler custom (Norma) as the weights are not as close....works OK but not happy with it.....should have taken it back but no-one had the others in stock when I needed it
I have some Hornady match brass....Ordered Nosler custom and that was what turned up.....Not nearly as good as Lapua or nosler custom (Norma) as the weights are not as close....works OK but not happy with it.....should have taken it back but no-one had the others in stock when I needed it
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