Best 204 brass?

[lmorrison17]

Who's making the best 204 brass? Has anyone surveyed all the current brands?

 

[acloco]

I have only seen three brands - Nosler, Winchester and Remington.

Have NOT tried the Nosler. In my opinion, the Winchester is junk. Buy the RP and never look back.

 

[fdshuster]

Recently bought a 50 count box of Hornady, $25) and am very impressed with the quality. Looks very similar to the Nosler Custom, but less cost.

 

[chuckw2]

I wonder who makes the Hornady brass or do you think they make it themselves?

 

[fdshuster]

When I compare it to Nosler Custom 22-250, it looks the same, except for the cartridge/ size. I'm using it to neck up to 22 cal. for my 222 Rem. mag., and after expanding the neck,, with the K&M mandrel), I check it for case neck run-out with the Sinclair coincintricity gage, and I get a max. of .002". With the high quality Lapua, neck expanding up to 6mm from 220 Russian, and necking down from 6BR to 22BR, I'll usually get .004"/.005" of neck run-out: it then straightens-out after the first firing. So for that "test", the Hornady seems to be very high quality, and at a fair price.

 

[fdshuster]

Comparing Hornady to Nosler, a closer look: the primer flash holes on the Hornady are punched-out & have burrs remaining on the inside of the case. No burrs on the Nosler, either drilled, or if punched, they removed the burrs. Case neck wall thickness checked with a tubing mic., shows the Hornady with a max. variation from .012" to .013". On a very few, 1 out of 20), neck wall could be .0115". Case neck wall thickness variation on the Nosler measures .0135" to .014". Some of the best I've ever checked: even beats Lapua and Norma in some samples. I'll not hesitate to use both. Nosler is pricier, and rightly so.

 

[vlcakc]

This question gets asked a lot. Very seldom will you get a definitive answer about domestic brass. I'm currently shooting Winchester, Remington, Hornady and Federal .204 cases. Quality is so inconsistent that I really can't pick out a "best". Some good, some poor in all the brands. None of it is match quality. However, any of the brands I listed with a little sorting and case prep will work satisfactorily for most purposes that a .204 would be used for. Vic

 

[lmorrison17]

Thanks to everyone who replied. Accuracy being the most important I think the Nosler custom will be the way to go.

 

[Cheetah]

After testing several brands I finally settled on Nosler. The lot that I have is every bit as consistant as any Lapua or norma brass that I have ever used. Case wall thickness is extremely uniform as is case to case weight. I was pleasantly suprised at the quality.

 

[wildcat284]

I brought 60 rounds of the Sellier & Bellot 32gr 204 ammunition which I used to run in my barrel, and its just on its second reload now. Great brass, and as uniform in weight as it probably should be. Haven't seen any Sellier & Bellot brass for reloading, just Winchester & Remington. I didn't know you could get Nosler Custom in .204 - hey if it's anything like the Nosler Custom .280 brass sitting with 120gr GS Custom projectiles ready for range testing on Friday then I will buy that rather than Winchester or Remington.

Regards,

Michael.