Experience with Nosler and Hornady brass

[Cimarron2011]

I have a couple hundred rounds each of Nosler and Hornady brass in .308, and I am just starting to reload. I know that the first and second choices for most on the board are Lapua and Norma. So how do Nosler and Hornady stack up?

 

[SS427]

I bought 50 each of Nosler .22-250 and .270 Win brass, thinking they would be better than the brass I was currently using, which was mostly Winchester, with some RP and Frontier. The Nosler was better than the RP, but I can't say it was any better than the Winchester or Frontier brass. Runout with the .22-250 brass was equal between the two and in the .270 the Winchester brass was actually better regarding runout. I can't say which will last longer as I don't shoot either of them all that often.

 

[Larryh128]

The Nosler brass is pretty decent. I use it in several hunting calibers with no issues. In my OPINION it's better than most & mostly prepped out of the box.
It's not better than Lapua, IMI, or Lake City but I would put it equal to Norma & it could be.

 

[DHD]

I have a couple hundred rounds each of Nosler and Hornady brass in .308, and I am just starting to reload. I know that the first and second choices for most on the board are Lapua and Norma. So how do Nosler and Hornady stack up?

Never used Nosler 308, but I have used the Hornady Match 308 extensively. It is very good. I have a hundred pieces that I weighed out of my hoard and it has 9 loads so far. I do anneal every other time and I do have to trim just about every time (just a clean up to maintain 2.020"), but I am anal and my time is my time.

Never had to trim Lapua Palma brass that has about 6 loads on, but it I use a mildish load in it. I have leaned pretty hard on the Hornady brass before and I do not have any loose pockets yet.

 

[jscandale]

You only have one type of brass there. Nosler is Hornady brass.

JS

 

[dennisinaz]

I bought some 260 Rem brass from Nolser. The necks were so thin that I could not resize the cases enough with a standard die to give adequate neck tension for safe field load. Nosler said they were within specs. I will never buy another piece of their brass. There are several companies in the shooting sports business that are very arrogant. I will not throw them all under the proverbial bus, but they absolutely refuse to acknowledge that anything could ever be wrong with their products. I know of two barrel makers, two bullet makers and one gunsmith that fall under this umbrella. I don't do business with them anymore.

 

[DukeDuke]

I have some 308 Hornady Match brass and I like it a lot! Their Frontier brass from the light magnum ammo I kept 10+ years ago, still going strong without annealing it. Pretty impressive, considering the hot loads I use.

 

[liltank]

Don't shoot high pressure loads in the Norma. Cousin lost 3 pcs in the first firing with loose primer pockets doing pressure testing. Brand new, never fired. It was with 168 Nosler CC bullets, F210M's, and 46.0 Varget. Brass couldn't handle it. I would say 43.5-44.5 with 168-175 grain bullets and RL15 or Varget from our experience.

 

[SS427]

JS - where did you get the info that Nosler is Hornady brass? I've heard that Nosler brass is Norma brass (with a price to match), but it can also be provided by other vendors and head stamped as Nosler. This is about a great of mystery as the distance Cooper shoots their test targets at. I've yet to see solid proof on either.

 

[A_Gamehog]

jscandale wrote:

You only have one type of brass there. Nosler is Hornady brass.

Not true,



Nosler Brass is made by Norma in Sweden. Need proof? here's a picture taken by a friend at Nosler's plant in Bend where his wife works.

When they first started loading their "Custom" ammo they used Winchester prepped brass.

 

[SS427]

That's a convincing argument. Does she have any pictures of the Cooper test range?

 

[Longshooter70]

Using a load developed in another type brass, like Winchester, in Nosler brass will cause problems. If I remember right, 46gr of Varget is Hodgdon's max load for a 168. The case volume of Nosler is considerably less than that of Winchester brass. You can achieve close to the same pressure with less powder. As ALWAYS, when changing components, start low and work up. All brass ain't created equal....

John

 

[plinker625]

You only have one type of brass there. Nosler is Hornady brass.

JS

Please advise how this verified?

 

[searcher]

If you are loading for plinking, informal target shooting and hunting, they will serve you as well as Lapua or anything else you get your hands on. The Norma and Lapua are the "Rolls Royce", for serious target shooters who have custom dies that ever-so-slightly size the case (or not at all) after each firing, resulting in extraordinary case life - like maybe 30 loadings or more, depending on how hot the loads are and the caliber. For an average guy who is going to full-length resize his brass for hunting, plinking or informal target shooting using "inexpensive factory" dies, the brass will be greatly short-lived comparatively, but will be so no matter who makes it. You might get a few less loadings out of the Hornady - but they really are both good products. If I were you, I would learn reloading on the brass you have at hand. If money is no object (and when is not???) buy only Lapua.

 

[K22]

I have limited experience with Hornady brass in the 223 Rem. So far I've got about 12 reloads on mine and I have no complaints. There were no defects (split necks, cold laps) in the lot of 50 I purchased. With Winchester I almost always experience 2 -5 % unusable defective cases, less so with Remington.

The only issue that surprised me was that the new cases were slightly over sized. Since I run all new cases through a full length sizing die this wasn't an issue. Perhaps the lot I had was unique but I'd check them first if you don't full length resize.

 

[rhovee]

Hornady brass is junk. Loaded some for a 300 win mag. Loose primer pockets after 1 firing. Case volume was same as Norma. Loaded 6 Times with Norma brass and no issues. Same load. I won’t ever buy it again. But your correct in case volume differences in brass and using same load. I had some new unicorn lapua 300 win mag brass and its volume is less than either mentioned. Long story short, blew the primers out of Hornady bras with a load that was 1.5 grains less than what I wanted shooting in lapua brass. Thought I accounted for brass difference but not enough. The bolt head wore a Hornady name tag.

 

[Shynloco]

jscandale wrote:



Not true,;;Nosler Brass is made by Norma in Sweden...

/QUOTE]

Gamehog is correct. In my experiences, I've found that the "pecking order" in terms of quality is Lapua, Norma, Nosler and then all the rest (inferior brass sold today that includes Hornady which is good for hunting, but not precision shooting) except the newly released brass made here in the US, Peterson (I think thats the name). Haven't used any of it so I can't speak about it, but have read good reviews about it. Only problem is that it is only currently made in some 3 or 4 calibers and I have plenty of Lapua for my rifles. Nosler is certainly good enough especially for a new reloader to learn the ins and outs of reloading for accuracy.

Alex

 

[Bbear]

Have used primarily Lapua and Hornady Match in my 308. I'm at 8 loads on the Hornady. Mainly a hunting load and fairly high pressure to boot. I use Nosler in my 264 WM loading RL33 up to 3200 fps. I'm on my 4th loading with these.
Out of the box, the Hornady needs some work to get ready to load - sizing, neck-sizing chamfer etc. The Nosler I have pretty much just run through a neck-sizer and load.

 

[bbarber25]

I won’t buy Nosler Brass ever again. I got .300 Win. mag brass and primer pockets were undersized in depth, OAL was Undersized measured with depth Mic and calipers. Emailed Nosler about it they basically told me it was close enough and that was it, didn’t ask to send it in or anything. I cut over .006” out of the primer pockets before I could get a Fed215M to seat flush with the case head and fire formed it. Nosler is the only brass I’ve ever had in my rifle that I must fireform to get good groups. Virgin will shoot 2” at 100 and once fired will shoot 1/2”. Made it work, got two firings and primer pockets were lose. Called Peterson and got 100 cases from them, awesome brass. No prep, load and go, weight variation of 50 pieces was under 1gr. Much thicker brass and primer pockets are still super tight with 3 firings on them. I run 215gr Berger’s at 3,030fps so I’m not easy on brass. Picture is the first group I shot with virgin Peterson Brass.

 

[moondog]

I bought 500 pieces of Nosler 7SAUM
brass about 5 years ago. After 3 firings I noticed the body of the cases were starting to split. I needed a magnifying glass to see it.
Maybe I just got a bad early lot. At $2 apiece,
I am not happy. My Remmington brass has held up much better.