Loaded some onced fired by me brass from some factory 168 Nosler custom competition rounds that I bought on sale from midway a couple years ago. I have been using lapua brass in my 308. I usually put my hand loads on a dial indicator and spin the bullets and necks for runout. The Lapua is very good but tonight I discovered that the Nosler tested better and was actually more consistent. Has anyone noticed Nosler brass being of this kind of quality? Also how well will it hold up to multiple loadings?
Eye opener with Nosler once fired brass
- Thread starter amax
- Start date
amax said:
Yes, I have noticed that too. My experience with Lapua has been less than stellar. Lapua had about the same percentage of folded neck/shoulder junctions and split necks as any other brand (about 2%). One really weird condition was Lapua .22-250 brass that seemed to have a few distorted primer pockets that wouldn't accept a pocket uniformer. The uniformer would stick about half-way down then jam as it tried to cut into one side of the primer pocket. I concluded the pocket/head was somehow curved! That lot of Lapua brass was the only time I encountered that particular problem in fifty years of loading. Another problem was that some cases would fire form normally, then refuse to chamber after full length resizing. I tried everything, measured every dimension, annealed and resized, finally gave up. Some mysteries aren't worth the problem to solve, especially when Winchester brass works perfectly and is inexpensive and Nosler brass is available.
Nosler cases however had no defects, is very consistent and works without a lot of hassle. I still have to uniform the primer pockets to get the correct depth, but I'd do that anyway. I use Nosler .204 Ruger, .223 Remington, .22-250 Remington, also form it to .22-250 Ackley in a hydraulic forming die, 6.5x284 Norma, and .308 Winchester brass, it loads virtually without runout. I have yet to have any cases wear out, so I gauge case life to be equal to the others depending on the load and headspace.
Thanks I guess I have been under a component rock lately. I was just surprised when I ran 50 loaded rounds through the concentricity gauge and the dial indicator never moved over 2 thousandths when placed on the bullet or neck. My Lapua was really good also, but the nosler was more consistent.
As I understand it, it is Norma brass, finish-prepped by Nosler. I am very impressed with the quality: extremly uniform wall (neck) thickness, drilled primer pockets, uniform weight, cahmfered, etc... I use it for a .204. Can't tell how many loading to expect...
The recent batch of Laupua that I got for a new caliber (6.5-284) was very dissappointing, I had to do a lot of turning. If the Nosler was available when I started with that cal. I would have went for it immediately.
That said, I hear they all very time to time... maybe someday I'll get some "good" Lapua, and some "bad" Nosler.
The recent batch of Laupua that I got for a new caliber (6.5-284) was very dissappointing, I had to do a lot of turning. If the Nosler was available when I started with that cal. I would have went for it immediately.
That said, I hear they all very time to time... maybe someday I'll get some "good" Lapua, and some "bad" Nosler.
About the time I come to a conclusion about something like this I am encounter facts that degrade my conclusion. I really like Nosler bullets and I think there brass is very good, but here is what I have found:
I have 50 Nosler .270 Win brass I use for hunting. After some testing, I have concluded that the Winchester .270 Win brass I have turns out more concentric loads and is more accurate. So much for my expensive Nosler .270 brass. My Nosler .22-250 brass never produced any smaller groups then the Winchester and RP brass I owned, so can't say it was worth buying the Nosler brass in this case either.
Bought 100 Norma .221 Fireball brass several months ago and the stuff is fantastic. Much of Nosler's brass is made by Norma, which is why I bring this up. The cases were very uniform and I didn't lose a single one while resizing to 20 VarTarg or while fire forming. Just got 200 rounds of Lapua .221 Fireball brass, and out of the box the stuff looks really good. Time will tell if it is better, worse or the same as the Norma brass. Nosler .221 Fireball brass is about 20% more expensive then either of them, so doubt I will be buying any of it.
Other than the Lapua 6BR and 220 Russian brass I use, the best I can say is roll the dice and see what happens. I don't think you can count on a predictable outcome with any of the stuff.
I have 50 Nosler .270 Win brass I use for hunting. After some testing, I have concluded that the Winchester .270 Win brass I have turns out more concentric loads and is more accurate. So much for my expensive Nosler .270 brass. My Nosler .22-250 brass never produced any smaller groups then the Winchester and RP brass I owned, so can't say it was worth buying the Nosler brass in this case either.
Bought 100 Norma .221 Fireball brass several months ago and the stuff is fantastic. Much of Nosler's brass is made by Norma, which is why I bring this up. The cases were very uniform and I didn't lose a single one while resizing to 20 VarTarg or while fire forming. Just got 200 rounds of Lapua .221 Fireball brass, and out of the box the stuff looks really good. Time will tell if it is better, worse or the same as the Norma brass. Nosler .221 Fireball brass is about 20% more expensive then either of them, so doubt I will be buying any of it.
Other than the Lapua 6BR and 220 Russian brass I use, the best I can say is roll the dice and see what happens. I don't think you can count on a predictable outcome with any of the stuff.
The only Nosler brass that I have is in 6.5 Creedmoor. It is exceptional! With the Creedmoor you have only three choices Hornady, Nosler or, form your own. The Hornady is so soft that the primer pockets may not withstand a single hot load. The Nosler comes preped and ready to go. It is very consistant and durable. I will have to try Nosler in my other calibers.
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