New brass vs factory loaded brass

[Huntersuave]

My question is this...is new brass different than the brass they use for factory ammunition? Weather it be lapua, nosler any other for that matter. Reason I'm asking is I'm being cheap and don't want to foot the bill for new unprimed cases when I have stores of factory ammunition at home. When once they are both fired ive come to the same brass as if I had purchased new ones

 

[SSL]

Same stuff. Doing it your way saves having to load the brass and fire it for that first fire-forming. Your empties will more closely resemble your chamber. Good place to start.

 

[Huntersuave]

Same stuff. Doing it your way saves having to load the brass and fire it for that first fire-forming. Your empties will more closely resemble your chamber. Good place to start.

Thanks for the reply

 

[mikecr]

Depends on the cartridge & brands

 

[jepp2]

Reason I'm asking is I'm being cheap and don't want to foot the bill for new unprimed cases when I have stores of factory ammunition at home.

You don't mention what cartridge you are shooting. I rarely can find any factory loads that have the brass I want and provide the accuracy I desire. Then I have to factor in the barrel life part of the equation for cost. But if the economics work for you, go for it. And if it is quality factory loads, the cost might be 2-3X of what my loads cost.

 

[Homerange]

Very occasionally shooters leave me some once fired Lapua factory loads brass but never frequently enough !

 

[Huntersuave]

You don't mention what cartridge you are shooting. I rarely can find any factory loads that have the brass I want and provide the accuracy I desire. Then I have to factor in the barrel life part of the equation for cost. But if the economics work for you, go for it. And if it is quality factory loads, the cost might be 2-3X of what my loads cost.

I'm specifically talking about my 6.5cm...I have nosler match grade, hornady superformance and hornady precision hunter factory ammo. I couldn't find any 6.5cm brass but lots of creedmoor factory ammo. So I buy the factory stuff and reload them. I've also never bought new cases for any of the calibers I have. Never saw a point really as they were more for hunting. I recently bought the creedmoor though for target.

 

[6ShotsOr5?]

I don’t think you’ll save any money, just the time for that first loading (the easiest loading if you don’t run the cases through your dies). The few times I’ve bought loaded ammo with cases that I wanted, the ammo cost was higher to cover the cost of the good brass. No free lunch.

 

[dgeesaman]

I'm specifically talking about my 6.5cm...I have nosler match grade, hornady superformance and hornady precision hunter factory ammo. I couldn't find any 6.5cm brass but lots of creedmoor factory ammo. So I buy the factory stuff and reload them. I've also never bought new cases for any of the calibers I have. Never saw a point really as they were more for hunting. I recently bought the creedmoor though for target.

With what you’ve been doing that makes plenty of sense. But Hornady brass is not particularly tough or perfectly consistent so for the Creedmoor you might try buying Peterson, Alpha, or Lapua brass because it’s just so consistent and tough.

Berger brand loaded ammo uses Lapua brass, if you can find it. But given current conditions I’d shoot the stuff you have and back order or keep an eye out for 100 Pcs of the better stuff.

David

 

[Ned Ludd]

One difference between virgin brass purchased as brass and virgin brass purchased as loaded ammunition is that the brass purchased as loaded ammunition will may not all be from the same Lot #, especially if you buy a large amount of loaded ammunition, or purchase it at different times, or from different vendors. If you want to be certain the brass is all from the same Lot#, it's better to buy it as brass, not loaded ammunition. Nonetheless, I shot mixed Lot # Lapua .308 Win brass that had been purchased as loaded ammunition for several years and it shot great. I weight-sorted the cases, which likely improved the case volume consistency a bit.