Norma 223 Brass Cases Compared to Lapua, PPU and Lake City

[Zero333]

I have Lapua, L.C., F.C., PPU and Winchester 223rem brass. I've had best results with the Winchester... ( I always let the target tell the story ).
Winchester brass never seems to wear out and Lapua brass didn't give me any better accuracy than Winchester brass.

I have 308win Winchester brass on it's 31st cycle (300 pieces). It's been through a few 308win barrels and by the look of things, it's got

For all the brass I de-burred inside the flash-holes,.. primer pocket depth uniformed,.. chamfer primer pockets and chamfered inside case necks. Annealed every 5 reloads. No-neck turning on any of the brass.

I can say 308win Winchester brass and 243win Winchester brass are the same story,.. While 300winmag Winchester Brass was not as good as once fired F.C. (from FGMM ammo) in the same 300winmag chamber.

At all costs AVOID Remington brass. It's pure Garbage. Never even seen Rem brass with a centered flash-hole, let alone a flash-hole that's perfectly round.

 

[searcher]

I have Lapua, L.C., F.C., PPU and Winchester 223rem brass. I've had best results with the Winchester... ( I always let the target tell the story ).
Winchester brass never seems to wear out and Lapua brass didn't give me any better accuracy than Winchester brass.

I have 308win Winchester brass on it's 31st cycle (300 pieces). It's been through a few 308win barrels and by the look of things, it's got

For all the brass I de-burred inside the flash-holes,.. primer pocket depth uniformed,.. chamfer primer pockets and chamfered inside case necks. Annealed every 5 reloads. No-neck turning on any of the brass.

I can say 308win Winchester brass and 243win Winchester brass are the same story,.. While 300winmag Winchester Brass was not as good as once fired F.C. (from FGMM ammo) in the same 300winmag chamber.

At all costs AVOID Remington brass. It's pure Garbage. Never even seen Rem brass with a centered flash-hole, let alone a flash-hole that's perfectly round.

I agree - the Winchester brass, I think, is a lot better than some give credit. I acquired maybe 3,000 pieces of .223 Remington brass a long time ago when we had another "shortage". No joke about those flash holes! I needed some badly for my .20 Practical (A/R) After necking down, I turned the necks, uniformed the pockets, rejected the really bad flash hole brass and it shot acceptably well, though it was very noticeable how often I had to trim compared to everything else I had shot previously (LC, Winchester, Nosler, Lapua, etc.). Still, I got an average of 7 or 8 loadings on mild .20 Practical loads - which is only a few loadings less than other brass. Shot good groups after all the prep. I'd not buy it again unless in a jam. I get about 10-12 firings on the Winchester brass in my 7 MM Rem Mag bolt rifle with some pretty warm loads.

 

[searcher]

I appreciate knowing the difference on the origin of the brass. I'd guess the headstamps with numbers are brass originally made for the military contracts?

 

[Zero333]

I appreciate knowing the difference on the origin of the brass. I'd guess the headstamps with numbers are brass originally made for the military contracts?

Yes.. But be careful of the stuff with worn out headstamps. Also military brass has crimped primer pockets so you'll have to remove the crimps. There are different ways of doing it. But at the end not worth it unless there is nothing else available.

Only new L.C. ( Lake City ) military 5.56x45 is worth it because it's doesn't have the primer pockets crimped yet and it's of decent quality.

Pretty much all 223 / 5.56x45 once fired brass from factory ammo has had it's primer pockets crimped.

 

[urbanrifleman]

How much is Norma 223/556 primed?

 

[searcher]

Yes.. But be careful of the stuff with worn out headstamps. Also military brass has crimped primer pockets so you'll have to remove the crimps. There are different ways of doing it. But at the end not worth it unless there is nothing else available.

Only new L.C. ( Lake City ) military 5.56x45 is worth it because it's doesn't have the primer pockets crimped yet and it's of decent quality.

Pretty much all 223 / 5.56x45 once fired brass from factory ammo has had it's primer pockets crimped.

Yes - I have used many thousands of pieces of Lake City, both the unfired and the once fired. I haven't seen the unfired version around in a while.

 

[iukamedic]

I’ve used both. Primed and unprimed. Some from a while back (maybe 2years) and some this year (the primed brass). I use it for most of my service rifle loads. The primed brass I wasn’t impressed with. Brass is fine but I pierced some primers with standard service rifle loads. I’ve since decided to load the remainder of my primed brass with plinking stuff.

 

[BillC79]

I updated my review of Norma brass after completing more tests with Norma High Performance brass made in Sweden. Two panels from the revised review are below. See full review with revised conclusions at:

Norma 223 Remington Brass Compared to Lapua, PPU and Lake City

Also, at the time of this post, Norma Shooting USA (normashooting.com) sells the Norma High Performance brass for $0.35/case and offers free shipping.

 

[Clayton Halford]

This was posted on powdervalleys website. Stating their primed Norma brass was from Sweden.

 

[BillC79]

This was posted on powdervalleys website. Stating their primed Norma brass was from Sweden.

Thanks for posting this information on the current Powder Valley website which contradicts what a Powder Valley representative informed me by email in August, 2023. At that time in response to my question on the country of origin and lot number of SKU: NOR121201893 that I purchased, the rep stated, “After reaching out, it looks like the brass is from Norma in Hungary and the primers are from Norma in Germany. Unfortunately, we were unable to get a lot number …..”

At this time, it may be best to characterize the primed Norma brass identified in the graphs as “Norma Hungary Primed” that I studied as “Primed Norma Brass (SKU: NOR121201893)” obtained in July, 2023 from Powder Valley. Without specific clarification from Powder Valley, Inc or Norma Shooting USA, it is reasonable to suggest the possibility that “Primed Norma Brass” purchased in the USA market over time may be sourced from two or more international manufacturing locations.

As indicated in the posts by Ned and others, there can be significant lot-to-lot variation in case weight and volume from the same manufacturer in the same country that may be of importance to precision shooters.

 

[RegionRat]

I have had several distributors make a mistake in what they stated as the origin of stuff they sold me.

Another case of caveat emptor at play.

In the end it is another lesson in re-learning what we should already know, i.e., that you have to learn to manage your purchase batch size in order to avoid surprises and if the shooting is critical verify everything by inspection and trust nobody.

Thanks again for sharing the work Bill.

 

[Clayton Halford]

Yes, Bill, you’re awesome. Thank you.

I should have my results in a couple of days and I will report my findings.

 

[BillC79]

As part of a LARGER STUDY on 223 Rem brass for AR-15 service rifle, I looked at lot-to-lot variations among 5 brands of brass. Lapua and Norma had the smallest lot-to-lot variation compared to PPU and Starline. It provides further support for the practice mentioned by Region Rat and others of managing lot size purchases and examining new lots, even from the same manufacturer if you are concerned about precision shooting. The data further reinforced the perception/opinion that Lapua produces the highest quality brass cases.

 

[DIBBS]

Any additional reports on long term multiple firing durability?

 

[BillC79]

Any additional reports on long term multiple firing durability?

Others may have more experience and can comment. With Norma primed brass (SKU: NOR121201893), I'm only out to 3 reloads with no problems. I'll try to short cycle a small batch of brass and take it out to neck/primer pocket failure to get an estimate of durability.

 

[DIBBS]

I'm getting ready to fireform some 223 Ackley Improved loads with mine, and may try to torture test a handful to get some information to post back here. Actually not torture , just get a few loadings after fireforming and see how the primer pockets hold up. I believe I have both 223 and 556 headstamped brass, don't know if there is any difference other than the letters/numbers. However we've got a few storms that are going to be rolling through, so it may take a while.

 

[762willdo]

If your fire forming 223ai and your running high pressure loads do your self a favor and pull those Norma primers they puncture very easy, I collected all of them and put them in a zip lock and on a shelf…..

 

[DIBBS]

@762willdo thank you for the suggestion. Much appreciated.

 

[BillC79]

I’ve finished up my evaluation of 223 Norma brass as a replacement for Lapua brass in my match bolt-action rifles. Although Norma Primed brass (SKU NOR121201893) had thin case neck walls, 21 cases that were tested held up well to 8 reloadings and 9 firings without development of neck splits or loosening of primer pockets. Both Norma High Performance brass and Norma Primed brass provided excellent performance in loads worked up for 600 yard and 1000 yard bolt-action match rifles.

The REVISED REVIEW contains details and data.

 

[KMW 1954]

Today I was just given 82pcs of Norma 5.56x45 that was just fired today from the same rifle which I gladly accepted.

I have loaded and shot a lot of Norma 223 and Norma 223 that was staked. I witnessed no difference between the two and am just as curious to see if there is a difference with the 5.56 head stamp.