Remington vs Winchester brass?

[olympian]

Lapua and Winchester brass has always served me very well. Occasionally I will run across an inferior piece of Winchester brass in some aspect but I keep it around for fouling shots or off-hand practice. Lapua is much more consistent in weight than Winchester. For me, Remington has not been worth buying if Winchester or Lapua make the same round. The necks of R-P splits much sooner than W-W and the primer pockets get loose much faster even with light loads. Even in a small ring Mauser, the R-P brass does not last for me.

For some rounds, Lapua is the only brass to consider. For rifles that are hard on brass like an Ljungman AG-42, Prvi makes some heavy duty brass.

Starline is great pistol brass.

 

[Stonewall]

Winchester brass in the past years has been very good quality.
But recently I've found that you have to look very carefully before you buy any.

The usual problems that I have seen include the inside of the necks scratched when they expanded the necks.

This is the last lot of Winchester .220 Swift brass that I bought last year in Canada. None of the flash holes were centered. The Winchester area rep sent Winchester vouchers to replace it. But it's hard to shoot vouchers...

The lot that I checked before this one was benchrest quality in case run out and weight.

Canadian prices for brass are quite expensive now .
100 Winchester Swift brass =$100 CDN.....
Norma cases are impossible to find.

Glenn

 

[Varminator]

As with any manufacturer certain factors can affect the different calibers. Years ago I had a TC contender in 30-30.
I found at the time the once fired brass I bought by the bucket from a local dealer ranged all the way from junk to excellent.
Consistently the best brass hands down in that specific caliber was Federal with only PMC even being close. I was shooting a 165gr Hornady a little hot and it was quite obvious which brass was the strongest. Later I got a 7mm-08 in an XP-100 and it became again obvious that .243 Lapua was the only brass to use.
During this same Contender period I dabbled with a .223 and a 22-250 both in Remington rifles. I bought buckets of the .223 brass and sorted out all the Federals and would get good life before the primer pockets loosened,5-7 loadings)The only brass I had access to in the 22-250 was the Remington and a little Winchester, I could only get a couple loadings from either. I now attribute this to large chambers more than the brass; As recently,the past four years) when shooting 22-250,just dabbling) I've been using Nosler and fire-forming using the same false shoulder technique as I use for my Dashers,6mm and 22)and it seems to be extending the brass life. One of the guys at the range I frequent here in SoCal has a Savage 22-250 precision varminter and was able to chamber and shoot my reloads that are .010' or more measured from base to datum than the OEM Noslers which surprised me because I just figured my chamber was too long.
The point emerges:
All brass stretches when chambered loose.
Lapua is the best in 6BR Norma and all the wildcats,Dasher,BRX etc).
Nosler, Winchester and Remington are very close in 22-250 but Winchester seems to be the hardest. Nosler is the best quality.
Lapua in .243 and 7mm-08 works best.
My advice? Assuming you handload, try having Mike Bryant rechamber your 22-250 barrel to 22Dasher and put a muzzle brake on. Don't look back.
Mark
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[cold_hunter]

well to throw a wrench in all this info, i use mostly RP brass with real good luck. I load hot and get good groups. I neck size mostly and have fired alot of my cases 10 times. I also use the Lee Factory Crimp Die. Everything I do seems to be wrong but man Ill tell you I have saved alot of groups in the .1's to prove my point, its all in what YOUR GUN LIKES

 

[1000yardstare]

Stonewall: The supply situation is starting to ease north of the border. Just bought 100 Win .223 cases for $33 in Toronto. Powder and primers are available. Competition bullets are tight but lots of hunting bullets.

Have used both Win and RP brass for 40 years in benchrest, F Class and hunting rifles. Win lasts much longer, no comparison.

 

[cliffy]

C'mon! Lapua has no reasonably-priced peer qualitywise, Hornady is close-behind, Norma is SO expensive as to be a ridiculous consideration, with Remington close-behind, if slightly sucking hind tit due to requiring more initial preparation. Still, I consider Remington GREAT Brass for the dollars spent. Winchester is currently battling third-world market quality with too many uncorrectable brass variables, accuracywise, in my opinion. Cliffy

 

[Phil]

The ONLY Remington brass i own and use is the .221 Fireball/20VarTarg.......Cause Lapua/Norma/Winchester don`t make it.......

 

[1000yardstare]

Fireformed a new lot of Win .223 brass of recent manufacture in my MacLennon 30 inch 8 twist barrel. Necks not turned, not sorted by weight. All flash holes centered. Good looking lot of brass. Load is H4895, CCI 450, 80 AMax. Chronos at 2935 fps. Have to use a faster powder because the AMax jacket is so thin it will deform if seated over even a slightly compressed powder charge. Shot at 300 metres,330 yds) off a bench, bipod, rear bag. Gusty head wind, no wind flags. Wind switching so fast no boil in the mirage. Did my best on wind direction using the mirage. Got the following 5 shot group which scores 50-3x on the International F Class target. Inner lite-line is 1/2 minute X-ring. Inner dark-line is 1 minute 10 ring. Other rings irrelevant. Not bad for 'third world brass'. Will use this brass in the ORA and DCRA Prize Meets this Summer in Canada. Now if it would only stop raining!!!!!!!!!!

 

[oregonshooter]

Well..... if that doesn't make the whole thing just as clear as mud I don't know what does! We have people, cliffe) that claim Winchester is junk, we have people that claim Remington is soft and others that claim they love both but that Norma or lapua is the best. I think it is safe to say that each company makes brass that is more then' good enough' but that a careful search through the brass you buy, may show that all brass is not created equal even if that is what Winchester, Remington, and Nosler intended.
As for the expensive stuff? I have more time then money and will do case prep rather then pay the big dollar brass price. Besides, I must be one of the true nuts as i enjoy case prep! Jeff