6.5x55 brass brand quality

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ackertjosh

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Hey all. So while digging trough dads old reloading stuff I came across a ziploc bag full of spent brass. Since I am not happy with the Remington brass I'm using right now in both my old swedes I decided I wanna try something different. In this bag was a mixture of brass I have never heard of before and I was hoping someone might be able to tell me if it's worth using or not. The markings on the back of 90 of them is NNY. Is that the prvi stuff from Yugoslavia? Is it any good. Next was about 20 Norma. I'm guessing that should be good brass. And about 10 that say PMC. I've seen the old PMC ammo but dunno anything about it. Should I stixk with that remington crap or is this stuff better? The reason is something is different with the Remington bass. I only neck size and am only getting 5 before I'm getting partial head space failure.

Thanks for your help
Josh
 
Norma is very good brass.and if i were you i would full length resize the first time you use any brass that has not gone thru your rifle. many brass come from varying sized chambers.
 
nny is old privi partizan, made in Serbia under communist control.
New privi partizan brass is marked ppu.

Its cheap crap. You should sell it to me and buy expensive norma brass with the money I give you.

All american brass have a .473" base and don't fit Swedish chambers so well. Real 6.5x55 brass are .480" and fit Swedish chambers quite well.
If you have a Winchester or Remington chambered in 6.5x55 the chambers are designed to use American (.473") ammunition and closing the chamber on proper Swedish (.480") ammo can be a tight fit. You will also need a different case holder for reloading to avoid either ripping off the rims or caving in the side of the off centre case.
Ask me how I know.....

My Win M70 in 6.5x55 accepts .473" base cases but closing the bolt on a .480" case feels like a reload someone forgot to size and then put an oversize bullet in the case.
Seems the Americans threw SAMI specs out the window in favor of utilizing standard 30-06 cases necked down and trimmed up for their ammunition and standard 30-06 bolt faces,magazines and reamer blanks for their gun manufacture as a cost cutting initiative.
Funny how all the reloading manuals say; DO NOT RESIZE 30-06 BRASS! It is dangerous and commercial brass for 6.5x55 is now available......but what does the factory do to make that brass that is now available? Resizes 30-06 brass in the factory.
 
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Anneal and trim-to-length those necks and they will last much longer, and shoot more accurately.
 
How hot are you loading? 5 times in a Mauser is not very good. I bought some Remington brass but have not used it yet. In a moment of weakness I bought 1000 prvi brass, I hold be ok for a while...
 
Steer clear of the Winchester brass too. There have been a few people here who have had significant defects right out of the bag (split necks).

Though I annealed the remainder of mine and it seems to be holding up to a few reloads anyway. I buy the Prvi stuff now, for my mauser.
 
All American-made 6.5X55 brass is undersized for CIP standard, they are more in the '06 base range dimensionally.

NNY are the cyrillic letters for PPU - for Prvi Partizan Uzice. Good brass and ammo for the price.
Lapua are my favourite, but I also use many others, like Norma, PPU, S&B....
 
Thanks all for the replies. But rifles are M96 actions. Numbers matching. Both have Boyd's stocks and new crate barrels from Tradeexcanada. There factory barrels and seem to be good. The load is 44.2 gr IMR 4831 with 140gr sierra game kings and federal 210 match primers. I have no clue of the velocity and none are showing signs of pressure yet. I never did like the Remington brass but I had a bunch of it so thought I would try it. After the first shots out of the brass everything was neck sized only and never interchanged.


Thanks again for your help and I'll try this stuff and see how it works
 
I have been reloading for about 10 years now. I have reloaded for 300 Weatherby, 338/378 Weatherby, 300WSM, 30/30, 22/250, 308 Norma, 30/06 and a host of others. I have used Norma, Weatherby, Nosler, Winchester, and just about every other brand of brass that is in common use and easly available in Canada and if the truth be known I have found at least in my case, none of em are any better than the other. I find just as many culls in a high dollar Nosler box of brass as I do in ell=chepo Winchester, or Remington brass. It is also possible that I am just not that good of a shot to notice the difference.
 
Thanks all!!! I have started using some of the NNY brass and find its alot nicer to work with over the remington. Also sits better in my Lee shell holder :D. I have made loads from 44 to 44.6 gr to see if pressures are different in these brass vs the Remington.. Im really hoping accuracy increases since im am hoping to use it as a 200-300 yard deer rifle.. Cannot beat the BC of a good ol 6.5x55 swede loaded with the right 140gr bullet.

Thanks again with for all the info
Josh
 
ackertjosh said:
Hey all. So while digging trough dads old reloading stuff I came across a ziploc bag full of spent brass. Since I am not happy with the Remington brass I'm using right now in both my old swedes I decided I wanna try something different. In this bag was a mixture of brass I have never heard of before and I was hoping someone might be able to tell me if it's worth using or not. The markings on the back of 90 of them is NNY. Is that the prvi stuff from Yugoslavia? Is it any good. Next was about 20 Norma. I'm guessing that should be good brass. And about 10 that say PMC. I've seen the old PMC ammo but dunno anything about it. Should I stixk with that remington crap or is this stuff better? The reason is something is different with the Remington bass. I only neck size and am only getting 5 before I'm getting partial head space failure.

Thanks for your help
Josh
Click to expand...

I've bought Lapua brass from Prophet River and I think it sells for around $80.00/100cases: Their reputation is well noted, but good brass is what you pay for. Norma brass is good. PMC is made in South Korea and although the brass isn't crap, I have a few (357mag) with the flash holes off center. If it's not terribly off center it will reload ok, but any further it is tough on decapping pins/stems. Haven't used Prvi or it's variants.

If you aren't looking for tack driving accuracy, I'd use up all the old brass and then standardize on one type as capacities differ slightly between different manufacturers (and even within lots) A freshly handloaded box of ammo, annealed necks on the Lapua brass and pretty Scenars pointing up is one of the wonders of this world. :)
 
Josh Just about any European made brass is going to fit your old swedes better than REm or Win cases that are made with a .476" head. I have used the NNY brass and it works very well. Nothing wrong with the PMC stuff either. Both of these brands will weigh slightly more than the Win or Rem cases so the internal capacity will be a little less. Max loads will be a grain or 2 LESS than the north American brass.
 
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