Brass, cheap or expensive?

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pshore

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Hey guys,

I'm fairly new to shooting but I really want to get out and practice my technique without breaking the piggy bank wide open. In the next few months I'll have access to a reloading setup that I can use to start loading for my 30-06 and I'd like to get some opinions on a good source for brass casings as there seems to be many different sources. I see a bunch of guys sell their brass on the EE in bulk which seems like a good cheap source. If I wanted to collect my own brass though I'd like to know if there is a big difference between the brass from premium hunting ammo and the super cheap target stuff? Would the brass from the budget target ammo be ok to reload with or should I just buy a bag of once fired brass or even brand new casings?

Thanks!
 
Depends on what kind of ammo you want to load.

If it's just generic practice ammo, most any brass will do.

If your after precision luapa is the cats ass for brass. And you'll pay accordingly.
 
I never purchase once fired brass. I start with Lapua whenever possible,and it lasts me a long time, so the cost is spread out over many loadings.
 
I just use the cheap Remington stuff. Neck size, trim to length, chamfer, flash hole deburr, and get 5/8" group at 100 3 shot from my A bolt. Not exactly super awesome, but decent. It will get better after fire forming I would think. I need way more practice at 500+ yards to need more. I should get 4-5 loadings at least. (270 win just under max load)
 
Realistically I don't need precision. I'm looking for both something to practice with, as well as a good hunting load. does it make sense to load cheap rounds for practice and then upgrade the brass and bullets for hunting? Or would I be better served to stick with one loading for consistency?
 
pshore said:
Realistically I don't need precision. I'm looking for both something to practice with, as well as a good hunting load. does it make sense to load cheap rounds for practice and then upgrade the brass and bullets for hunting? Or would I be better served to stick with one loading for consistency?
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Depends what ranges you hunt at. If you are inside 200-300yds, premium brass probably wont make much of a difference.
Cheap brass can be made consistent. Generally speaking if you size and trim them all and then weight sort (there are several different techniques for this; Google is your friend) you can get pretty consistent. With cheap Remington brass that has been properly taken care of and weight sorted by batch I can shoot a little under 1/2 MoA out to 300yds. Premium brass already has this done for you and allows for a few more reloads than cheap brass.
Different bullets of the same weight can have different points of impact with the same powder charge. You can practice with cheap bullets (FMJ or something) but make sure to sight in with your proper hunting loads as they could be a little different. Practising with different bullets than you hunt with isn't a problem unless you don't resight before hunting. Sometimes the two bullets might only be 1/4" different at 100yds. Other times it could be 2" off. No one can tell you that without trying it with your rifle.
 
Pshore, in .30-06 there really is no such thing as "cheap target shooting ammo" so any of the major brands of once fired will give you a great start to reloading. First time around I wouldn't even bother sorting by head stamp. Later on when you start looking for the icing on the cake THEN you can worry about separating by head stamp along with a whole other bunch of the small details.

So start off with a batch of the cheap once fired. And start scrounging the brass buckets.
 
We're willing to pay more for Lapua brass because there are less rejects, less prep work required, and it's far more consistent. If you are shooting long range or in competition this matters. If you're looking for shorter range hunting or practice ammo buying once fired brass or scrounging from the brass bucket at your range will save you a fair bit of money, but the amount of prep you have to put into it for your purposes will determine whether it's worth it or not.
 
BCRider said:
Pshore, in .30-06 there really is no such thing as "cheap target shooting ammo" so any of the major brands of once fired will give you a great start to reloading. First time around I wouldn't even bother sorting by head stamp. Later on when you start looking for the icing on the cake THEN you can worry about separating by head stamp along with a whole other bunch of the small details.

So start off with a batch of the cheap once fired. And start scrounging the brass buckets.
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I know there is no such thing as cheap target ammo, I was refering to an $18-$20 box vs a $40-$50 box. I just didn't know how much of a difference there was in the quality of the brass and what that difference that would make on the range. Thanks for the info about headstamps and scrounging at the range. I'll have to keep my eye out!
 
I have to agree with this, for plinking/practice ammo you really don't need anything premium at all. I like Remington brass for loads like this, seems to last me a little longer and not need much prep. I was surprised to find my once fired Norma brass to have really tight primer pockets but they all needed uniforming to get primers flush let alone below flush. I don't think I'll buy Norma again. Lapua has been great but I save it for my bolt and precision loads. I wouldn't waste it on plinking ammo. Just read a reloading book or two and follow instructions closely for safeties sake. Then once you get the hang of using the tools and spotting problems you can move onto making things more consistent.

BCRider said:
Pshore, in .30-06 there really is no such thing as "cheap target shooting ammo" so any of the major brands of once fired will give you a great start to reloading. First time around I wouldn't even bother sorting by head stamp. Later on when you start looking for the icing on the cake THEN you can worry about separating by head stamp along with a whole other bunch of the small details.

So start off with a batch of the cheap once fired. And start scrounging the brass buckets.
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^ Exactly. You've got a whole lot of playing around you can do with the cheaper once fired major names before you reach a point where the quality of the brass becomes a significant issue. When you start thinking that a new stock for your rifle so it fits in a custom made sled sounds like a grand plan THEN you'll also be thinking that it's time to buy some Lapua brass.
 
Thanks Rider and Supernova for your input! I'll be sourcing out some once fired brass and scrounging at the range for more. I'm definitely going to pick up a couple books on reloading. I was thinking of the Lyman manual to start. Any others I should look at as well? I won't be attempting to reload by myself either, I will have somebody much more knowledgable and experienced showing me how to do it safely.
 
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