federal blue box or winchester super x

Suther

Suther

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Which has better brass? Federal in the blue box, (power shok?) Or winchester grey box (super x)??

I have a 303 on the way, and was planning on starting reloading with it and I figure the easiest way to get brass is by firing a few boxes of ammo.

If both of these brands are sub-par then what do you recommend? (I plan to get a lee loader, so I can't use once fired brass)
 
I have used both and accuracy wise they are the same. But if I had to pick I would go with fed blue because a lot of guys on here say its a good bullet for the money. Out of all the cheap bullets it seems to be a favorite after rem coe lokt which is 5 bucks more a box

Edit:lol I just realized he was comparing brass not ammo.
 
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I too started with the Lee Loader, and I was able to buy 1F brass on the EE that the seller was willing to full-length resize for me before shipping. Maybe put a want ad in the EE?

That said, most guys prefer Winchester brass over Federal - Federal brass is softer.

Also, there is a way to use a rubber elastic or similar around the base of the brass when firing that establishes proper headspace and allows you to neck size thereafter - maybe someone more knowledgeable than I can chime in with the details.
 
Barnes_270 said:
That said, most guys prefer Winchester brass over Federal - Federal brass is softer.
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I have a different experience, with .308 brass. I find Win brass to be softer, and it is definitely lighter. I've weighed Win/FC/RP/IVI cases and Win is consistently lighter, FC and RP about the same in the middle, IVI heaviest. If you are looking to get many cycles out of the brass, I believe heavier brass will last longer.
 
Ardent said:
It's the fashion to spout that Federal makes soft brass, the reality is it has lasted for me over five loadings now and I can't find a fault with it. But that's not a popular opinion on the internet, people know better. :) It's all decent.
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What are you loading it in?
 
Barnes_270 said:
I too started with the Lee Loader, and I was able to buy 1F brass on the EE that the seller was willing to full-length resize for me before shipping. Maybe put a want ad in the EE?

That said, most guys prefer Winchester brass over Federal - Federal brass is softer.

Also, there is a way to use a rubber elastic or similar around the base of the brass when firing that establishes proper headspace and allows you to neck size thereafter - maybe someone more knowledgeable than I can chime in with the details.
Click to expand...

As for the brass, I am going to buy a few boxes of ammo to put through the gun as soon as it shows up in the mail. I'll be going out to try the gun before I purchase the Lee Loader, so I figure I could kill two birds with one stone if I got whatever ammo has the best brass... Get some target practice in, assess how accurate the gun is, ect. AND get a pile of brass started for when I buy the Lee Loader soon after.

I have heard that federal brass is "soft" but that doesn't mean a whole lot to me, being new to reloading and all.

Last, I have heard of using an o-ring around the base of the brass to get perfect headspacing. It seems like a good idea.
 
Well - This response is entirely subjective. Having reloaded for 20 plus years, its fair to say that the quality of brass from a given manufacturer seems to vary over time, and perhaps production cycles. Winchester used to be very good brass, but the company seems to be pre-occupied with minimizing ammo production cost these days. Who knows, maybe Federal has gone the same route.
If I were you, I'd go the cheapest for now - you are buying factory ammo (expensive) to harvest brass. The alternative is to buy fresh brass - the Herters stuff from Ammo Mart is worth considering.
 
cosmic said:
If I were you, I'd go the cheapest for now - you are buying factory ammo (expensive) to harvest brass. The alternative is to buy fresh brass - the Herters stuff from Ammo Mart is worth considering.
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I am buying factory ammo to get out there and shoot the gun when it shows up. It'll be a few weeks before I can get all the other stuff I need to start reloading, and I dont want to wait that long to try the gun out. I figure I could get whatever has the nicest brass, because federal and winchester are basically the same price.

While buying fresh brass would certainly be an option down the road, I am already going to be buying these boxes and firing 'em, so I might as well hold onto the brass too.
 
dnepr said:
If it is a 303 British and you want the brass to last I would google
The o-ring trick , and. Neck size only
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Lee Classic Loader only necksizes. Thats why I can't buy once-fired brass. I also know of the o-ring trick, and plan to use it. (both of these have been covered in previous posts, actually, but thanks anyways, if I didn't know about the o-ring trick I would be googling it now.)
 
Question about the o-ring trick - I have a bunch of once-fired brass that was not fired using the o-ring trick. Would putting an o-ring on when firing them a second time after reloading them be beneficial?(with a lee loader, so they will be neck sized only) Or must it be on the first firing to work?
 
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