hmmm. I had some Federal .30-06 brass which I thought was 2-3x fired, but after firing some of the last batch of reloads, I had case splitting down near the base. I pulled the bullets and ditched the brass. I had not had any .30-06 brass 'fail' after so few firings. They are 'stiff' loadings but not 'hot'. The nickel plated Remington brass is at 6 or 7 firings now and ok so far...
Federal brass...how good is it?
- Thread starter Crashman
- Start date
Federal brass is usually a bit on the "soft" side, and will open primer pockets with loads that work just fine in Winchester brass. The match brass is failrly consistent, but will not stand up if you are loading max working loads in it. I prefer other brands [read Lapua & Winchester] if I can get it. Eagleye.
I don't prefer any one brand, it all depends on calibre. Federal makes the best .30-30 brass, Winchester the best .45 Colt, etc. I've never had good luck with anything from the green box. Newer Winchester stuff in the silver box is crappy, too. Federal is my pick if I have to do any case forming/conversion. It seems to be just soft enough to form, without being so soft it telescopes. Winchester often gets crushed when trying to neck cases down, and Remington is so thick that even annealing doesn't always help.
I chronographed a stiff 30-06 load in 4 types of brass (10 rounds per type). The Federal gave the highest velocity, then Remington, Hornady and Winchester. The Federal was 100 fps faster than the Winchester. This would indicate the Federal has less internal case volume, as blargon has guessed.
I now work up all my loads with Federal to be safe if I have to use some other brass.
The only negative I can find with Federal 30-06 brass is that the primer pockets seem to be large. I have observed primers slightly above the case base even on fired factory rounds. The brass is still good for multiple reloads though, even though the primer may be above the case after firing each time.
