norma brass ???
- Thread starter mpjustin
- Start date
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
After rereading this post I guess I get kind of off topic, so I'll apologize in advance.
My association with Norma has been long and positive, and I've loaded more .22-250 and .416 Rigby in Norma brass than any other brand. While I don't think Norma is as consistent as Lapua, there is less difference between Norma and Lapua than there is between Federal and Winchester. Norma brass is very good.
We should recognize that US brass, particularly Winchester, can be tweaked to become as consistent as the Euro-brass, but this takes time and effort, and the cull rate is not insignificant. The low cost of American brass doesn't hold up by the time you have bought enough to pick 100 pieces of brass and process them to where they are suitable for precision work; particularly if we consider that a half dozen reloads is pretty much all you'll get from the most common American brass (Winchester, Remington, Federal). Lapua cases can be pretty much loaded right out of the box, and while that convenience comes at a price, the cost is tolerable if you place value on your time. The Lapua primer pockets seem to stay tighter longer than Winchester when both are loaded to similar pressure, so one can expect to get more shooting per dollar.
My first exposure to Lapua was a 100 rounds of factory .308 match. Just for kicks having heard how consistent this stuff was supposed to be, I weighed a dozen rounds selected randomly from the 100. The results were astonishing! The rounds were clones of one another, virtually identical in weight. I can't do that with my handloads, and if I say so myself, my handloads are pretty good. Eventually all my .243, 308, and .30/06 will probably be loaded in Lapua brass.
The new brass from Hornady and Nosler is very good, but it is heavy and care must be taken to work up loads specifically for this brass rather than just loading the maximum loads listed in a manual. If you don't have the patience to work up your loads, you'd better stay clear of heavy brass. I have some Hornady .375 Ruger brass on my bench, although I haven't weighed it for consistency, my feeling is that normally the thicker the brass, the greater the likelihood is for unreasonably large variations in case wall thickness, neck run out, and cartridge to cartridge weight. The handloads I've made for the .375 Ruger Alaskan shot very well however, and while variation in velocity has not been single digit, it has proven to be more than reasonable given the cartridge. Accuracy is a by-product of consistency, and consistency is unlikely without good brass to start with. I uniformed the primer pockets and flash-holes, but I'm not at all sure this was necessary. A pal of mine loads Nosler brass for his .270, and he reports that the brass is the best he's seen. Again, Nosler brass is heavy, and he discovered that he had to reduce his "old standby" load.
My association with Norma has been long and positive, and I've loaded more .22-250 and .416 Rigby in Norma brass than any other brand. While I don't think Norma is as consistent as Lapua, there is less difference between Norma and Lapua than there is between Federal and Winchester. Norma brass is very good.
We should recognize that US brass, particularly Winchester, can be tweaked to become as consistent as the Euro-brass, but this takes time and effort, and the cull rate is not insignificant. The low cost of American brass doesn't hold up by the time you have bought enough to pick 100 pieces of brass and process them to where they are suitable for precision work; particularly if we consider that a half dozen reloads is pretty much all you'll get from the most common American brass (Winchester, Remington, Federal). Lapua cases can be pretty much loaded right out of the box, and while that convenience comes at a price, the cost is tolerable if you place value on your time. The Lapua primer pockets seem to stay tighter longer than Winchester when both are loaded to similar pressure, so one can expect to get more shooting per dollar.
My first exposure to Lapua was a 100 rounds of factory .308 match. Just for kicks having heard how consistent this stuff was supposed to be, I weighed a dozen rounds selected randomly from the 100. The results were astonishing! The rounds were clones of one another, virtually identical in weight. I can't do that with my handloads, and if I say so myself, my handloads are pretty good. Eventually all my .243, 308, and .30/06 will probably be loaded in Lapua brass.
The new brass from Hornady and Nosler is very good, but it is heavy and care must be taken to work up loads specifically for this brass rather than just loading the maximum loads listed in a manual. If you don't have the patience to work up your loads, you'd better stay clear of heavy brass. I have some Hornady .375 Ruger brass on my bench, although I haven't weighed it for consistency, my feeling is that normally the thicker the brass, the greater the likelihood is for unreasonably large variations in case wall thickness, neck run out, and cartridge to cartridge weight. The handloads I've made for the .375 Ruger Alaskan shot very well however, and while variation in velocity has not been single digit, it has proven to be more than reasonable given the cartridge. Accuracy is a by-product of consistency, and consistency is unlikely without good brass to start with. I uniformed the primer pockets and flash-holes, but I'm not at all sure this was necessary. A pal of mine loads Nosler brass for his .270, and he reports that the brass is the best he's seen. Again, Nosler brass is heavy, and he discovered that he had to reduce his "old standby" load.
I agree with Stubblejumper 100% on the "soft" quality of most Norma Brass. I like the consistency, but have noted that pressure signs show up noticeably earlier on the Norma offerings than on Lapua or Winchester brass. I have a 308 Norma Mag, and I make all my brass from Winchester 300 Mag [Don't own a 300 Winny, so no issues with headstamps]. Worst domestic brass I have worked with is Federal. Early neck failures [cracks] primer pockets loosen easily, etc, etc. Regards, Eagleye.
