Worst .308 brass?

My 80's-90's vintage Federal 308 brass has been reloaded/fired numerous times thru my Nat'l & Super Match M1A's w/o issues.

Any current production ATK/Federal Cartridge/Speer brass is JUNK.
Hornady brass is a close second in uselessness.

Any W-W brass I relegate as "port" brass,meaning once it clears the ejection port it's going back to Nature as a mineral deposit.

For my bolt/prone match rifles,Remington URBR brass is second to NONE.
Lapua Palma brass taking up second fiddle.
 
xdmer said:
Cheap Winchester, thin and junk.
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Target shooters tend to like Winchester for the same reason.... Not the junk part. (I disagree actually on that point.) It is probably the lightest brass you can find, meaning it has the largest case capacity of any brass you can find. For that reason you can run Winnies at just a bit faster than heavier brass.
 
Maple57 said:
Target shooters tend to like Winchester for the same reason.... Not the junk part. (I disagree actually on that point.) It is probably the lightest brass you can find, meaning it has the largest case capacity of any brass you can find. For that reason you can run Winnies at just a bit faster than heavier brass.
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This has also been my observation with Winchester brass. I definitely do not classify it as "junk". Dave.
 
I find most commercial offerings to be pretty good.

I separate by manufacturer then weight.

The only cases I stay away from are nickel plated. They require to much fiddling around with, in general.

If I can avoid their use, especially for centerfire rifle cartridges, I do.
 
I picked up 400 once fired RWS brass a couple of years ago and annealed it all from the get go. Primer pockets needed a bit of reaming but of the 200 that I load and shoot after 3 times I don't see any problem but it is time to anneal again. If I got 6 reloads I would be quite happy.
 
titch-- said:
Where you guys getting your IVI from?
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I think I got mine from Western Metals. (Once fired.)

Pull the primers and chamfer out the primer pockets, then plan to resize twice... Once with regular die, then again with small base die. After that, anneal and do whatever you do.
 
rgr thanks

I have about 200 already and I want to keep the same brand name.

Going to use them for my 260. Still waiting for my new barrel to come in though, so I havent tried them out yet. Got 60 ready to load. Used a 308 small base die and reduce the body about 2-3thou and then a Forster FL 260. I think they came out pretty good.
 
My experience with federal is that they are the worst. Very soft and primer pockets opened up quickly after only a couple mediocre loadings.

I use Winchester now and it seems fine. My more expensive guns get Lapua
 
Federal soft garbage.
Old Win Blue Bag was good, current red/black bag garbage.
There is lots of good 308 brass though, you just wanted to know the worst.
 
Federal primer pockets get loose quickly. Their nickel plated stuff is prone to split necks and incipient case head separtations in my experience. Seems to be the worst of the brands I've tried.
 
federal is ####ing junk.... every rifle blowup was federal.... all their componets suck... and put togeather they make the worst comercial ammo I've ever used.


IVI and norma are my go to.... winchester if i can't get it in either of those two.

norma .308 is good for 20+ reloads....
 
federal is ####ing junk.... every rifle blowup was federal.... all their componets suck... and put togeather they make the worst comercial ammo I've ever used.

WOW ! Blowing up rifles ! WTF ? I'm throwing any Fed ammo and all my Fed Primers and Fed Brass ALL away Pronto before i BLOW up any of my rifles ! :rolleyes: :bsFlag: RJ
 
LordEvilPepper said:
federal is ####ing junk.... every rifle blowup was federal.... all their componets suck... and put togeather they make the worst comercial ammo I've ever used.


IVI and norma are my go to.... winchester if i can't get it in either of those two.

norma .308 is good for 20+ reloads....
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I find the Federal GMM 308 to be very good. But the brass sucks for components.
 
I can remember federal brass about 20 or so years ago was good stuff. got lots of reloads out of them. now it seems to be softer. maybe a couple of reloads then that's it.
 
remington jim said:
federal is ####ing junk.... every rifle blowup was federal.... all their componets suck... and put togeather they make the worst comercial ammo I've ever used.

WOW ! Blowing up rifles ! WTF ? I'm throwing any Fed ammo and all my Fed Primers and Fed Brass ALL away Pronto before i BLOW up any of my rifles ! :rolleyes: :bsFlag: RJ
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Usually semi-autos that have free floating firing pins
 
bearhunter said:
All nickle plated brass has issues IMHO. I avoid it like the plague.
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Hitzy said:
Federal soft garbage.
Old Win Blue Bag was good, current red/black bag garbage.
There is lots of good 308 brass though, you just wanted to know the worst.
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77gunner said:
Federal primer pockets get loose quickly. Their nickel plated stuff is prone to split necks and incipient case head separtations in my experience. Seems to be the worst of the brands I've tried.
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Guess I'll throw the stash of nickle plated .308 cases I've saved out. Dang. Thought they were better than normal for reloading and saved em for the future. Thanks for the heads up.
 
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