your thoughts on brass

[savage223]

There's alot of things to consider when selecting brass but overall start off cheap (what you have) and change if you need too. Proper preparation/culling of your brass, whatever brand, is going to far outweight the name on the bag or box IMO.

As far as the results someone wrote in a magazine, well that's the results that person got, on that day, with that load when testing different new brass. So what does that mean to us as reloaders ... basically, nothing.

 

[acrashb]

I would not say that the data is totally flawed,

Perhaps you should. As mysticplayer noted, the internal volume and other parameters are different, brass to brass - so you need to do a workup for each case type to have any validity. Further, as he noted, the rifle isn't good enough to show fine differences anyway. So the data is, basically, totally flawed.

Good brass is about more than accuracy - with enough culling and prep, you could get decent results from S&B. It's also about less work to get accuracy, fewer discarded cases, and better case life. Lapua wins here, with Norma coming close.

 

[Silverback]

Perhaps you should. As mysticplayer noted, the internal volume and other parameters are different, brass to brass - so you need to do a workup for each case type to have any validity. Further, as he noted, the rifle isn't good enough to show fine differences anyway. So the data is, basically, totally flawed.

Good brass is about more than accuracy - with enough culling and prep, you could get decent results from S&B. It's also about less work to get accuracy, fewer discarded cases, and better case life. Lapua wins here, with Norma coming close.

My point exactly, I have offended you. The average varmint hunter is not near as obsessive as the long range target shooter and with once fired 223 running $40 per 1000 and the possibility of shooting hundreds of rounds in a day and losing many brass your precision rifle reloading parameters are basically moot. As long as loads are minute of gopher out to 250 yards that is all that matters, there are no medals to win, only red mist and flying red bits, all groups are one hole on varmints. I have been around since coffee break and know who mysticplayer is and have even read the article about his rifle on the 6mm Benchrest site, I know he has a lot of long range shooting experience but in the end you are only putting unrealistic goals forward on the average shooters reloading practices who mainly shoots a basic factory rifle for fun.

 

[acrashb]

My point exactly, I have offended you.[...]
As long as loads are minute of gopher out to 250 yards that is all that matters,

I don't know what your point is, and you haven't offended me.

Regarding accuracy, I agree that various types of hunting require less-than-bench accuracy - you'll note my last paragraph was about brass life as well. At the same time I addressed accuracy, really in response to your post #13 of the invalid Handloader accuracy test.

The OP wanted to know good from bad: an entire box of 50 Lapua will have less weight variation that a single 5-shell row of Remington (the times I've weighed and sorted and recorded results), and Federal is known - including by me - for quick-loosening primer pockets.

Mysticplayer is getting good results with Winchestor; maybe I'll try some.

 

[mikeelliot]

I find with AE brass the primer pockets get loose after just a few reloads. Even in mild loads, i have experienced this in 222, 223, 243, 270, and 375 H&H.

I use the AE brass in my 223 just beacuse i have lots.

I have never found AE brass to be any "less accurate" than win brass.