Brass life. Favorite brands etc.

arlaunch

arlaunch

Active member
I did not want to hijack another thread.

I usually prefer Winchester brass when i can find it.

Normally i set the shoulders back .002 for bolt rifles. I notice after the 4th firing there is a need to turn the die in, or there will be no set back. I can also feel the increased force of the brass going in, and going out versus the earlier firings.

With this being my experience, I have piles and piles of labeled brass getting ready for the annealing machine i do not have. Generally all i ask for is 4 great, accurate firings.

Are there folks out there getting endless firing cycles w/o annealing, neck turning, donut removing etc.

You just keep turning the die down, doing die set up, every couple of firings, to fight spring back?

What are the effects on neck tension change on brass with many firings, w/o annealing?
 
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Talk about opening a can of worms ......... :LOL:

Some people anneal after every firing. Others hardly never do it. The particular load can have a direct effect on the amount of sizing that has to be done.

You're going to get an assortment of answers to these questions and none of them are likely to be wrong.
 
I don't keep good enough records, other than labeling with load data including number of times loaded. But I can tell you that different brands sure behave differently and require different processes. For example, the best I've had is Lapua, I have 150 pieces of 243 brass I bought 20 years ago and was used in a bolt gun, then gas gun, then some was necked up to 260 for a gas gun, then necked back down for another 243 gas gun. I think I'm short about 4 pieces, which were lost hunting or otherwise damaged. I think I've annealed it once or twice. It's getting difficult to fit it in a shellholder now, I think the head has expanded that much. The headstamps are almost gone but it still holds primers fine.

I remember some cheap 308 that wouldn't hold a bullet, once fired, until it was annealed because it was so hard it sprung back out to too large a diameter.

I've had some Hornady 30-30 brass that had primer pockets so tight and so shallow I couldn't seat a primer in them and get it below flush. That's not fun.

My Winchester 204 brass needs to be annealed or the necks will split after a couple loads. On the other hand I've had Rem 204 brass that had so much runout it was unreal.

R-P once fired 5.56 brass is soft and won't hold nearly as hot of loads as some old LC stuff I have.

The Weatherby brass and Norma headstamped Wby brass is fantastic also, I've gotten more than a dozen loads out of my 270 wby brass. Which is nice because that stuff is expensive lol.

Leaving all that aside, I would anneal a lot more if I had a machine to do it, and have really considered and should get one. I think it would pay for itself in longer brass life and more consistent ammo. Annealing with a drill and socket works but for any kind of volume you're just not going to do it more than you absolutely have to.
 
Any cases accept for Federal.

Winchester and Remington for basically everything in my centerfires accept my POF that uses virgin lake city. I use Hornady lately since it’s about the only thing I see on the shelf.
 
My 223 RCBS full length standard size die is locked in, with the dedicated shell holder it sizes to fit my ammo checker(min SAAMI). That brass runs in 2 bolt guns, 3 gas guns with 556 and Wyde chambers and my 20p brass(neck is sized after with a neck bushing die). I anneal after 2-3 firings, as I can feel the difference than. I notice loose primer pockets before other brass problems.
 
I threw out or traded off all my federal brass. I had a buddy who bought a bunch of factory ammo. Out of 3 boxes of ammo a,ost all the necks were cracked. I’ve cracked A lot of federal case necks resizing once fired cases and if they made 99% percent of the necks cracks durring firing. Same issue with virgin federal brass when they sold it decades ago along with it all being about 3 to 4 thousands shorter than Sami spec. I like starline for pistol cases.
 
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I've used it all at one time or another. My preference is Lapua if shooting for precision. I've also used Alpha but the jury is still out for me as to it being as good as Lapua. Preference in an AR is Lake City as it's just tough brass that lasts. Winchester in .308 lasts a long time as well. Annealing changes the game on brass life. If I get 10 firings out of a case, I figure the case life has amortized to the point that I've gotten my money's worth. It may go longer but I'd rather head of any issues at that point. Annealing at least every 2nd-3rd firing really helps.
 
At the range the other day, some brass on the ground looked different than the rest. It was Norma 223/556. I picked up a couple handfuls with crimped primers. At home I knocked out the primers, cut the crimps out and sonic cleaned them. They weigh about 10 grs heavier than LC, Win, Rem brass. I annealed them, along with quite a pile of Win tactical. I sized it all for the 20p. Never tried any Norma, but a load adjustment will have to be done to compensate for basically 10% heavier(thicker?) brass.
 
I picked up some Peterson 7mm rm brass to give a try since Lapua doesn't make any. We shall see.
For normal calling situations I don't think there is enough difference to matter but LR and life expectancy, we shall see.
 
crapshoot said:
I picked up some Peterson 7mm rm brass to give a try since Lapua doesn't make any. We shall see.
For normal calling situations I don't think there is enough difference to matter but LR and life expectancy, we shall see.
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I use the Petersons long for my 300 win mag and it’s been awesome. I’ll stick with them for as long as they make it. Wish them and Lapua would do 22-250 but I think that’s over now.
 
crapshoot said:
I picked up some Peterson 7mm rm brass to give a try since Lapua doesn't make any. We shall see.
For normal calling situations I don't think there is enough difference to matter but LR and life expectancy, we shall see.
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Yeah!!!!!

That is innovative!!! Making mag brass that does not have to expand .015-.020 to fire form!

I have a lot of Norma 7 mag brass to shoot up before i need more brass. The next batch WILL be Peterson Long for that caliber.

Hornady hands down wins the case capacity in the 30-06 family.
 
Dultimatpredator said:
Any cases accept for Federal.

Winchester and Remington for basically everything in my centerfires accept my POF that uses virgin lake city. I use Hornady lately since it’s about the only thing I see on the shelf.
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Everyone knocks Federal. I'm not sure why as I am still loading Federal brass in my 7mm mag. This brass came from factory ammo purchased almost 30 years ago. I have never had a split neck. Still have about 50 cases left. Lost a bunch while hunting.

Also hear about how good winchester brass lasts. It does well in my 30 06 but especially in my 22 k hornet. No loss when fire forming. I also use Remington brass in the 22 hornet no issues noted. Can not justify Laupa as its to expensive.

The only brass I had issues with is something called ppu or something like that 85% split necks.

So was thinking about annealing. But as I am strictly a hunter that spends a lot of time at the bench working up loads. I will probably try out the drill and socket process rather than buying an expensive machine. Thanks for all the info!
 
I buy Lupa 90% of the time, even running hot loads, I tend to get 20 plus reloads.

.223/5.56 I use Lake City.

Have had good luck with Remington, Peterson, Winchester (30-30), Alpha, and Norma (dasher brass).

I do run some Hornady in 6.8 SPC but the primer pockets don't hold up as well since I tend to run book max.

I run Starline in pistol or straight wall cases (450 BM). However, I get about 3-5 firings on their bottle neck cases.
 
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I'm liking the Starline 222 Rem. I don't load very hot so my brass last a pretty long time, plus I anneal as needed. Some of my 204 wildcat brass dates back to 2005 and some of it has been necked up and down a couple times when I need more of one from cases I've made into another.

The only really bad brass I've had is Bertram. I bought 20 pc. for my 6.5x58 R Sauer. It was so thin I couldn't size it to hold a bullet. I had to run it into a .257 die, then it would crack on the first firing. So I have t anneal it before even the first firing.
 
I don't anneal anything, ever, and I get 10-20 firings out of my Nosler, Lapua, Peterson, Norma and Win brass from anything to 223 on up to 7mm/300 and 338 mags. I bump .002" also and all seems to be well until I lose a primer pocket...
 
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