Choice of brass?

[nf1e]

For those of you that do precision loading, what brass have you found to work the best?
In the process here of running a test with 3 different mfg of brass. Prepping 100 cases each .308 Palma srp brass Alpha, Lapua and Starline. Trimming to 2.0, running mandrel to set neck tension to .002, uniforming primer pockets , de-burring flash holes and turning necks all to .0145. The intention is to keep careful records of how each of these perform during initial firing and again after fire forming, annealing and re-loading. All cases will be loaded with HBN treated 110 gn Sierra hp varminters with OAL set to 2.650 over 46 gn of Varget set off with 205M primers which should provide a speed of approximately 3050 fps. Love this sort of Winter project to keep what's left of the mind occupied. Whatta Hobby!

[Allen]

You're way ahead of my basic reloading past but just to chime in I've always read where Lapua is about the best brass and haven't read or heard about any brass being bad, too brittle, too thin, etc (except the brittle LC 2007 50BMG).

From what I've gathered in the past, as a general rule: appealing (neck only) is needed about every 3rd reloading. Stretched cartridge necks mostly occur on bottle neck rounds. The 30 Carbine may be the exception here. Some rifle cartridges can be reloaded up to 10 times. After that too much primer pocket distortion may be present.

Just adding thoughts here. You do this every day. I did it very seldom/limited and many years ago at that. Mostly, I read.

My 1 cent worth because it isn't worth 2 cents. Going out on a limb here due to your thread containing a question mark.

[nf1e]

Thanks for the input. I find most folks, even if they re-load , don't get past the generic or cram and jam part of it.
I anneal after every firing.
Taking things to the enth degree can be fun if you have the time and patience to hang on.
Some of the real believers rate Lapua as second in the line after Alpha.
Getting a discussion going gets harder every day. Seems most are happy with good enough and don't bother going any further.

Whatta Hobby!

[Allen]

Too bad there isn't a brand called Beta. That would certainly come second in line after Alpha.

Don't get discouraged by lack of comments. As you are well aware of, there aren't many regulars left here. We still have plenty of guest though and you never know who may absorb/learn/appreciate your experiences and info.

[lyman]

Service Rifle shooter, not a PRS Guy, so whatever I had worked,
we were looking for minute of X ring, and most all would give you about a 1/2 inch load at 100, if you did your part and had a good barrel and trigger

Winchester, Remington, PMC all did OK,
Chinese stuff (the old norinco stuff) was good for a few loads but got too soft in the primer pockets after about the 3 load,

best or rather most consistent has always been Lake City GI or Nato stuff,
yes it is a pain to decrimp the primer pocket, but once done, it is done,

I've gotten 5 or 6 loadings out of most all the LC I have loaded over the years

[nf1e]

Too bad there isn't a brand called Beta. That would certainly come second in line after Alpha.

Don't get discouraged by lack of comments. As you are well aware of, there aren't many regulars left here. We still have plenty of guest though and you never know who may absorb/learn/appreciate your experiences and info.

Understood completely. Sharing knowledge has always been a plus for forums. We need to share while we still can so the folks coming along can pick things up and share with those that follow them. We all have to start somewhere. Whatta Hobby1

[nf1e]

Service Rifle shooter, not a PRS Guy, so whatever I had worked,
we were looking for minute of X ring, and most all would give you about a 1/2 inch load at 100, if you did your part and had a good barrel and trigger

Winchester, Remington, PMC all did OK,
Chinese stuff (the old norinco stuff) was good for a few loads but got too soft in the primer pockets after about the 3 load,

best or rather most consistent has always been Lake City GI or Nato stuff,
yes it is a pain to decrimp the primer pocket, but once done, it is done,

I've gotten 5 or 6 loadings out of most all the LC I have loaded over the years

My goal with precision rifles and good optics is to draw smiley faces in the X rings of bullseye targets. So far it has been working out well. At least for the last 40 years I have been doing demonstrations of that. Whatta Hobby!

[lyman]

its funny, in a way, of the difference in priorities between the various comps,

had a long talk with a High Master when I was still new to the sport, about chasing accuracy and when you have to stop and say good enough,

nuts and bones of the conversation was to chase it long enough to get a good load, Minute of X or even Minute of 10 ring, then spend your time on position and the fundamentals,, cause by then your ammo is good enough

where the PRS guys, even the 22lr guys, are always chasing that perfect group

like you say nf1e, Whatta Hobby!!

[nf1e]

So many disciplines and so little time. Once this was considered good, now it's simply a good start. Whatta Hobby!

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[nf1e]

Finishing up loading the new fully prepped Startine 100 cases this morning. Dang I love this part of the operation. Whatta Hobby!

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[nf1e]

100 cnt box of Alpha .308 srp brass arrived today. Will be adding it to my testing group for the halibut. Whatta Hobby!

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[nf1e]

500 Peterson srp .308 cases showed up at the PO this morning. Looks good so far. Will be prepping a 100 rnd range box and get it in line for testing as soon as possible. Whatta Hobby!

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[Allen]

So many disciplines and so little time. Once this was considered good, now it's simply a good start. Whatta Hobby!

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Well, not so much so for the target.

I was never much of a target shooter though I made some pretty good shots in my younger days. Living on a small farm I liked to shoot at objects ( a target, a large dirt clod, etc ) that was placed out in an open disc'd field or a nearby large clay pit, creeks, etc... You could see where the bullet was hitting by the dust or splash it produced.

My best shooting days (fun wise) was when I went to junk yards and shot at anything I wanted. It was fun to blow the picture tubes out of old TV's (Elvis), shoot the hinges off of cabinet doors, etc. With enough clutter a person could luck out too finding a snake there just "asking for it".

[nf1e]

When I was a kid, in the late 50s, we taped flashlights on the barrels of our 22s and helped lower the rat population at our local dump with the blessing of the selectman's office. Imagine that today a bunch of 10-12 year old kids let loose with rifles at night. Whatta Hobby!

[lyman]

When I was a kid, in the late 50s, we taped flashlights on the barrels of our 22s and helped lower the rat population at our local dump with the blessing of the selectman's office. Imagine that today a bunch of 10-12 year old kids let loose with rifles at night. Whatta Hobby!

we were at my grandparents when on of the big hurricanes came thru , maybe Camile, not sure,
grandparents managed a farm on the Dan River between So Boston and Danville VA,

the rail company had a store and an attached feed warehouse, right on the rail line,
that was the high water mark on the north side of the Dan,

the between the rail line and the river was 2 large fields, that had been planted in corn and harvested,
the mice and rats were flooded out, and the local farmers were standing on the road with 22's shooting them as they swam to the waters edge,

they made a day out of it,