Remington or Winchester brass...Why you use it

[benfranklin]

Getting ready to load a bunch of test loads for the 22-250
Savage 10 Predator..I have Both brands of brass available.

Of the two mentioned does anyone have a preference of
one over the other? If so,I would like to know why..
I do think the Remington is a bit thinker than the Win.

But for now I will be testing loads with the Rem.brass
and then try the same loads and o.a.l with the Win
just to see if there is any noticable difference..I am
almost sure there will be..Thanks for any of your replies....John

[Uncle Jack]

Traditionally, Remington has been slightly thicker and a bit softer than Winchester, therefore:

Remington is a bit more flexible and should last longer.

Winchester has more interior volumn and can attain higher velocities.

The quality of each is about equal. Niether is equal to Nosler, Hornady, Norma, or Lapua.

uj

[BobT]

I tend to use mostly Winchester, over the years it has served me very well. I have been seeing where others have been having quality issues with Winchester brass but this has not been the case with me. I have purchased quite a bit of brass in the last couple of years and have yet to get a single bad case. That said, I think I have used every available brand with the exception of Nosler and without any doubt Lapua is the best, IMHO Norma, RWS and most lots of Federal Gold Medal are tied for distant second with Winchester, Remington, PRVI and PMC tied for third. The rest I will use if I have to.

Bob

[fgw_in_fla]

I haven't had much luck with Winchester. I get 3 to 4, maybe 5 reloadings before they end up in the scrap can. Always case head sep.

Remington I've done quite well with. Anneal after every firing, resize when I can't close the bolt. I've grown to like Remington best BUT.... I will always use Winchester for OCW or any other kind of testing of bullets & powder. I just wish it lasted longer like the Rem brass. I have Rem brass fired from my '06 going on 8 times.

All Win or Rem brass is new store bought or from factory rounds I fired.

Federal brass is my favorite. I have a lot of it & I just like the way it works for me. (except when I have to load a case to a higher charge & the powder won't fit the case without hammering the bullet in)

If you have an extra few bucks, do not hesitate to pick up some Hornady brass. You won't regret the extra expense.

Frank in Fla ;)

[benfranklin]

I haven't had much luck with Winchester. I get 3 to 4, maybe 5 reloadings before they end up in the scrap can. Always case head sep.

Remington I've done quite well with. Anneal after every firing, resize when I can't close the bolt. I've grown to like Remington best BUT.... I will always use Winchester for OCW or any other kind of testing of bullets & powder. I just wish it lasted longer like the Rem brass. I have Rem brass fired from my '06 going on 8 times.

All Win or Rem brass is new store bought or from factory rounds I fired.

Federal brass is my favorite. I have a lot of it & I just like the way it works for me. (except when I have to load a case to a higher charge & the powder won't fit the case without hammering the bullet in)

If you have an extra few bucks, do not hesitate to pick up some Hornady brass. You won't regret the extra expense.

Frank in Fla ;)


I have never heard anything good about Hornady brass until now when you say it is good..But like anything else.Everyone is entitled to his or her's opinion...I have lots of win. brass in 22-250 but just decided to try some of the Rem, I also happen to have on hand...

[Trent]

The only time I've heard community bashing of Hornady brass is over on the .204Ruger forum. Man, it seems nobody can get that stuff to shoot worth a d@mn. Nobody likes it over there. Very inconsistent brass from Hornady in that particular cartridge. I use Hornady brass in my 6.5 Creedmoor (Hornady is the only company making that brass) and it is fantastic stuff. I wouldn't mind if they made the heads a little tougher so that the primer pockets would stay tight longer but other than that it is great brass. Very consistent and holding up well.

I generally use Winchester brass in my other rifles, but for no good reason. It just works for me so I don't switch. Never had a problem at all with Win brass.

[gotcha]

Ever heard of X-ray spectrometry ??? Me either :D......... Lotsa' old wives tales, smoke & mirrors dispelled here: Accurate shooter.com.... Click: tech...... scroll down to: X-ray spectrometry. No diffinitive answers, but interesting comparison of metalurgy by Brand name.

[rusty815]

I use mostly Winchester brass, the reason is that I've had to throw away a lot of Remington brass due to enlarging primer pockets and flash holes, this is for a 300WSM, and after only the third loading. So far, out of 65 pieces of Remington brass, I have 15 left, the rest have been discarded for a variety of issues, mostly expanding primer pockets that can no longer hold the primer sufficiently. In contrast, my Winchester brass is on its 5th loading going on its 6th and is still fine, although I don't expect it to last much longer.

[benfranklin]

I use mostly Winchester brass, the reason is that I've had to throw away a lot of Remington brass due to enlarging primer pockets and flash holes, this is for a 300WSM, and after only the third loading. So far, out of 65 pieces of Remington brass, I have 15 left, the rest have been discarded for a variety of issues, mostly expanding primer pockets that can no longer hold the primer sufficiently. In contrast, my Winchester brass is on its 5th loading going on its 6th and is still fine, although I don't expect it to last much longer.


Is this the brass or maybe the primers..I had a problem something like that with winchester brass in 45-70 cal..

I tried some CCI large rifle primers and didn't have any problems after that....just a thought...oh,the other primers were Federal....

[GaCop]

The only time I've heard community bashing of Hornady brass is over on the .204Ruger forum. Man, it seems nobody can get that stuff to shoot worth a d@mn. Nobody likes it over there. Very inconsistent brass from Hornady in that particular cartridge. I use Hornady brass in my 6.5 Creedmoor (Hornady is the only company making that brass) and it is fantastic stuff. I wouldn't mind if they made the heads a little tougher so that the primer pockets would stay tight longer but other than that it is great brass. Very consistent and holding up well.

I generally use Winchester brass in my other rifles, but for no good reason. It just works for me so I don't switch. Never had a problem at all with Win brass.


Correct about the 204 brass. It doesn't last long and the worst groups from my 204 were with Hornady brass. I've been using RP with excellent results after fully prepping the brass.

[Dennis]

Federal brass is my favorite. I have a lot of it & I just like the way it works for me.

I have "hundreds" of Federal range brass I have saved. I just started using it to save my Lapua strickly for match practice and matches! It has been working pretty good for me, I haven't discarded any "yet". But I guess I need to use this brass vs letting it sit there.

Also Black Hills has brass stamped "BHA Match" on their brass! I wonder who makes this brass for them?

I also am starting to hear several who "anneal" every time now! Annealing after every firing "will" make this much difference? Just wondering, something new and getting ready to order my annealer next week!

Dennis

[psharon97]

I'll use either one for target shooting. If I'm going to participate in a match, I like nosler brass.

[fgw_in_fla]

Dennis -
I haven't noticed any difference in accuracy when I anneal after every firing. I do notice it's much easier on the press. I've broke 2 cast junk metal parts on my Lee press in 1 year. I bought a Lee classic for hard work & the Lee Challenger for girlie work. It's kinda painful when that da** thing breaks. I've gone on my butt both times.
Annealing every firing may help with consistancy, but I do it for ease of neck sizing.

As far as Hornady brass. The 30 or so pieces I have I found in the brass bucket at the range. Mostly .270 & some '06. I notice my shots a little higher & left with the Hornady brass. It does it consistantly. I like the way it lasts after 12 to 15 firings, it;s still in useable condition..... I hope.

Frank in Fla

[Dennis]

Also Black Hills has some brass stamped "BHA Match" on their brass! I wonder who makes this brass for them?

Anyone know the answer to the above?

[Luckus]

I have leaned toward Winchester brass over the years, but have used Rem and other makes with no issues in sporting rifles. I use Lapua in calibers available and in my match rifle, I think it's the best I have tried. I don't know if Hornady brass is good or bad, but I checked the bullet runout on some Winchester, Remington and Hornady loaded rounds and Hornady had the least runout. It was not an exhaustive test maybe 8 or 10 random boxes. I'm sure someone else in shooterland has done more testing on this than I.

[durango]

I prefer Remington-I will not buy Winchester. Can't remember how I got started with Rem, but I've not had any problems since 1964. Within the past 15 years I've purchased Win on occasion and not been pleased. Once was a "white box" of .223, hoping to salvage the brass for reloading--every piece in the box had 3 splits or notches in the end of the neck-50 pieces to the salvage bucket. When I bought a .204, Rem brass wasn't available, so I bought a bag of Win--thick necks gave me fits--had to turn the whole bunch. Then I "acquired" another 100 pieces of .204 brass by Win--unknown count on reloadings but it looked good and the previous owner reported good groups with it so I loaded up a bunch and started shooting it. About 7% of the cases have split necks.

For whatever it's worth, I shoot small calibers these days--these old shoulders can't take the recoil any more, so my recent experience is up to .243 cal. only. I have tried other brands (all mentioned above + mil) and I end up going back to Remington.

Thanks for starting this thread, Steve

[Trent]

It is plain crazy that we all have different experiences with the same brass. It seems like things would be more consistent. Take me and Durango for example. He has problems with Win brass in his .204, and it works splendid for me. I have 400 cases of Win brass for my .204 with around 6 reloads on it and it still looks and feels like new. Is it just different lot numbers? Is it different chambers and dies? Who knows.

Thank goodness we have all the choices though!! Most of the time anyway. Some cartridges you just have to take what you can get. Shoot, for my 6.5Creedmoor I can only get Hornady. Makes the choice easy. :P

Worse yet... my .30 Rem AR doesn't have brass available from ANYONE! Remington makes the brass and loads it but they won't freaking release the brass!

[fgw_in_fla]

Ya know... as I mentioned earlier, Win brass just doesn't last but a few firings & then I see the dreaded light shaded half circle near the case head.
Besides that, I just picked up 200 pcs. of .243 Winchester brass for my project. I tried to load a few just because I felt like it.
Most of the first 2 bags had the necks out of round, squashed, big burr hanging inside, uneven wall thickness, etc, etc....
I can't ever recall seeing such lousy quality from NEW brass. Very disappointing. The worst part was I got it from a gun show & the guy was from the other side of the state.

I'll stay with what has proven to be reliable & consistant Federal & Remington. Maybe in the near future I'll chase the moths out of my wallet & treat myself to a box of Lapua. I probably won't use it though..... considering the cost.
No.... I'll buy a box or each caliber I have just to look at it & be able to say I have some. ::) ::) ::) ::)

Gotta go to work early today..... Monday's suck rocks. >:(

P.O.'d Frank in Fla... >:(

[benfranklin]

Really amazing,all the different answers here..I think lots of times the difference is in the chamber as to how the brass reacts..Or some loads are a bit to warm,which will effect the brass as well...But it was still very interesting to say the least..I appreciate all of the replies..For the time being,I guess I will use the Remington brass until it goes over the hill,and then get into the bag of new Winchester......John

[DougMH]

Just one more answer to confuse you.

I use Winchester for my hunting rounds but Lapua exclusively for my target rounds. Lapua is so consistent coming from the factory that there are a few steps I can skip with it that I'd have to perform with Winchester.

With Winchester, I'd say 2 or 3 rounds out of a hundred will not slide into my bullet holder because of poor quality control (out of round or burrs). NEVER happens with Lapua.

Winchester really shines up good in my Thumler Tumbler (www.stainlesstumblingmedia.com). If you weight sort it after meticulous preparation, you'll get excellent results. Actually same with Remington.

You can get several reuses out of either if you anneal the necks after firing. After some experimentation with a "Temple Stick" I find that 6 seconds at the tip of a 1.5" propane flame does me very consistent.