Quality of REMINGTON brass.......

[L.H. Clark]

Hey all! I just thought I owed it to all of you to report my latest experience and findings with some Remington brass that I bought.

First off it is Remington 6.5X55 Swedish Mauser brass. Now, reading the reviews on MidwayUSA.com, which I must admit is where I buy the majority of my supplies, Remington is not doing so hot. HOWEVER, I just went through 100 pieces of NEW in the bag brass that had ZERO variance in HeadSpace measurement using a Hornady HS gauge, AND the O.A.L. with just calipers measuring from tip to tail, was a constant 2.157" with the occasional 2.1575". That is impressive to me for the price. Granted, there isn't a whole lot of difference in cost between Remington at $.50 a stick and Lapua at $.65. That is on sale.(sale ending at midnight tonight). Then the Lapua will be around $.73 a stick. But still, savings is savings.

I know the proof will be in the number of loadings I get from the brass but, I figure if I anneal it, there won't be a huge difference. Time and shooting will tell and I will be sure to report. I just thought you all would like to know.

The Remington 6.5 Swede brass appears "Good to Go." Will give updates as I load and shoot.
I have been buying some Winchester due to the fact that the local Sportsmans Warehouse was carrying it and the measurements suffered. I was disappointed only when I got the Remington.

[bgc]

Was there a variation in the weight of the cases?

[GaCop]

+1 on brass weight. I usually uniform my primer pockets and deburr the flash hole before I weigh brass. My experience has been Winchester brass has been the most uniform and performs exceptionally well in my rifles if I'm not using Lapua or Norma.

[bigedp51]

Quality varies from lot to lot and from manufactures, and even Lapua has bad days.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o254/bigedp51/308fail.jpg

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o254/bigedp51/308fail-2.jpg

On the last batch of Remington .243 cases from Midway I had a wide variance in cartridge head space which ran from minus .001 to .009 under minimum chamber head space.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o254/bigedp51/IMGP5130-1.jpg

If I remember correctly Remington is now owned by a French holding company and Winchester is owned by General Dynamics weapons division. (the bean counters determine cartridge case quality)

[Eric in NC]

You don't remember correctly. Remington is owned by Freedom Group (an American company founded in 1816) which is in turn owned by Cerberus Capital Management (a US private equity firm).

Winchester ammo is still owned by Olin Corp of MO, USA. They do license the trademark out to FN (Belgium).

My biggest problem with Rem bulk brass has been cases that were badly formed or had crushed mouths when I got them. I use Winchester when I can't get or affort Lapua.

[L.H. Clark]

I haven't weight sorted them yet. I have been doing other things and am just tonight de-burring flash holes and uniforming primer pockets.

I totally agree about the Winchester. I USUALLY use Winchester because I have always had great luck with Winchester. I just decided to try some Remington on a whim, and I was surprised!

That's why I decided it was a big enough deal to post about it! I will let you all know how they vary by weight and more importantly, how they act when I get to baptizing them with fire...........

I also think I'll check a few for capacity and see what the skinny is on that also.

BTW.....MidwayUSA just had Lapua 6.5 Swede brass on sale for $65.00 a hundred. I missed out unfortunately because I am not wealthy and needed an AR trigger and some powder, primers and such and couldn't swing it all! :(

L.H. Clark

[GaCop]

I hear ya "LHC", never enough money for the things needed to shoot and reload.

[L.H. Clark]

UPDATE..........UPDATE>>>>>>>>>>... Well, bad news kind of. I still haven't weight sorted.........doing too many other things, like I said in another post, I got an AR trigger in and have been playing with it as well as a SSS Comp trigger for the Swede. That comp trigger was sort of a PITA!!! I love the results but it is a comp trigger. I don't think I want it for a tactical/hunting rig though. I still like it alot however.

NOW, the bad news.....the flash holes are off center. I don't know why I didn't realize it the other day when I was "so impressed." The Remington 6.5 Swede brass is a "seasonal" run and I was hoping that if they went through the trouble to set up the dies and machines to make it, and they only made a certain quantity, that they would be good to excellent. It makes sense in my brain, but not in reality I guess. Not all of the flash holes are off center, but enough of them are off to a such a degree that it makes it sort of pointless to de-burr and uniform the primer flash hole. Actually, it makes it impossible to do so. If the flash hole is off-center enough the flash hole uniformer doesn't sit in the brass "square" and the cut won't be concentric.........That's my thinking anyway.


It'll do for now. I will be buying some Lapua and Nosler soon though. Just thought I'd share my observation; I'll post my weight findings in a few days...........