Norma .223 brass

**icker96** · 07-15-2015, 11:26 PM

A few weeks ago I bought 20 pieces of Norma Brass from Midway. I was a little surprised at how much discrepancy there was in the weights, but all of the cases were around 92 or 93 grains. Last week, They had boxes of 50 .223 Norma ammo for sale for less than I paid for the 20 cases, so I bought 2 boxes. I went to the range yesterday and shot them all to fire form them to my chamber. Today when I began processing them I noticed that they felt heavier than the original 20, and indeed they all weighed in around 98 grains but still had quite a bit of discrepancy. Also, the headstamp was in a different "font". The original had a thicker engraved font that looked something like this norma .223 REM. The brass from the ammunition had a much finer font, more like this norma .223 REM. This headstamp is actually rather difficult to see.

Has anyone else noticed this? Is it just because it was produced in a different facility? or does Norma outsource some of its components?

gotcha · 07-16-2015, 10:24 AM

Interesting question. I've had concerns w/ Norma 6mm BR brass similar to yours. Only possible explanation is two separate factories or separate manufacturing lines in same factory. Or, maybe "knock off" brass out there which might explain the noticeably lower price. My 6mm BR brass was noticeably thicker than Lapua requiring neck turning. Also, P/pockets were to shallow and had to be reamed to keep primers below case head. Had to develop two separate loads to compensate for the thicker (higher pressure) Norma brass. Hope someone out there has an accurate answer. I'll be following this thread and thanks for posting :)

LongRange · 07-16-2015, 11:11 AM

Originally Posted by icker96

A few weeks ago I bought 20 pieces of Norma Brass from Midway. I was a little surprised at how much discrepancy there was in the weights, but all of the cases were around 92 or 93 grains. Last week, They had boxes of 50 .223 Norma ammo for sale for less than I paid for the 20 cases, so I bought 2 boxes. I went to the range yesterday and shot them all to fire form them to my chamber. Today when I began processing them I noticed that they felt heavier than the original 20, and indeed they all weighed in around 98 grains but still had quite a bit of discrepancy. Also, the headstamp was in a different "font". The original had a thicker engraved font that looked something like this norma .223 REM. The brass from the ammunition had a much finer font, more like this norma .223 REM. This headstamp is actually rather difficult to see.

Has anyone else noticed this? Is it just because it was produced in a different facility? or does Norma outsource some of its components?

the weight of the case isnt as important as the INTERNAL case capacity....you need to weigh all your cases with H2O....case and point i bought some nosler brass...one box from powder valley and one box from sportsman....one box weighed right at 161g the other right at 181g but all 100 case had about the same case capacity...right at 53.5g H2O filled to the neck.
i dont know about the stamp part.

**Robinhood** · 07-16-2015, 11:35 AM

The internal capacity means nothing if the external dimensions are not identical.

LongRange · 07-16-2015, 11:43 AM

Originally Posted by Robinhood

The internal capacity means nothing if the external dimensions are not identical.

once fire formed they are or should be the same right?

**BlueDog** · 07-16-2015, 04:22 PM

@LongRange. If two sets of brass have the identical internal capacity, yet different weights, then I think after fire forming, the internal capacity would change. I assume the different weights would have to come from slight variations in dimension, web thickness, etc. Right?

Sounds like a good opportunity for an experiment!

**Robinhood** · 07-16-2015, 04:41 PM

Originally Posted by LongRange

once fire formed they are or should be the same right?

Yes, maybe. If you have a Wilson trimmer you will see that it is possible for fired cases from the same manufacturer to have variable amounts of memory. The case holder for the Wilson trimmer will hold cases as different location indicating different external dimensions. I only say this as I have found cases from the same manufacturer that weigh the same and fit the Wilson case gauge the same to be nearly identical in case capacity. It was one of those technical paths you go down where you find you are doing a lot of work for minimal returns.

LongRange · 07-16-2015, 05:38 PM

Originally Posted by BlueDog

@LongRange. If two sets of brass have the identical internal capacity, yet different weights, then I think after fire forming, the internal capacity would change. I assume the different weights would have to come from slight variations in dimension, web thickness, etc. Right?

Sounds like a good opportunity for an experiment!

ive already done this one LOL....the dry weight differences are as you said in the web for the most part...neck shoulder and wall thickness...IMHO...does not very enough to matter other than causing slight inconsistencies in the shoulders and maybe the bodies but not enough to matter....i doubt most ppl can hold steady enough to ever notice a .3g difference in charge weight let alone the small imperfections in higher end brass....i know i cant.

Originally Posted by Robinhood

Yes, maybe. If you have a Wilson trimmer you will see that it is possible for fired cases from the same manufacturer to have variable amounts of memory. The case holder for the Wilson trimmer will hold cases as different location indicating different external dimensions. I only say this as I have found cases from the same manufacturer that weigh the same and fit the Wilson case gauge the same to be nearly identical in case capacity. It was one of those technical paths you go down where you find you are doing a lot of work for minimal returns.

i do indeed have a wilson trimmer and case holder and know exactly what your saying but if your H20 capacities are the same then how does the external dimension or dry weight of a case really matter other than a tighter fitting case may slightly increase pressure? i can change my FPS by about 20FPS by really loading the bipod.
all the lapua and nosler brass ive ever prep'd ALWAY has a few cases that when i uniform the primer pockets some cut a lot of material out and others are barely touched...one of the batches im shooting now(lapua)had 5 cases that the end mill only took material off 3/4s of the pockets.

this is also another reason i FL size every time because 95% of my sized cases hit the same place in my holder

and you know im OCD...

**Robinhood** · 07-16-2015, 09:45 PM

Have you weighed the shavings from pocket uniforming and trimming yet.

LongRange · 07-16-2015, 10:27 PM

No...maybe next time i prep brass....have you?

LongRange · 07-16-2015, 10:32 PM

To the OP....sorry for the thread jack...if your worried about the weight difference weigh the cases with H20 because the internal capacity IS what matters.