Reloading Brass

[NealS02]

So I am going to start off by saying that I know very little about reloading, but am going to read Lyman or Richard Lee (open to other suggestions) to get me started in reloading and not going to buy supplies until I get through it or at least feel more confident I will be making good equipment purchases. I do want to shoot sooner rather than later and need to pick up some ammo in the near future.

In general, if I buy cheaper target ammo would the brass still be okay if I want to eventually reload with higher end bullets like ELD-X? Also, does the lower grain ammo limit the grains that can be used when reloading a particular round?

For example, I can pick up cheap Hornady ammo at 129 grain for my 6.5 CM and would like to use that brass for higher end cartridge development with potentially 143 grain and ELD-X. This example applies more broadly as I do want to reload multiple different calibers and don’t want to limit the potential of what rounds I can create by going cheap on ammo now. Thanks in advance!

 

[Pickettpuncher]

You can do as you’re wanting, just don’t mix different brands of brass. I’d also stick with some of the better known brands of ammo. Federal, Hornady would be fine. There’s a bough 6.5 brass out there in the world you could probably buy a couple hundred for dirt cheap, and skip the whole loaded ammo if you wanted. You can put whatever bullet you choose in whichever brass you want. Won’t hurt a thing

 

[TaperPin]

I think of brass as being three different levels, el cheapo off name stuff, middle of the road like Hornady, Winchester, Federal, Remington, and premium like Lapua or Peterson.

El cheapo brass is better to stay away from for the best reloads, although for plinking ammo it’s fine. Starting out I’d suggest keeping it all the same brand. All the same lot would be ideal, but most middle of the road and premium brass is pretty close from lot to lot. It’s not a bad practice to simply toss out the brass from any fliers, in case it had anything to do with the flier.

My first good rifle had a Shilen barrel and shot 3/8 to 1/2 MOA with Federal brass of mixed lots. That was plenty good enough for any kind of hunting I’ll ever do. Today money isn’t as tight and I’ll buy some premium brass, but mostly I focus on middle of the road stuff for big game rifles.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

One thing to be aware of if buying ammo and intending to reload the brass is some manufacturers have soft brass and full pressure loads which can at times stretch out the primer pockets too far on the very first firing. Don't know if that is really an issue with 6.5CM stuff but my buddy had a pile of useless 300WSM once fired brass that couldn't hold a primer anymore.

 

[MT-nuffgun]

You can make reloading as simple or as complicated as you like. Your plan with reusing factory hornady brass is fine, but remember not to mix head stamps. You can also change accuracy/consistency in your particular rifle by changing one component in your system (aka brass). You might have a load that shoots horrible in hornady brass, but shoots lights out in Peterson or starline brass ( all other components and charge weights being equal).

 

[swavescatter]

In my experience, Federal, Winchester, Remington, etc are horrible. Flash holes off center, etc. I would avoid those.

Hornady and Norma are mid grade and ok.

Best is buying Berger ammo to reuse the Lapua cases.

 

[FoggyScope]

Yes definitely. As mentioned, using the same brass manufacturer is best for consistency in your load. Ive seen a 30% increase in group size on a 20 shot group going from 1 brand to mixed cases. As long as your staying away from mil surplus in my experience buying cheap or expensive brass wont make a difference in accuracy that other factors outweigh. When you get to the final 10% maybe it can. But brass life can be a noticable difference. Hornady cases seem to loosen primer pockets quickly and last 4 or 5 firings in my 6.5cm but the lapuas i have are still going strong at twice that.

And the bullets that came in it have nothing to do with what you want to put in it. Once fired the brass is just brass and you can do anything you want. Even weird non saami approved things. Thats the fun of reloading.

 

[Pharmseller]

All of my brass for .223, 7mm-08, .30-06, and 7mm Rem Mag has the same headstamp, Remington. Bought it years ago because it was plentiful. Works for us. We don’t shoot past 600 yards, though.

6.5 PRC is Nosler, because that’s what my brother gave me.

I’m not picky about brass as all.

One piece of advice, research Lee collet neck sizing dies. I very rarely full length resize and reloading is much more enjoyable as a result.




P

 

[Coueskiller43]

If you are just starting out, saving factory loaded descent brass and reloading it is fine. Once you have your system down and are producing good ammo, do yourself a favor and buy some premium brass. (Lapua or Alpha) you will see a difference with this brass.

 

[Mike D Texas]

You can certainly do that but Hornady brass isn’t they good and you are putting extra wear on your rifle with very little benefit since those won’t be the rounds you will sight in, develop loads and get proficient with.

My suggestion would be to start off with quality brass with the bullets you intend to use and do actual load development with them.


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[NealS02]

Thanks so much to everyone for the input. It has been tremendously helpful and I am very excited to get started in the next few months!

 

[dfschell]

Lapua, Norma, Peterson very good,
Very consistent.
The brass is one of the components we have a little more influence on in reloading.
Shoulder bump, trim length
Good luck
Reloading is my knitting lol

 

[rsipes3]

it has been my experience that starting off with match grade quality brass leads to much quicker, easier, better performing handloads. i would not call hornady brass good brass, i would say thats more of a mid grade, although its better than federal, winchester, remington. i would start off with lapua or peterson, ive had good luck with those.

 

[A-Brakke]

So I am going to start off by saying that I know very little about reloading, but am going to read Lyman or Richard Lee (open to other suggestions) to get me started in reloading and not going to buy supplies until I get through it or at least feel more confident I will be making good equipment purchases. I do want to shoot sooner rather than later and need to pick up some ammo in the near future.

In general, if I buy cheaper target ammo would the brass still be okay if I want to eventually reload with higher end bullets like ELD-X? Also, does the lower grain ammo limit the grains that can be used when reloading a particular round?

For example, I can pick up cheap Hornady ammo at 129 grain for my 6.5 CM and would like to use that brass for higher end cartridge development with potentially 143 grain and ELD-X. This example applies more broadly as I do want to reload multiple different calibers and don’t want to limit the potential of what rounds I can create by going cheap on ammo now. Thanks in advance!

Buy factory hornady ammo and save the brass. You will be good to go.

Also if you need a list of everything you need to get reloading quality ammo PM me. I started this last year after loading with a friend for years. Bought individual items and got an awesome simple set up for less than 350$. Don’t buy a kit.

 

[sdupontjr]

1st off, you don't need Lapua brass to make accurate ammo. Sure it's very good brass, but you don't need it if proper care is taken on the brass you have.

I bought 5 boxes of 150's rem corloks for thr kids to shoot and play around with at the camp. I kept all 100 brass after. I prepped them all. Full length sized, trimmed, cleaned flash hole of burrs, etc. I full length size because between me and my 2 sons, we have 4 308's. That way there is no issues chambering for either rifle.

I usually run through all 100, then repeat the process. I built an annealer and I anneal every time. You don't have to but my built annealer runs through 100 pretty quick. Over the last 5-7 years, I have prob reloaded each about 7 times using this exact method each time. 4 different rifles. To this day I currently have 94 of the original 100 remington RP brass. And 2 of them were lost in the swamp when my son dropped them unloading. I load from mild to very hot and all of my primer pockets are still very tight.

Reason I tell you this is you can buy some target ammo, save the brass and make it work. Now I have found that winchester and remington are better than federal and hornady. That's just my experience. I find those are softer and show pressure signs too early. But for a new loader, early pressure isn't all that bad.

 

[flyfisher117]

Unpopular opinion: Hornady brass is just fine for 90% of hunters/reloaders out there.

Buy it and shoot it and start learning. Make your newbie mistakes on it. Destroy a few pieces, that way you aren't out anything but time. I have 500 pieces of hornady 6.5 CM and it's been good.

Brownells did have 500 pieces of 6.5CM Peterson brass on sale. If you have the cash it may be worth just buying that. I snagged a box since my target rifle brass are approaching 8 reloads so I will probably pitch them this summer.

 

[wind gypsy]

I’ve been shooting Berger factory ammo that was on sale for lapua component brass but this Norma stuff is a real cost efficient way to get better than hornady brass and cheap ammo that shoots good too!

Norma 6.5 Creedmoor 130 grain Golden Target Match HPBT 20 rd box 200 rd case x 2 FREE SHIPPING NO SALES TAX OUTSIDE OF PA (400 rds TOTAL) - Rivertown Munitions

rivertownmunitions.com

 

[BrBa]

I would start out buying some cheap factory stuff just to have something to run through the barrel, and then use that brass to learn how to use all your reloading gear before you start working on premium brass. That way you can learn from your mistakes. We all make some starting out.

Just my $0.02 but I would avoid Hornady. Their loaded ammo is decent but somewhat expensive, and their brass is bottom of the barrel.