brass quality

[pacmule]

I have a 338-06 AI with shilen match barrel. looking to make some sub moa loads for hunting. Resizing 30-06 brass leaves them shorter as the necks are stretched out, so i want to buy some 338-06 brass or 35 whelen brass that I can form, then trim.
It cost around $64/100 for remington brass, and $40/25 for norma, both in 35 Whelen. I can get 338-06 norma for $5 more/25.
I believe the Norma would be better brass, but it is 2 1/2 times more in cost. Is it worth it? will probably get only 50 to start out if I go the Norma route.

Looking for insight from those that have loaded ammo for accuracy, my goal is to develope one good, really accurate load for this gun, then shoot nothing else from it.

Thanks for your input, pacmule

[toby]

Norma is good stuff but I've had great success with Winchester 30-06 as well look REAL hard for some Weatherby 338-06 and fireform that, their brass is made by Norma. I don't believe the short necks will bother your accuracy. I have resized 7mm mag down to 257 Weatherby that changes the shoulder and the neck dramatically so they end up with real short necks but accuracy never suffers at least in my application.

[JMP]

Good brass is not always, but usually, more than worth it. The cost difference is generally easily recouped in the brass's lifetime. Cheap brass gets blown out primer pockets. If the neck is too thin, it can crack prematurely. Pay more now, get something more consistent with a long life. The brand you want varies with cartridge, but as a rule of thumb, get Lapua, if available, then Norma if Lapua isn't made. This especially holds true if you shoot a more esoteric case.

[Grunt81]

Good brass is not always, but usually, more than worth it. The cost difference is generally easily recouped in the brass's lifetime. Cheap brass gets blown out primer pockets. If the neck is too thin, it can crack prematurely. Pay more now, get something more consistent with a long life. The brand you want varies with cartridge, but as a rule of thumb, get Lapua, if available, then Norma if Lapua isn't made. This especially holds true if you shoot a more esoteric case.

^^^This

I've sort of been turned off to the idea of forming brass from a different caliber. I originially was interested in a 7mm-08, but brass availability suggested I stick to a good ol' .308.

Try to imagine the stresses that occur on a case mouth and shoulder when making the case mouth larger or smaller. When trimming is all said and done, at the very least, the brass is thinner and life span is decreased. Inconsistent shoulder angles can also make it harder to close your bolt by hand, without having to use a rubber mallet....This might not be too much of an issue in 300 Blackout from .223 brass, as it is supposed to become considerably shorter. I'm talking about any combination of forming from .243 Win, .260 Rem, 7mm-08 Rem, and .308 Win.

No doubt your barrel should be capable of fine accuracy. If I had a barrel made by one of the major players like Shilen, no doubt I'd use high quality brass for it. Lapua brass would be my first choice and Norma second, but in this case, Norma since Lapua doesn't make that head stamp. Norma out of the box has been proven at the 1,000 yard line by a recent champion.

Personally, I don't see a need to ever have more than 100 rounds loaded up for a big-bore rifle at any time, so don't feel as though you need to get a crazy amount of brass. Hell, depending on your budget 20 cases will get you started.

Longer brass life, easy resizing, easy bolt handle closing, supreme consistency in case dimensions, uniformity in combustion rate, and accuracy, are all reasons to go with Norma brass for your 338-06. On http://www.midwayusa.com/find?userSe...y=338-06+brass Norma is actually cheaper than Weatherby, go figure.

[J-cat]

annealing eliminates stress

[Divernhunter]

You spent the money to build a nice not so common cartridge rifle then you are going to try and go cheap on the brass. That is like building a $2000 rifle and topping it with a BSA scope.
Makes no sense to me.
Will you try to work up a load with the cheapest powder/bullets/primers also. I would think not. The brass/powder/primer and bullet is the cheapest part of your outfit. It is also the most important part that makes the most difference if it is a hunting gun. Also remember that the bullet is really what will determine how well the rifle preforms on game so do not cut costs there.

[Grunt81]

annealing eliminates stress

J-cat brings up an excellent point. To the OP, repitive cycles of resizing and firing "work-hardens" the brass case just south of the shoulder. Annealing with a propane torch helps soften up this portion of the case to give it more life before cracking. For my .308, with the high availability of LC brass, I've determined that's not a step I want to plunge into at this time. It seems to be a sort of art form, as many people screw it up and do more damage than good, or too little of an effect which doesn't really achieve the goal annealing is supposed to achieve.

Several guys on here are experienced annealers, but the intricacies of annealing should probably be another thread all its own.

Some info on it can be found on a thread I started about LC Brass Prep.

[elk hunter]

I shoot a .257 Ackley and I have little doubt that the .338-06 Ackley is any different in this situation. Ackley designed his improved ctgs. to use that parent cartridge to fire form for the new AI cartridge. Datum lines are the same case length are the same in almost all cases. Anneal if you want but I don't for mine. I also don't think it would work to just use a 30-06 to open up because the neck wall will be to thin to resize and hold the bullet after the first firing. If you want to find out how I know I'll be only to happy to tell you that story, need less to say "it don't work". Getting the .35-06 case would work as your reducing rather than opening up so your necks could be a bit to thick and you might have to thin them. If you can find good brass already formed into .338-06 Ackley I would advise buying it, if you cant then you will have to make it. It isn't like you have a lot of choices of .338-06 A brass out there. By the way I think the .338-06 and the Ackley version are a super good mid cartridge. I wonder if Elmer and the other two that came of with the .333 OKH that's the parent to the .338-06 that's the parent to the .338-06A would say if here were here today, I bet ya he would be real happy with it.

[dhagerty]

Good brass is not always, but usually, more than worth it. The cost difference is generally easily recouped in the brass's lifetime. Cheap brass gets blown out primer pockets. If the neck is too thin, it can crack prematurely. Pay more now, get something more consistent with a long life. The brand you want varies with cartridge, but as a rule of thumb, get Lapua, if available, then Norma if Lapua isn't made. This especially holds true if you shoot a more esoteric case.

I agree with this.

for my 7BR, using factory remington brass, I start to get neck splits after 3-4 reloadings.

The brass I formed from Lapua 6BR brass is now over 12 times reloaded and still have not lost a case.

[pacmule]

thanks for all the replies. as I typed the post this morning, I was starting to come to the same conclusions I see here. I am hoping that the stars line up and the gods smile down on me and I can get a load that is near 1/2 m.o.a. With that as my goal, it does not make sense to try anything but top notch components.
So now I need to decide if I want to get norma 338-06 brass, or save a few bucks and get the 35 whelen and neck turn after sizing down. would be nice to have 338 on headstamps but also nice to know all the cases are exactly the same.
I annealed the original cases I made and will probably do the same to new Norma brass before fire forming.