SmallCaliberCentral

I would like to shoot my 204 in a few competitions this year.
I bought some new winchester cases but they dont seem to be great quality.
Runout was around .008 so I run them through my neck die but it was still the same.
About 50 of the 300 cases were very difficult to get into my hornady shell holder.
I had to force them in eventually.
I was thinking about buying 100 norma or nosler cases for competition.
Would I get better accuracy with this brass ?

If you want better brass the Nosler 204 is the best available. I don't think anyone can tell you for sure that it will make your rifle more accurate, however it sure won't hurt accuracy. I have used Nosler 204 brass on a couple different occasions, the prep work is second to none and in my opinion is easily worth the extra coin over other manufacturers. Give it a try and i am sure you will be pleasantly surprised. It may be a little difficult to find the Nosler brass, with the shortages going on currently it is out of stock everywhere.

Brad

Thanks Brad.
I will try to get my hands on some nosler cases so.
Cheers Sakofan.

You are welcome. If you don't find any of the Nosler 204 brass let me know. We have an order of it that is back ordered currently, however we should receive it in the next 30-60 days.

+1 on the nosler. fantastic stuff. Norma also..

is hornady brass any good? it seems to cost more than normal Winchester or Remington brass.

jdohio wrote:is hornady brass any good? it seems to cost more than normal Winchester or Remington brass.

Two thumbs down on Hornady brass. Overly tight primer pockets are the top of the list, not too many folks here use it, want it, or like it. Right now Nosler 204 brass is as good as you'll find. Someday, maybe someday Lapua will start producing it, but until then, it's Nosler/Norma, and/or Win/R-P at the domestic end.

If you take the time to do a search, you'll find lots on this subject, but in the end, you'll find Hornady 204 brass is not worth your time.

(By the way, I've shot groups in the .1's and .2's using fully prepped WW brass.........Some domestic brass is not too bad...... )

sakofan wrote:I would like to shoot my 204 in a few competitions this year.
- I bought some new winchester cases but they dont seem to be great quality.
- Runout was around .008 so I run them through my neck die but it was still the same.

If you're running a piece of brass with a bad run-out through a neck die only, it does nothing for you. You need to run it through a F/L die to straighten it out. If you run it through a F/L die and the run out is still bad you need to take a look at;

- The F/L die paying particular attention to the decapping rod for straightness.
- The reloading press paying particular attention see if the RAM is staying in-line with the die. I had this very same problem a couple of years back and man it was frustrating but a new press sure fixed it.

As far as brass, I think the quality control may slip like it did a few years ago when things got scarce. If at all possible, especially with WIN & REM cases, try and get all of your brass with the same LOT # if possible. I've found significant tolerences between different LOTs especially with neck thickness and when you use a neck bushing resizing system it can cause headaches.

Measure neck wall thickness too. if it is inconsistent around the perimmiter of the (individual) neck, it may be close to impossible to eliminate your poor runout.

Man, you can save yourself mucho headache (and $$) by just buying quality (Nosler, etc.) brass when it becomes available. I learned that the hard way.

that's how I learn everything, lol!! 'But it sticks!!

Im using redding competition dies and my older winchester brass is fine with little to no runout after sizing so its just this new stuff that I bought thats bad.
I have shot some of it twice now and runout has improved a lot.
I will get 100 nosler cases to see how it performs.

I agree with Rick, Hornady brass is terrible. I've found it's very hard and has a tendency to split at the neck after only a few reloads. I have had much better luck with Winchester.

I've never heard anything good about Hornady brass.

What about .204 Federal Brass?

Doubl wrote:What about .204 Federal Brass?

When I first bought mu LRPV 204,I bought a couple boxes of Federal Ammo with the 39gr SBK bullets,and got a .333 right out of the box,for gun and ammo.I used those 40 cases for load development for the next few months,with great results.I still have the brass with over twelve fireings,and no split necks or loose primer pockets.They have not been annealed,which is surprising.

Joe O wrote:

Doubl wrote:What about .204 Federal Brass?

When I first bought mu LRPV 204,I bought a couple boxes of Federal Ammo with the 39gr SBK bullets,and got a .333 right out of the box,for gun and ammo.I used those 40 cases for load development for the next few months,with great results.I still have the brass with over twelve fireings,and no split necks or loose primer pockets.They have not been annealed,which is surprising.

I have a good cache of those exact Federal Factory loads. I was told that with some calibers, because the Federal Brass is thicker, they sometimes result in more pressure and an inability to reach velocities that can be achieved with other brands of brass.

Anyone had that experience with .204s?