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Nosler brass?

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 10:51 am
by Buck Shot
Anybody had any complaints? Midway finaly got stock and going to try it out along with some 26gr VGs.

For the Barnes, has anybody tried BLC2?

Re: Nosler brass?

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 11:38 am
by Rick in Oregon
Buck: I've not heard any complaints about the Nosler brass, except some folks had some quite a while back that was about .002" under spec for length, but otherwise, very good stuff, made for them by Norma with uniform primer pockets, all weight sorted, and no flash hole burrs to deal with. Now if Lapua would just wake up and start making 204R brass...... :chin:

The Barnes VG are not much good past 150 - 200 yards due their very poor BC, but if you can live with that, they're okay, and pretty much vaporize squirrels and PD's inside their effective range limits. I'm certain some here have tried them with BL-C2, and will chime in.

Re: Nosler brass?

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 2:32 pm
by Buck Shot
Thanks for the reply, was looking to try them (VG) on a crow. I use a 39gr BK on anything past 200yds.

Re: Nosler brass?

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 3:01 pm
by jo191145
Nosler makes some pretty good brass. It is a tad shorter than most but its already trimmed and chamfered so you will not need to shorten it further.

I just dumped my first lot of Nosler. Roughly 27 firings on it. No complaints, I got my money out of that brass.
If you got a little extra spending money you might want to pick up a couple bags of Winchester while your ordering. From what I've seen lately they've improved greatly.

Haven't done much work with the VG's. Benchmark burned too clean and I got copper. Had some nice accuracy/velocity with N-133 jammed into the lands.

Re: Nosler brass?

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 3:47 pm
by glenn asher
I would think that BLC-2 is too slow for best results using the Barnes bullets. They should probably be used with a faster powder for optimum results. Of course, that doesn't mean it won't work, it just won't be as efficient as a faster powder.
No harm can be caused by trying the stuff, though.

Re: Nosler brass?

Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:58 am
by Wrangler John
Varmint Grenades seem to work best with Reloader 10X, then Benchmark, in my Shilen barreled Savage PTA action. Barnes recommends seating .020" off the lands. I use a comparator for measuring seating depth, and a seating depth gauge for determining OAL. Varmint Grenades will vary +/- .003" in length, so I use a comparator for OAL adjustment. In my chamber, an OAL of 2.023" with the comparator sets the VG .020" off the lands. It was also necessary to polish the seating stem on the Redding seating die to avoid marking the bullets.

I purchased premium brass but found Winchester as good as any for varmint use, at half the cost. Nosler brass is very consistent, whether the degree of consistency produces any practical gain in accuracy for the average factory rifle is debatable.

For long range varminting in lead free areas, the 62 grain 6mm Varmint Grenade makes a better choice, but requires a faster twist (at least 1:10"), as does the 50 grain .224" VG in a similar twist. BL-C2 is a good powder for the 50 grain VG in the .22-250. All the VG's are accurate in my rifles, which is good, because my squirrel hunting area is within the lead free condor range.