Do different brands of brass make a big difference in accuracy?
What I'm trying to ask is this. New gun, haven't even pulled the trigger yet.
I was going to order 1000 unprimed brass hulls. Either Rem. or Win.
Or should I just buy 100 of each and see which one the gun likes.
I sometimes put the cart before the horse.
Thanks, Dave
Bitman: If you can afford the best, buy the best. Right now that would be Norma/Nosler brass. Until Lapua starts making 204 Ruger brass that is, as it's by far and away considered the best brand of brass available today.
That said, you will get many different opinions based on what degree of success (read: rejects) everyone has had with WW, R-P or Hornady. I've got all brands in house, and have standardized for the 204 on Winchester, as I shoot a very high volume of rounds at squirrels and PD's every year, and can't afford Nosler. The WW brass has served me very well, some of it now on the 6th firing. It will be annealed prior to any more loading though. I've had some lots of WW go 100% with no rejects (usually split necks right out of the bag), and other bags have had up to 8% bum brass. It's a crap shoot.
You'd have good luck with either WW or R-P, but at least in my opinion, I'd shy from Hornady, as every lot I've tried has had too tight of primer pockets, but otherwise it's also good brass. My primer pocket uniformer won't even enter the Hornady pockets, and it's a pain to detail because of this. Again, just another opinion, others will differ.
Semper Fortis
Rick in Oregon
NRA Life/OHA/VHA/VVA
Oregon, East of the Cascades - Where Common Sense Still Prevails
personally, i prefer the R-P brass over Win brass. for the simple reason, i had some problems with win brass when i first started loading for my 204. it was probably my fault, but never the less i won't spend the money on win brass any more, even if its 1 or 2 bucks cheaper than rp brass. but i have never had any problems with win brass for my 223, and i have a lot of win brass for that rifle. like rick, i am doing a volume of shooting with both calibers, and never really noticed any problems with either brand. i have run into defects right out of the bag with both brands. but in the case of r-p brass there were always 100 pieces of good brass, no defects. its like they knew there were some screwed up cases in the batch.
NRA Benefactor Life member HOWA 1500 Varmint 204 Ruger, Bull Barrel, Hogue Overmold Stock, Leupold VXII 6-18x40mm AO LRV Custom Reticle Timney Trigger
Cooper Mdl 21 20VarTargW/Leupold VXIII, 6-20x40AO Varmint Hunter reticle.
I've had success with Winchester Brass in the 204. I have some that have been loaded 10 times now and the primer pockets are still good. Decided to run them them through the Redding body die last time around (just been neck sizing) and glad I did. No signs of failure so far...
