The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - Headstamps

[BHPSteel]

I bought 1000 pcs of 'once fired brass' last week and I've started the real fun part of reloading - cleaning up the range sweepings. Anyone who has met me probably has the (correct) impression that I'm a bit of a tightwad and like to buy 'bargains'.

So, duly decapped and processed in the ultrasonic cleaner, I'm now uniforming the flash holes, scouring out the pockets and getting rid of a few sets of military crimps etc, and I had a 'run' of maybe 6 or 7 pieces of Norma brass, and it got me thinking.

Since I'm going through the case inspection process, why not note the headstamps and pull out the 'quality' brass for special processing? This is 300BLK brass - most of it's going to accompany me out to the tactical bays and doesn't need to be high precision, but I have traditional rifles that I wouldn't mind laying down some hand-loaded rounds - just in case I ever need them. Obviously the same situation is true for larger-case rifle ammo like 308 etc.

So, whose brass is (in general) worth singling out? Norma? Lapua? Hornady? Any others I'm likely to see that are worth socking away for the Rolls Royce treatment of very precise case length trimming etc?

 

[GodBlessTheUSA]

Just my opinion, and based on limited data that is several years old: Sig's (older?) Elite 300 BO brass was more easily reloaded than Hornady brass, and chambered better in all my 300BO firearms. I then "fire formed" some of that Sig brass for one AR rifle and was pleased with the result. I was shooting subs and I'm not going to lie about some <1' of angle, but it was more than good enough to hunt with or shoot 3-gun and suppressed matches. I also got several reloads out of each piece of brass without having to full length resize or trim.

 

[SpeedyR]

Lapua for sure should be saved. Norma would be a top contender and well. Peterson and I'm sure there are a few more. most of the traditional brands (Remington, Winchester, Hornady, etc) all get grouped into "other" unless it's more precision shooting then I might group them by headstamp.

 

[BHPSteel]

I must admit, I'd be pretty stoked if I picked up a couple of Peterson cases in 35 Rem during a a brass goblin exercise

 

[N.Ga.Trader]

I tend to just stick with lake city brass for my .300 black rifles. I have more of it than anything else and I've never had issues with the neck being too thick and hanging up like I have with other brass.