best brass choice

My choices are

For precision rifle:
Alpha
Lapua

I would run
ADG (clickers can be worse as the brass is super tough)
Peterson

After that it depends on the cartridge and gets murky

Straight wall (45-70, 44 Mag, 357 Mag):
Starline

5.56/308/30-06(AR, M1 Garand etc.):
Lake City

For the 6.5 PRC I have and would use Lapua, then ADG if you can't get Lapua.

Clickers - PLEASE don't ask questions there before you read the thread and yes it's LONG.

And "clickers" video here for a quick summary.
 
Whether in general or cartridge specific which would have best brass
Nosler
Hornady
Norma
Berger
PPC
Lapua
Federal
Winchester

Choice is for longer reloading (average case life per good velocity, not hot) case. I might be buying factory ammo and reuse the brass for it or just buying brass? 6.5prc is the cartridge in question if that helps?
Lapua
 
In 45yrs of reloading, I have never split necks on cases. Not on cheap commercial brass or any of the high grade brass either. I have only started annealing recently so that isn't what has helped me avoid split necks.

Based on my experience, I'd say split necks were more a consequence of overworking necks than anything else. I use bushing dies for (almost) all of my reloading and move the necks and shoulders no more than is absolutely necessary. The new craze of using mandrels requires a reloader to resize more than minimally, and then to upsize again. It may not be much but it does require more work to the neck then just using a proper size bushing.

Just my 2 cents, and it's probably worth less.
I go along with more of what you are saying. I started annealing over 20yrs ago. Only once, it stop my neck from splitting. I was shooting a belted mag. I was shooting a 308 NM, and using 300WM cases, which I had to FL resize the cases first. I had problem with neck splitting, and case separation at the bases. I change from FL to neck sizing and using a 300WM neck sizing die to achieve the sizing. It only sized about 3/4 of the neck. It chamber just fine. It stopped the case separation at the same time. Only losted cases after that to primer pockets.
Sinces then I have changed to annealing everytime.
I have argued about using a mandrel as your final step to size the necks. I do feel that it's is working the brass a lot.
I do cut my necks for even thickness to start with, with new brass. In days gone by I have seen necks out several thousans on one side or the other. I also noted at the time that my groups closed up some.
I also feet that cutting neck corrects the uneveness of the brass. So bushing sizing the necks to correct tension should be enough. Here there are reloader say no.
Now the fun part is I got a new rifle with a tighten neck area. So I will try it both ways to see if I get any difference in accuracy from one way or the other.
So far I had to cut a few cases for the smith to test the rifle here awhile back. I was able to size the necks to correct tension of .002".
I also have to watch for springback too. So I have some work to do to see what the outcome is going to be. I purchased an additional bushing to size the neck down a little smaller to use a mandreal to bring it back to proper tension. Biggest problem is my reloading gear is on Montana presently and I am on Mexico-North of over a month yet. I am going to try do some detail note on what the outcome is. I am 75 and still on a learning curve.
I use Peterson, Lapua, mostly now, but have use about any other brass I could get my hands onto. Some cases are not built for some of the rifle I shoot in better brass.
 
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In my experience, both Remington and Winchester brass is not what it used to be. The older stuff (pre-90s) is higher quality. Especially the WW Super and Super X.

Growing up Federal was the "cheap stuff". It's actually gotten a little better.

Hornady brass seems cheap, but actually has been holding up for me. However there is a huge range in case weights. In 270 win the spread is over 15 gr.

I think most people make a big deal about brass initial quality. The higher end stuff just seems to take less prep work, but if you put in the time, midrange brass like PPU, Starline, Nosler can all be made consistent. It just takes your time to uniform the primer pockets, deburr the flash holes, weight sort, trim, anneal, etc.
 
In my experience, both Remington and Winchester brass is not what it used to be. The older stuff (pre-90s) is higher quality. Especially the WW Super and Super X.

Growing up Federal was the "cheap stuff". It's actually gotten a little better.

Hornady brass seems cheap, but actually has been holding up for me. However there is a huge range in case weights. In 270 win the spread is over 15 gr.

I think most people make a big deal about brass initial quality. The higher end stuff just seems to take less prep work, but if you put in the time, midrange brass like PPU, Starline, Nosler can all be made consistent. It just takes your time to uniform the primer pockets, deburr the flash holes, weight sort, trim, anneal, etc.
That's what I was wondering. Because before like you say 90s. Rem brass was considered decent brass to use. At least that is what I thought I remembered. Thanks for your reply.
 
The Wolf steel cased ammo is headstamped Wolf. I shoot it out my SKS and AK. Loaded a bit lite for my tastes but the price used to be right. These days? Haven't checked in a while. I long for the days when I could buy 1600 rounds, delivered to my door for $89.00! The only good thing to come out of China except for Holosun RDS! Ah, Jing An, where have you gone? Shoulda bought a lot more of the stuff... rats!
Cheers,
crkckr
 
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