Brass for Reloading…

So, I am jumping into reloading for varmints. The Famous Grouse and Randy W. have posted too many prairie dog adventures and I just can’t take it any longer.

I am looking for the best place to buy brass in .204, .223 and .22-250. I will end up buying 1000 cases for 2 of the 3. Just have not made the final decision yet on which caliber.

With that said I’m not having too much luck finding the bulk pricing for these cases. When I do it’s like $25-$35 for 50 cases. This route would cost me like $1200 in brass which seem like a lot. Maybe this is the price to play?

Who has the best prices for brass?

From what I have read the Winchester brass is decent quality for an economical price. Any advice on this?

call local gun ranges, they usually have great price and selection on once fired brass. I usually get my once fired from a range and quality is usually pretty good.

Good brass isn’t cheap. I haven’t looked lately at prices. But before jumping into higher quantities, see what you gun likes.

At some price point on the brass it makes sense to shoot new ammo saving the brass to reload. Gun shows are a good place to find fired brass.

Once fired for .223 and get a WFT trimmer if you are doing bulk.

Kind of depends on precision or not. .223 Lake City always does well for me. After 3-4 loads I chop them and remake for a new caliber.

22-250 and 204 new brass is about it. Not much in once fired.

Varmints…1000 cases? Stick to the 223Rem if the cost is a factor.

Brassman Brass has a good price on new LC brass and it will serve you very well. Then you will be dealing with brass from one specific lot and keep it segregated from your other 223 brass.

I used to go PD shooting 2X a year during the 80’s and 90’s. Although I had an array of calibers to shoot, a hard-shooting 22LR and a 223 Rem saw the most of the action. Once the dogs got spooky after annihilating them with the 2 lightweights, I’d switch over to something that would grind them up out to further distances, particularly if the wind came up.

A couple of other things. Bullets aren’t cheap either. The V-Max and similar are great, but a bullet as simple as a Winchester Power Point purchased in bulk will perform well to the 250-300yd range. Widener’s usually has a good price on them.

For powders, the High-Energy, temp-insensitive powders are the rage since 1995. If you intend to use one, look real hard at Benchmark for the 223 with 50-55 grain bullets. It meters extremely well from a thrower and THAT is a big factor to shorten your bench time. IMR8208XBR is another great powder that meter very well and is temp-insensitive. I’ve used it from 40F to over 100F in the full sun. CFE223 is a newer ball powder that meters well and it has a copper inhibitor so that you can fire looooong strings without needing to go after the copper in the bore.