I purchased Norma Brass this January for reloading my new Browning Rifle for moose hunting. There were no other Brass manufacturers available on the Internet, that I could find at the time… but glad I bought them.
I purchased a lot of 50, packed in plastic bags and boxed. How did they weigh-out?
Accordingly, I weighed 10 case random sample and did a Standard Deviation, Average and Extreme Spread.
Std Dev. 0.74 grains
AVG Wt. 214.83 grains
Extreme Spread of 2 grains in the ten cases. That is excellent!
I took a photo of the flash hole from inside this unsized case. Notice that there is no apparent burr. Some manufacturers like Norma drill the flash hole instead of punching. Drilling is better!
I found this informative review below of Norma Brass on line.
Adding the primers with my press was much more difficult as they were new and difficult to seat. The good news is that these primer pockets will firmly hold the primer and make reloading the case less susceptible to loose primers. Norma says the brass can be reloaded up to 10 times according to the above article.
I used my RCBS Rock Chucker Press, RL-22 powder and loaded Nosler 7mm 175 grain AccuBond Long Range. The bullets are boat tail thus I thought it would make it a bit easier to press the bullet. They still pressed hard but did not hurt the case.
I shall chamfer the inside of case necks on the next batch to make the bullets press easier.
I shot enough to zero at 100 yards (groups 1 1/4″) then chronographed them at 2615 fps. I expected a much faster bullet. I was hoping for 2900 fps says Nosler data with 1:9 twist and 24 inch barrel. My barrel is 1:9.5 twist with a 26 inch barrel. Accordingly, I will experiment with powders to see what I can safely wring out of these bullets. Inspecting the fired case and primers look normal.
The trigger still pulls heavy for me (4 lbs) and soon I will have a Timney to swap out the factory trigger.
I also loaded some Nosler 168 grain ABLR’s with IMR 4831 and they chrono’d at around 3005 fps and grouped at 3/4 inches at 100 yards. I liked that load!
This round may turn out to be better for long range moose than the 175 ABLR.
More Soon!