Cheap ammo for brass

[BRL]

I was looking at a Cabelas Shooting catalog today and saw some cheap ammo prices for the, not so common, brand names. I usually just buy my standard Remington Core-Lokt ammo for hunting and buy extra to practice with at the range. Well, I am interested to get started in reloading for rifle calibers and thought I might try some of that cheap ammo for the range and save the brass to reload. What are anyone's thoughts on shooting the following...

 Wolf Gold
 Fiocchi
 HSM

Also, what bullets do they use? Or, do they make their own bullets? Are they suitable for hunting purposes or just range work?

Thank you!!

[ButlerFord45]

Why?  You seem to be a fan of the Rem Core-lockt ammo and I can understand why, it's good ammo at a nonpremium price.  Why not start your reloading endevor with components that you know work for you and your gun.  Remington brass is not expensive.  Their Core-Lockt bullets have been good reliable bullets for decades.  Would be my recomendation.

[BRL]

Sorry, let me rephrase that...

I will use the Core-lokt bullets when reloading but thought I'd shoot some of the other brands to get cheaper brass. The part about their bullets was just if I bought 10 or 20 boxes of ammo, could their bullets be shot at game as opposed to just the range.

I guess I'll look more closely at the cost savings. These other companies are selling a 20 round box for $14 - $16. The Core-lokts are going for $19 - $24.

[ButlerFord45]

Try checking the price of 100 pieces of new rem brass and the core-lockt bullets in bulk.
There is nothing wrong with using the cheaper brass, I have a bunch of it.  Most of it is ok, some of it is junk but none of it is the same dimensions.  For example:  40 grains of powder XYZ in a remington piece of brass is probably going to be much different than in a piece of winchester brass.  So when you have what you believe to be a good load in one manufacturer will be off the paper with another.
Yes, it can and does frequently make that much difference

[BRL]

That's good information to know, thanks. I bet a lot of newbies take for granted that a load is a load (in the same gun) and the brass used doesn't make a difference.

I load handguns now but just for A LOT of plinking ammo and use what ever brass I find. But, at a distance of 7 - 15 yards (and shooting off hand) probably won't show the difference. 

[Darrell Davis]

Yep, as ButlerFord45 indicates, mixed brass IS NOT THE WAY TO GO!

Save your mixed lot/brand brass for "banger" loads, but for quality and consistancy, buy as large a quanity of brass as you think you might need for the forsee able future and keep that for your serious shooting/hunting.

I have related in previous posts, a very interesting experience using same brand but different lot brass for some load development.

I won't bore everyone with it again, but will answer anyone directly who may be interested.

I use mixed lot and brand for my "reduced" practice loads with fine results, but these are not intended for anything more important then close range practice.

Here the bullets are light, the velocities low, the range short and the load doesn't need to be better then minute of tin can.

Therefore, it is an ideal place to use range brass and other odds and ends, thus saving my good brass supply for more important things.

keep em coming!

CDOC

[Harry Snippe]

Found with mixed brass , mixed case lengths even if just for plinking you never know if your getting better or repeating the same mistake a thousand times . If Practice is to inprove once's shooting , then use the same ammo.

[troy_mclure]

to answer your question.....

wolf gold is made by privi partition, its decent stuff.

fiocchi is kinda cheap, but the brass is pretty good.

hsm makes pretty good ammo, they sometimes are loaded with Berger bullets.
shooting hornady vmax, and hsm berger out of my encore .204 there was little change in the poi, or group size at 100m.
at 200m the poi stayed the same but the hsm opened up a bit more than the hornady. still good tho.

[BRL]

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions.

[Wynn]

I bought a couple of hundred rounds of Privi Partizan ammo specifically for the brass. I was quite surprised at the accuracy and killing power it has on hogs. (I shot over 50 last year with only one lost) I then load the brass with Nosler Accubonds for deer with outstanding results. This is in a CZ 550 American in 6.5x55. I have found that the Privi brass is nearly as good as the Lapua I was using and the ammo is as good as most non-premium US stuff. A dead hog is a dead hog.

I have a non-handloading buddy that tried it out in his Browning autoloader and it groups better than any other factory ammo he has tried to date.

[BRL]

That's good information. I may pick up a few boxes just to see how they shoot. Thanks!

[troy_mclure]

if you have an academy sports by you their store brand, monarch, is also privi partisan.