My 280 AI project is close to completion which will leave me with the tedious task of looking for the perfect load. The rifle is built around the 169 Hammer Hunter, so picking brass was a priority. Basically there are two 280AI brass players worth looking at. Nosler and Peterson. The rest of the brass playing field is Federal, Hornady and Remington. Enough said...
I will start by saying both brass manufacturers are very good but one of the two is a clear winner regarding quality. I would say consistency and perceived longevity would be my qualifiers of how the brass is judged.
Tools used were:
Calipers = TESA Swiss
Outside Micrometer = SPI Japan
Concentricity Gauge = Sinclair International
Weigh Scale = Gempro 250
Let's look at the numbers I came up with (out of the box brass):
The random sample size of brass was 5 pieces (based on a possible 5 shot group)
Neck Concentricity:
Peterson average neck deviation .015
.010
.020
.015
.020
.010
--------
Nosler average neck deviation .038
.030
.040
.040
.030
.050
--------
Brass OAL:
Peterson average OAL variance .004
2.524
2.523
2.522
2.520
2.522
--------
Nosler average OAL variance .003
2.519
2.519
2.520
2.522
2.519
--------
Case Weight:
Peterson average weight variance .350
204.00
204.70
204.30
204.55
203.6
---------
Nosler average weight variance .650
179.35
178.70
179.15
179.20
179.80
---------
Case Neck Wall thickness:
Peterson Wall Thickness spread +/- .000
.0160
.0160
.0160
.0160
.0160
--------
Nosler Wall Thickness spread +/- .020
.0170
.0160
.0150
.0150
.0160
---------
Case capacity based on water volume from a sample size of one from each manufacturer:
Peterson case capacity based on water volume:
No water 208.98 grains
With water 280.40 grains
Water weight 71.42 grains
Nosler case capacity based on water volume:
No water 184.17 grains
With water 257.41 grains
Water weight 73.24 grains
Conclusions based on these simple numbers
Peterson brass is 13% heavier but only gives up 2.5% case capacity to Nosler (good indicator that the Petersen will last longer)
Nosler brass had a more consistent OAL yet Peterson had a more consistent weight (after trimming both, I suspect the Peterson will widen the gap regarding weight consistency)
Peterson neck wall thickness was perfect at +/- .000 and Nosler was +/- .020 (speaks volumes)
Peterson neck concentricity was more than twice as good as the Nosler (there you have it)
Peterson brass was packaged more safely and came in a nice usable cartridge box
Nosler brass was packaged in a bag loose and then in a box
Nosler brass on average is more expensive than Peterson (unless found on sale)
Nosler brass is made in Sweden
Peterson Brass is made in USA
Clear winner is Peterson in almost every category.
Peterson brass on left and Nosler brass on right -
I will start by saying both brass manufacturers are very good but one of the two is a clear winner regarding quality. I would say consistency and perceived longevity would be my qualifiers of how the brass is judged.
Tools used were:
Calipers = TESA Swiss
Outside Micrometer = SPI Japan
Concentricity Gauge = Sinclair International
Weigh Scale = Gempro 250
Let's look at the numbers I came up with (out of the box brass):
The random sample size of brass was 5 pieces (based on a possible 5 shot group)
Neck Concentricity:
Peterson average neck deviation .015
.010
.020
.015
.020
.010
--------
Nosler average neck deviation .038
.030
.040
.040
.030
.050
--------
Brass OAL:
Peterson average OAL variance .004
2.524
2.523
2.522
2.520
2.522
--------
Nosler average OAL variance .003
2.519
2.519
2.520
2.522
2.519
--------
Case Weight:
Peterson average weight variance .350
204.00
204.70
204.30
204.55
203.6
---------
Nosler average weight variance .650
179.35
178.70
179.15
179.20
179.80
---------
Case Neck Wall thickness:
Peterson Wall Thickness spread +/- .000
.0160
.0160
.0160
.0160
.0160
--------
Nosler Wall Thickness spread +/- .020
.0170
.0160
.0150
.0150
.0160
---------
Case capacity based on water volume from a sample size of one from each manufacturer:
Peterson case capacity based on water volume:
No water 208.98 grains
With water 280.40 grains
Water weight 71.42 grains
Nosler case capacity based on water volume:
No water 184.17 grains
With water 257.41 grains
Water weight 73.24 grains
Conclusions based on these simple numbers
Peterson brass is 13% heavier but only gives up 2.5% case capacity to Nosler (good indicator that the Petersen will last longer)
Nosler brass had a more consistent OAL yet Peterson had a more consistent weight (after trimming both, I suspect the Peterson will widen the gap regarding weight consistency)
Peterson neck wall thickness was perfect at +/- .000 and Nosler was +/- .020 (speaks volumes)
Peterson neck concentricity was more than twice as good as the Nosler (there you have it)
Peterson brass was packaged more safely and came in a nice usable cartridge box
Nosler brass was packaged in a bag loose and then in a box
Nosler brass on average is more expensive than Peterson (unless found on sale)
Nosler brass is made in Sweden
Peterson Brass is made in USA
Clear winner is Peterson in almost every category.
Peterson brass on left and Nosler brass on right -
