Norma Brass vs Norma Ammo

[IDHUNTER]

Norma is typically regarded as some of the better brass to use for reloading. However, the factory loaded Norma Whitetail ammo is relatively inexpensive. Is it all the same quality, or are there different levels of brass that Norma puts out?

Also, the thickness of the Norma brass at the neck in the loaded ammo is about .002 thinner than the brass that came with the Barnes Vortex ammo. Is thicker brass always better?

 

[wind gypsy]

I'm not sure about the factory vs component brass but thicker is definitely not always better. In many cases it's worse.

Edit to add: Consistency, concentricity, and metallurgic properties seem to be bigger drivers in overall quality and longevity than thickness.

 

[WeiserBucks]

Norma brass has always been great quality as far as consistency goes but it isn't very durable.

 

[Ac338]

The only brass for .223 I was able to find was .223 Norma primed brass. Ordered 400 last night and it claims to be the Swedish variant but we’ll see. I believe the Hungarian Norma brass has the thinner necks but higher case weight with the Swedish made having thicker necks and a dated stamp but I’m not sure

 

[Chris_in_Idaho]

I'm curious about Norma brass as well. I've just read a comparison between Swedish made "Norma High Performance" component brass and Hungarian made Norma primed component brass in 223. I'm wondering if Norma factory 223 ammo always comes with the nicer Swedish brass, or if it varies lot to lot, or varies by specific load (frangible range ammo vs tipstrike hunting ammo, etc)?