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There are definite differences in brass. What you want or need it to do will determine if there is any practical difference for your purposes.
Some brass is drawn, and some is extruded. Some new Win. .45-70 cases I got recently appear to be extruded. Years ago while working with a Ruger #3 .45-70 with quite heavy loads I found that Winchester cases would be OK with loads which would stretch the primer pockets in one shot with Remington. That was about 20 years ago, don't assume this is still the case.
I havn't loaded any .25-20 for many years so I havn't had reason to investigate brass for it. As a rule, all of the Winchester '73/'92 cartridges are relatively thin and fragile compared to most other calibers. There is a good reason for this. The original cases were of the so-called Balloon head which were formed from thin stock similar to what is still used for .22 rimfire cases. When the change was made to solid drawn cases the necks had to still be thin to fit properly in the chamber necks. This applies to .32-20, .38-40, and .44-40 as well. The last three are really notorious for being easy to damage, much more so than the .25-20.
Several sources have mentioned that Starline Brass is somewhat heavier in those three, For heavy loads, especially, it seems to be preferred. The real answer is to be careful when loading any of these cartridges in particular, and any in general. It is much easier than you would think to destroy even a .357/.38, a .44 Mag. or .45 Colt if the case bumps the mouth of the size die or the end of the expander ball.
For most uses any brass from the major manufacturers will be adequate. The usual admonition to not mix manufacturers in a lot or batch of ammunition is still a good recommendation for consistency. Getting really nit-picky for accuracy reasons as the bench rest shooters do doesn't really make sense with this cartridge or the usual guns it is shot in.
Hope this is helpful.
(Edited by Alk8944 at 8:38 pm on Jan. 29, 2002)
(Edited by Alk8944 at 8:44 pm on Jan. 29, 2002)