Just began working with a new batch of Nosler Brass for my 280ai with a saami spec chamber. Had to bump the shoulders on them a bit. Seems my chamber is a tad shorter than Nosler thinks it should be.

First thing I do is run an expander down one case...that will tell me a lot about where the brass is and what I might or might not need to do.

Most everything (especially Lapua and their tight [censored] necks ) needs an expander, chamfer and deburr before first firing...most being the key word there.

I’ve found Nosler Custom brass to be far better than Lapua out of the box. I think Lapua dings all there necks on purpose and cuts the mouth with a hax saw. Great brass once it’s prepped though.

I'm very wet behind the ears with reloading so I have little to offer. FiremanJG, however, has vast experience. I'm chiming in because he has shot Nosler Premium (fully prepped - from the factory, he nor I did anything to it) from a new factory rifle of mine. Less than half MOA. Maybe he'll comment.

I have seen Nosler case mouths out of round. The box stuff, so it has a premium price, often higher prices than Lapua.
Nosler goes through the neck mandrel to round them up, and to make sure I've got the same I.D. Lapua goes through the neck mandrel for the same reasons, as well as to make a larger I.D. Lapua has made their necks tighter, as well as their primer pockets tighter.

I weighed Nosler .260 Rem brass, and I weighed Lapua .260 Rem brass. The Nosler brass had a larger spread of weights, though still more than acceptable. In my opinion, if Nosler is going to charge as much or more than Lapua, they need to increase their quality.