LAPUA brass, how consistent are they?
- Thread starter Exodus343
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It is better than Win, but if you have a ton of it and it's working well for you, I wouldn't switch.
M
milo 2.0
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It's better than most, but to me doesn't live up to the "god" like status of others. One only needs to neck turn new Lapua brass to see this.
I'd rather work with Norma brass, but most Norma stuff I've bought starts out with rather loose primer pockets.
I shoot it in 3 guns, but if I could buy another brand, I would.
It really depends on your end use, what do you want from it?
I'd rather work with Norma brass, but most Norma stuff I've bought starts out with rather loose primer pockets.
I shoot it in 3 guns, but if I could buy another brand, I would.
It really depends on your end use, what do you want from it?
Half of the benefit of lapua brass, at least to me, is how long it lasts. Very strong at the base / web, yet ductile enough at the neck so that you get very little split necks or loose pockets even after many loadings. Sure if you run it hot it will die like any other piece of brass but it will take a beating for a while.
I have started using Lapua brass with one of my rifles. I keep this apart from other rifle brass (308) and only work it when I have 50 to do. This is the first time I have kept track of a batch of brass so I can't tell if it is indeed better than others I use. Others include Hornady, Fed, Win and small amount of Rem.
I am on the 8th loading of the Lapua brass and everything is still good. While I have not kept track of others, this seems to be lasting longer than the others.
If I were in the market for some brass, I would more than likely buy the Lapua.
YMMV
I am on the 8th loading of the Lapua brass and everything is still good. While I have not kept track of others, this seems to be lasting longer than the others.
If I were in the market for some brass, I would more than likely buy the Lapua.
YMMV
Yes, it's worth it. Unlike other brass which often needs a lot of prep all I ever do with Lapua is run the expander ball through it to straighten up any dented mouths and lightly chamber and debur. I never need to trim right off the break because of uneven case mouths, and I don't need to uniform the primer pockets. Lapua brass also lasts a very long time, I've got no problem getting 15 firing out of them with warm loads.
If lapua makes brass for it, it's my first choice.
If lapua makes brass for it, it's my first choice.
I've used Rem, Win, Federal, PMC, Norma. The Norma was 30 years ago and I found it to be quite soft; it might be better now. I've found the Lapua (6.5 swede & .260) to be more consistent than any of the American made stuff, but it's not sorted. But I'm with Ite82: It lasts forever. Now admittedly, I'm not hot-rodding my swede, but 10 reloads and no indication of that the primer pockets have changed at all. Super strong. It allows you to push the .260 without shorting brass life. It's expensive, but considering how long it lasts, in the long run, probably cheaper than any other brass.
From my experience it depends on the caliber. 6br,6.5x47,220 Russian, it's as good as it gets. 260 brass for me is crap. maybe the 308 stuff is great, never used it. Same with Norma. I think it depends on the caliber.
I can add some data since I just took the plunge in Lapua 308. I ordered two boxes of 100 and weighted each twice. The first box ranged in weights from 172.1 to 175.1. There was one piece at each extreme. When you removed them the spread was 172.2 to 174.6. Also, three pieces had some neck damage (one was extreme). Midway refunded $5 for compensation. The second box from Brownell's was a bit similar 172.4 to 176.2 initially, going to 172.4 to 175.8 with one extreme at each end removed (all necks were perfect). Good to even great consistency? (I had never purchased any new brass before this, content to reload 1x factory or range brass and prep for competition, tedious but cheap), but I was hoping for better based upon some claims. Between the 200 I was able to make two sets of brass that spanned 1.0 grain, one set had 72 pieces the other 97. After doing some measurements on a few pieces to verify that the Lapua consistency was there and it would fit in my rifle, I loaded it without any work. During my OCW test, a primer comparison test, and a drop test with this new brass directly out of the box, it shot sub MOA and sub 1/2 MOA when it reached a node. Have cleaned, reloaded and shot it a second time already, one thing I did notice is that the primer pockets initially were amazingly consistent, flat and tight and were so after I shot it once and reloaded it. Looking forward to using it in F-Class this summer. Drew
Lapua makes good quality brass and use it in 308, 223 and 22-250. It is probably the most uniform cases out of the box and requires a minimal amount of prep. For calibers not produced by Lapua my next choice is Norma although I have had good results with Hornady 6.5 CM brass. I have found Remington, Winchester and Federal brass will require a greater amount of prep work to achieve the same level of uniformity and percentage of cases will need to be culled due to larger than acceptable variances in neck wall thickness (>.001). I was fortunate to pick up several hundred pieces of once fired Lapua 308 brass from a precision shooting school last year and it is holding up very well after several firings. I anneal the cases after two firings and dimensions consistently when sizing. The Lapua brass also provides the best results when loading 308 for my gas guns on a 550B.
Let me throw my $.02 in. I just randomly pulled 10 pieces of Lapua brass that has been fired 4 times through the same rifle. I have never trimmed them and only neck sized them. They all weighed within .5 grains of each other, and every one of them measures 2.006. The only other brass that compares is my Norma brass. The consistency is amazing.
Let me put it this way. 95% of benchrest shooters shoot only Lapua. When I first started, I tried 2 other brands. I found Lapua pretty quickly. IN MY OPINION, and that's all it is, Lapua brass is the best you can buy in any caliber they make.
Good luck.
By the way. I weigh my cases and group every 0.3 grains to groups of 15 to 20. I try to keep the spread per group as low as possible. I do the weighing and sorting right out of the box before anything is done to the brass to change it. How else do you know they are close in the way they are made?
Good luck.
By the way. I weigh my cases and group every 0.3 grains to groups of 15 to 20. I try to keep the spread per group as low as possible. I do the weighing and sorting right out of the box before anything is done to the brass to change it. How else do you know they are close in the way they are made?
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I have to trim and neck turn my new Lapua brass and it grows significantly (.009") after being fire-formed but from there it's really nice brass. I also have a lot of LC-LR brass and it's just as good and lasts just as long so...
Its like the last thing Milo said; what is your purpose? For some applications, if you are satisfied with WW, and you are a recreational shooter, you might not appreciate the tolerances or the premium price.
Lapua is generally good, but I shoot some stuff that Lapua doesn't make and I "manage". Many years ago, the only source for 220 Swift brass was only WW or Norma. I thought Norma was soft and ever since, have avoided that brand. I also avoid Federal, for what amounts to the same reason, which is neither scientific nor defendable. I suffered for many years not even knowing there was such a thing as Lapua. Sometimes I think it's snob appeal more than anything? But, I buy it when I can, it is top quality but it's not the BE ALL AND END ALL.
I think WW is a good second choice; you should have no worries unless you are top tier competitive, or expect 10-12+ recycles of finely prepped cases. Or, aren't pushing things to the edge, since Lapua is supposed to be stronger constructed? In other words, there is a lot of ink expended on the subject, but it involves a minor component. Sorry to ramble. BB
Lapua is generally good, but I shoot some stuff that Lapua doesn't make and I "manage". Many years ago, the only source for 220 Swift brass was only WW or Norma. I thought Norma was soft and ever since, have avoided that brand. I also avoid Federal, for what amounts to the same reason, which is neither scientific nor defendable. I suffered for many years not even knowing there was such a thing as Lapua. Sometimes I think it's snob appeal more than anything? But, I buy it when I can, it is top quality but it's not the BE ALL AND END ALL.
I think WW is a good second choice; you should have no worries unless you are top tier competitive, or expect 10-12+ recycles of finely prepped cases. Or, aren't pushing things to the edge, since Lapua is supposed to be stronger constructed? In other words, there is a lot of ink expended on the subject, but it involves a minor component. Sorry to ramble. BB
I agree with above statements. Unless you're trying for the smallest groups with a precision made rifle (match chamber, barrel, pillar bedded to stock, etc) NO it isn't worth it when others are cheaper. If you're just plinking, go with the cheaper makers stuff.
Thanks for all the feedback on SH
MY application is precision shooting, smallest group I can get out of a factory R700 LTR (I will rebarrel soon...) sitting on a chassis system
Sub moa and to Half MOA once I rebarrel is my goal
MY application is precision shooting, smallest group I can get out of a factory R700 LTR (I will rebarrel soon...) sitting on a chassis system
Sub moa and to Half MOA once I rebarrel is my goal
I've got a couple boxes in 308. I've only opened one and have worked with 50 pieces. I'm pretty happy with the overall quality of the brass. I loaded them all and fired them to fire form them to my chamber. After that first firing, I sized them and trimmed. I had a variety of measurements after sizing. Most of them were 2.005 or less. Some were as short as 2.002. But there were about 7 that were between 2.007 and 2.017. Not a big deal, and I just trimmed them to the proper length. I'm happy with my purchase and would buy again.
Here's my take on it.... It lasts FOREVER.... I've not EVER had to prep virgin brass with any significance (maybe straighten a neck or two out) and it'll take more pressure for the guys who really want to push it....
Winchester is GREAT too... More powder capacity ect... Although much more weight sorting and brass prep
Winchester is GREAT too... More powder capacity ect... Although much more weight sorting and brass prep
I bought Winchester 243 brass, 200 pieces. I had very similar spread as what you got with the Lapau. I had like 7 pieces that were not with the 2 grain window as the other pieces. I went with Winchester for 2 reasons: 1) I couldn't get Lapau as no one had any in stock, and 2) otger long range shooters had said that Winchester is pretty good and that is what they were using.
I guess the only additional step that I had to take with the Winchester was to debur the flash holes as ive been told that you dont have to with Lapau. I don't have a ball mic yet to check with neck thickness consistency. Maybe domeone can comment on it.
Having said that, when I get to my 260 build, it will be with Lapau as Winchester doesnt make 260.
Where does Hornady brass stack up?
Some more info for the curious. Saw some Winchester 308 in stock for $22/50 so I purchased 200 cases ($88). Weight sorted them and of the 200, high was 163.3 low 157.4. For comparison I paid ($123 for 200 Lapua). I was able to put together a set of 73 within a 0.8 grain range and a set of 81 within a 0.7 grain range. The flash holes needed to be deburred, but the more surprising thing to me was that there was very few necks that were round. Almost every one needed to be sized, so I sized all of them with a 0.331 bushing. Did not have that size bushing so had to purchase it. Maybe everyone knows this but I am using a 0.336 bushing for the Lapua, so the neck brass thickness on the Lapua must be greater. The Lapua, except for three mentioned above, the necks were perfect and I loaded them without any prep besides weighing. Additionally, The Winchester cartridge length measured from 2.002 to 2.014 and generally were not 90 degrees to the case body. I ended up trimming them all to 2.004 except the 5 that were shorter. The Lapua were all 2.005 +- 0.001. Additionally, Lapua were pre-chamfered whereas the Win were not (prior to trimming). As many have stated, winchester brass will need some extra attention vs. the lapua, but I figured I had the data at hand so I would share. I have not loaded them yet, but the primer went in tight in both. Is the $35/200 difference worth it (less a new bushing and the need to develop a new recipe), will have to wait to see, but if I get 2x more firings from the Lapua, then "No" not for me. But it was worth finding out. Drew
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A few years ago, there was group buy on Lapua brass on the hide. I went in for 500 pieces for my .308. Still have 300 new in the bag because the 200 are still going strong. Started off my new .243 with 100 pieces of new lapua..I like it better than other brands.
I like the results I get with Lapua. YMMV
I like the results I get with Lapua. YMMV
I shot a bunch of Black Hills factory ammo and am using the Win brass they load. I worked up a great load with Dan Newberry's help.
I also load 6.5x55 in Lapua brass.
If I were starting over, I would start with Lapua.
I also load 6.5x55 in Lapua brass.
If I were starting over, I would start with Lapua.
