F T/R Competition How many are using prepped lc brass for 308 ftr?
- Thread starter ghostwriter247
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None that I know of, doesn't mean there are none, but probably not too many.
It is probably as good as any but the load will be different for a given bullet due to the thickness of the brass and the reduced case capacity.
Availability, even thought there is a shortage of supplies today most folks aren't watching the BBs for someone selling once fired, they are putting in notification requests at vendors so they can order as soon as stuff comes in. In times past when you could actually order reloading supplies you click on the item and have it shipped.
Then there is the whole "it's not Lapua" thing. There are people who in the process of choosing a caliber for a build consider whether or not Lapua makes brass in that caliber. Personally 90% of what I reload is in W-W but to a lot of people no brass not in a blue box is worth shooting.
It is probably as good as any but the load will be different for a given bullet due to the thickness of the brass and the reduced case capacity.
Availability, even thought there is a shortage of supplies today most folks aren't watching the BBs for someone selling once fired, they are putting in notification requests at vendors so they can order as soon as stuff comes in. In times past when you could actually order reloading supplies you click on the item and have it shipped.
Then there is the whole "it's not Lapua" thing. There are people who in the process of choosing a caliber for a build consider whether or not Lapua makes brass in that caliber. Personally 90% of what I reload is in W-W but to a lot of people no brass not in a blue box is worth shooting.
I have been just recently using LC match brass for some loads. It is heavier than Lapua and you will loose some capacity. I completely anneal, wet tumble, trim and uniform the primer pockets. It may have potential. I'm trying lighter bullets with it. Nothing heavier than a 175.
I used to get a bunch of free LC LR brass through a job and used it to shoot matches the first year I started shooting F/TR. It took some work to get ready and you do lose some capacity. I shoot blue box now but nothing wrong with the LC brass if you dont mind putting in the work.
I think it's worth a try. I'm gonna buy a couple hundred rounds of lapua and lake city and see while I shoot this summer.
I shot a load this morning with LC brass(machine gun). It was sized, wet tumbled, trimmed. Not annealed. 170 Lapua bullet, Wolf primer and 42.0 grains of H4895. Shot under 1" at 200 yrds. I went back and put the same components in the LC match case, and it annealed. Curious to see how it shoots. I'm try to work up a load for Field Precision Matches we shoot down here. 600 yrds on a F class target. Weapon has to be mag fed. I normally use LC match in my semi autos.Base internally is much thicker around the primer pocket area.
If you prep it and work up the load the same way you would for any other brass then LC should shoot just as well as anything else, but you can't use the same load you use in you W-W and expect the same results. Annealing and determining the right neck tension will probably be pretty helpful with that thick brass. If you use a bushing die you'll need a different bushing than you use with Lapua or W-W to get the same neck tension. If you use a Lee Collet die you'll need to set it up for that brass.
I only use LC Match brass. I buy the ammo with the 175 gn sierra and fire form it to get the exact chamber size. Primer pockets are swaged, then the cases are neck sized and trimmed so that plus/minus .001 length is maintained. Other than the accuracy of the powder charge in my opinion there is nothing more important than the grip that the case maintains of the bullets. I find that an .003 neck tension and an exact overall length is far more important for maintaining a neutral vertical dispersion at distance than the make of the case.
I don't shoot FTR, but I use LC for 80% of my reloaded .308. Below are the results... Just gotta pay close attention to what your doing! Quality in = Quality out!
FYI, this is out of a Savage 10FCP-K. 4 shots @ 100yds. It'll do this regularly if I do my part. You don't need Lapua for extreme accuracy, though it does make things easier...
FYI, this is out of a Savage 10FCP-K. 4 shots @ 100yds. It'll do this regularly if I do my part. You don't need Lapua for extreme accuracy, though it does make things easier...
Started out using LC 84 for F-class, had good results but changed over to Lapua when I got a bit more serious. Well that didn't work out for me, never did find a good load even after fireforming. Went back to the LC with consistant good results. Probably should sell the Lapua brass as I won't be using it.
I like to make the same load in 5 different cases and chrono them. Do 5-10 of them to get an avg. Will illustrate how much case capacity effects velocity.
LC 308 with 4064 and 175 smk or 178 amax is like peanut butter and jelly. I rate the brass in this order, Lapua, with Win and LC tied for second. Its all in the prep.
LC brass is pretty good, if you work it the same way you work any match brass then it does good, it is a little thicker but I have not seen any negative results because of that. I use M118LR cases and I know a few others that use it on F class shoots, they are happy with them. I do full lenght sizing because the neck sizing did not give me much better results so I will research more on that. My loads are composed of LC cases, CCI BR-2 primers, IMR-4895 and 175 gn Sierra MKBT, hope that helps.
I shot FTR for 2 years with LC LR brass and 155's. the brass was good. I could get approx 5-6 firings and then Istarted to get neck splits. I did not anneal. It will get brittle from work hardening faster than commercial brass. I only shot 155's. I can't speak for heavier bullets.
Rob
Rob
I took the plunge and went ahead and ordered 1000 rounds of lc brass and am having them prepped and annealed. Now to get it all loaded and do some long range shooting. luckily i have 800 yards to practice on my land. If nothing else gets me in cheaply for practice.
I found about a 10% case capacity difference between fgmm brass and LCLR brass. I was putting around 44 gr of varget in fgmm and I found that 41gr works best in LCLR. I never thought about playing around with the chronograph, but it sounds like an interesting project for another day.
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I'm using LC 12-13 brass for F/TR comps. I neck turn to .0135, uniform the primer pockets and chamfer the flash hole. My load I use for my AI is giving me an ES of 12 and SD of 5.17. That's with IMR 4064 and 178AMAX loads. I'm sure that's not ideal for a lot of people. But last Sunday I shot a 193 5x my last relay, and finished with a 558 6x. That was the first time I used my AI with a 20" barrel as well. Usually has a different barrel on there.
All that being said. I see no reason to not use LC brass. I've found it to work just fine and have no complaints using it.
All that being said. I see no reason to not use LC brass. I've found it to work just fine and have no complaints using it.
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I shoot LC brass from my 700 .308 at our F/TR matches because it's the only brass I have right now. I haven't had any problems with reloading the brass specifically, but I'm still working on getting the right load for 1000 yd matches. Still relatively new to long range shooting. As far as the brass goes, I'm pretty happy with it. Take it for what it's worth from someone that has only hand loaded .308 for matches since September of last year.
