Best Lapua brass to turn into 6.5 Creedmoor?

[sentry1]

My 6.5 Creedmoor bolt gun will be ready soon-ish, and I'd like to explore options aside from Hornady brass.

What Lapua brand brass would be most convenient to form into 6.5 Creedmoor brass, and what would I need to do with it? I.E. Would I need intermediate dies? Annealing? Neck turning?

 

[dworrel]

not necessary. The newer 6.5 CM brass is high quality. I believe it all comes annealed at this point.

I just took a course at North Texas Rifle Precision with my brother. We shot a DTA SRS with a 6.5 CM Short Action Customs Barrel and a Southern Precision 260 in a Sentinel Chassis.

Both shot very well with multiple hits out to 1350 yds.

I loaded all the ammo for both. The new Hornady 6.5 CM brass is very similar to the Lapua 260 brass. The early Hornady brass was not annealed, had thin necks and has problems with neck tension. Newer Hornady brass is very good.

 

[Aimsmall55]

not necessary. The newer 6.5 CM brass is high quality. I believe it all comes annealed at this point.

I just took a course at North Texas Rifle Precision with my brother. We shot a DTA SRS with a 6.5 CM Short Action Customs Barrel and a Southern Precision 260 in a Sentinel Chassis.

Both shot very well with multiple hits out to 1350 yds.

I loaded all the ammo for both. The new Hornady 6.5 CM brass is very similar to the Lapua 260 brass. The early Hornady brass was not annealed, had thin necks and has problems with neck tension. Newer Hornady brass is very good.

+1. I've got a GAP Crusader in 6.5 creedmor that I have not once prepped brass for and it consistently shoots 1/2 moa or better at 1,000 yards. Just my opinion.

 

[427Cobra]

Over at the 6.5 Creedmoor forums TRENT did an excellent how to make Creedmoor brass out of 243 in the reloading section, my Creedmoor should be ready next month, can't wait.

 

[Aimsmall55]

Over at the 6.5 Creedmoor forums TRENT did an excellent how to make Creedmoor brass out of 243 in the reloading section, my Creedmoor should be ready next month, can't wait.

Cobra.. What build you getting?? PM me if you ever need any load data.

 

[wrhunter]

Another option is Nosler brass. Coming soon apparently... Nosler Custom Reloading Brass 6.5 Creedmoor Box of 50

 

[427Cobra]

Cobra.. What build you getting?? PM me if you ever need any load data.

I'm having a 8 twist chambered by a local guy(who is down from back surgery) on to my Surgeon action, I may go all out and get the tube Melonited, he has a standard 6.5 Creedmoor reamer with a .297 neck and .200 freebore, when the day comes ill definitely hit ya up. How's the recovery going?

 

[Rob01]

not necessary. The newer 6.5 CM brass is high quality. I believe it all comes annealed at this point.

It has always been annealed but polished after annealing so you don't get the color like Lapua. Never had neck tension problems with any of it and have been using it since 2008.

OP you will waste more time and money trying to make Creedmoor brass. Just buy Hornady brass and shoot the rifle.

 

[Aimsmall55]

I'm having a 8 twist chambered by a local guy(who is down from back surgery) on to my Surgeon action, I may go all out and get the tube Melonited, he has a standard 6.5 Creedmoor reamer with a .297 neck and .200 freebore, when the day comes ill definitely hit ya up. How's the recovery going?

Ahh taking it one day at a time. Still in pain some days. Doing a bit of rehab. Looking like I'm gonna be dealing with this for the remainder of my days. But it'll be ok. Just got to suck it up.
Your going to LOVE your creedmor. I had another .308 just built. For Ftr. Thank The Lord bc I love shooting the 6.5 so much I'd need barrel replacing in no time the way I was pulling triggers. It's so enjoyable because shooting at 1,000 you can actually watch threw your scope as it travells down range and pops the steel. Now that I've got my new rifle maybe my creedmor will last a little longer before rebarreling.
But yeah when you get it shoot me some pics. And like I said.. you need data , I'm only a PM away. And thanks for asking about the ankle. Appreciate that. AS

 

[427Cobra]

I know I dissed the Creedmoor for being single source of brass many times, but after this last drought, and Hornady has stepped up its production I'm really looking forward to it, I want to be able to be able to make the brass from other brass if need be, and people have done the jackass work doing it, I'll probably only use Hornady brass, and Hornady dies.

 

[MarinePMI]

I'll echo the comment about Trent's post over on the 6.5Creedmoor forums. Excellent tutorial (I wish it had been around during the last dry spell; I went through some brass figuring it all out the hard way using .308 as parent cases)...

 

[POSM]

6.5 CM Neck-downs

My 6.5 Creedmoor bolt gun will be ready soon-ish, and I'd like to explore options aside from Hornady brass.

What Lapua brand brass would be most convenient to form into 6.5 Creedmoor brass, and what would I need to do with it? I.E. Would I need intermediate dies? Annealing? Neck turning?

I have successfully necked down some Lake City .308 brass with headstamp LC 09 into reliable 6.5 CM brass. I ruined a lot of brass getting it right. Also the memory of the brass can fool you in that it will spring back after you run it through the die, so you have to measure repeatedly to make sure it's right. Also, the LC 08 brass is a little softer than the 09 and indented a lot of shoulders (1/3 of them) but only about 1 in 100 of the 09 dented significantly. Here's what I did: First I used a Redding Full Length Bushing Die (s-type) and removed the bushing. This allowed me to neck down the .308 in one pass without getting a lot of crimped shoulders. The neck elongated freely up through the die. I used sizing wax instead of spray lube. Then I ran them through an RCBS Small Base Die. Then I trimmed them on a Forster trimmer. Then I turned the necks on the Forster trimmer with the neck turning adapter to .289. Then I used a Wilson Chamber Gauge and the ones that weren't flush with the gauge I re-ran through the Redding die with the .289 bushing and double or triple pulled them (ran them through multiple passes on the die). The better lube (but not too much) the better they resized consistently. It was common to get headspace variations of up to .005 from the smallest to the largest, but none shorter than the target length (and most within spec) before I ran them through the Redding die again. Most landed at the value I set the die to but some sprang back pretty far. I used a Hornady Headspace Gauge to measure them with the D .400 adapter attached. I used a factory Hornady unfired casing as the standard for length, headspace, and neck diameter. The Wilson gauge was the final test and if they lay flush with the gauge they worked. If they were proud in the Wilson, they might not fire due to not going into battery completely. At this point I would recommend you anneal them to be perfect, but I haven't done that. I used LC brass because of the durable rim. I have a repeater and it tore up the Hornady brass. You could neck down Lapua brass this way as well, but I have heard that Necking up .243 or 22-250 is more reliable. But you have to fire-form them. I never want to fire form anything.

 

[turbo54]

If I were going to create 6.5cm brass from a Lapua parent case, I would use the 308 Palma with the small primer.

 

[tony2772]

I have made it from 308 Black Hills brass all brands of 243 and the latest was some Lapua 260 brass which worked in my opinion the best very little work. Just had to trim to length once formed. I do not use any intermediate die at all just the 6.5 Creed die. Annealing must be done though in order to for the brass.

 

[BobinNC]

My 6.5 Creedmoor bolt gun will be ready soon-ish, and I'd like to explore options aside from Hornady brass.

What Lapua brand brass would be most convenient to form into 6.5 Creedmoor brass, and what would I need to do with it? I.E. Would I need intermediate dies? Annealing? Neck turning?

I would think Lapua 22-250 brass would be the easiest to form to 6.5 Creedmoor. The 6.5 Creedmoor is very much like the wildcat 250 AI, except a 6.5 and 22-250's parent is the original 250 Savage. After necking up the brass still needs to be fireformed.

Of course just buying 6.5 Creedmoor Hornady brass is even easier....

 

[trailrider121]

I would think Lapua 22-250 brass would be the easiest to form to 6.5 Creedmoor. The 6.5 Creedmoor is very much like the wildcat 250 AI, except a 6.5 and 22-250's parent is the original 250 Savage. After necking up the brass still needs to be fireformed.

Of course just buying 6.5 Creedmoor Hornady brass is even easier....

+1 for above...

 

[sentry1]

I have successfully necked down some Lake City .308 brass with headstamp LC 09 into reliable 6.5 CM brass. I ruined a lot of brass getting it right. Also the memory of the brass can fool you in that it will spring back after you run it through the die, so you have to measure repeatedly to make sure it's right. Also, the LC 08 brass is a little softer than the 09 and indented a lot of shoulders (1/3 of them) but only about 1 in 100 of the 09 dented significantly. Here's what I did: First I used a Redding Full Length Bushing Die (s-type) and removed the bushing. This allowed me to neck down the .308 in one pass without getting a lot of crimped shoulders. The neck elongated freely up through the die. I used sizing wax instead of spray lube. Then I ran them through an RCBS Small Base Die. Then I trimmed them on a Forster trimmer. Then I turned the necks on the Forster trimmer with the neck turning adapter to .289. Then I used a Wilson Chamber Gauge and the ones that weren't flush with the gauge I re-ran through the Redding die with the .289 bushing and double or triple pulled them (ran them through multiple passes on the die). The better lube (but not too much) the better they resized consistently. It was common to get headspace variations of up to .005 from the smallest to the largest, but none shorter than the target length (and most within spec) before I ran them through the Redding die again. Most landed at the value I set the die to but some sprang back pretty far. I used a Hornady Headspace Gauge to measure them with the D .400 adapter attached. I used a factory Hornady unfired casing as the standard for length, headspace, and neck diameter. The Wilson gauge was the final test and if they lay flush with the gauge they worked. If they were proud in the Wilson, they might not fire due to not going into battery completely. At this point I would recommend you anneal them to be perfect, but I haven't done that. I used LC brass because of the durable rim. I have a repeater and it tore up the Hornady brass. You could neck down Lapua brass this way as well, but I have heard that Necking up .243 or 22-250 is more reliable. But you have to fire-form them. I never want to fire form anything.

Thanks! This is exactly the relevant response I was looking for!

Yes, buying the brass is easy since it's readily available now, but the nerd/engineer in me wants to make it anyway. I have lots of .308 brass, and the range is always full of it, so practice brass is cheap. I have a lot of LC Match brass I may reform if I can get the process done properly.

 

[para1505]

I have never had trouble getting the Honady brass. I think it is good quality but I have given trying to get any of thief 140 AMAX bullets. But I never have any trouble getting Sierra 142 BTHP so that's what through down range with very good results

 

[CanSniper]

Here is what I do for my 7mm Creed, work very well
http://www.snipershide.com/shooting...ng-7mm-creedmoor-brass-308-a.html#post2276447

 

[upSLIDEdown]

I have made it from 308 Black Hills brass all brands of 243 and the latest was some Lapua 260 brass which worked in my opinion the best very little work. Just had to trim to length once formed. I do not use any intermediate die at all just the 6.5 Creed die. Annealing must be done though in order to for the brass.

Any more info on this? I feel like 260 brass would be the easiest, and since lapua makes 260 brass, it seems like the obvious choice. I know this is an old thread, but I'm currently deciding between a 260 and a Creed... I'd really like to be able to use lapua brass.

 

[joemusso]

I would use .260 or .243 lapua.


If you go with the .243 you would need to turn down (shorten) a FL die 0.125 to get the shoulder down before forming to eliminate distortion in the body right below the shoulder.

Thank you
Joe

 

[tony2772]

Any more info on this? I feel like 260 brass would be the easiest, and since lapua makes 260 brass, it seems like the obvious choice. I know this is an old thread, but I'm currently deciding between a 260 and a Creed... I'd really like to be able to use lapua brass.

No trimming of any die is needed if you use Lapua brass and anneal it, it will form perfectly fine. You will however have to over cam a little to get everything to size up right. I have made at least 1000 6.5 Creedmoor cases so I think I know a little about the subject. I did neck turn everything afterwards though and have had no issues with excessive case run out and maintain a consistent neck tension using a bushing die.

 

[joemusso]

No trimming of any die is needed if you use Lapua brass and anneal it, it will form perfectly fine. You will however have to over cam a little to get everything to size up right. I have made at least 1000 6.5 Creedmoor cases so I think I know a little about the subject. I did neck turn everything afterwards though and have had no issues with excessive case run out and maintain a consistent neck tension using a bushing die.

do you mind sharing your procedure?

i have not used any .260 brass but the .243 lapua brass i use is new and i get a slight bulge at the shoulder line when using the 6.54CM die to form. it will still chamber and shoots fine but that's why i got the die trimmed so i can push the shoulder down with the .243 die before i form it in the 6.5 CM die.

 

[bronco_buster]

I tried 308, 7mm-08 and 243 brass...all were utter fails in my hands. Granted I'm not some reloading master, but I ruined case after case. I bought a couple of boxes of Lapua 22-250 brass, necked them up to 6.5, fireformed them with the "cream of wheat" method and have used them successfully for a few rounds of reloading. I must echo what others have said about just shooting the Hornady brass...its so much easier to just use it...I just wanted to prove that I could make 6.5 CM brass in a pinch.

I've had no complaints with the Hornady brass.