Lapua brass in a Gas Gun - worth it?

[ReaperDriver]

I am building a .260 AR precision upper and am collecting reloading components for it now ahead of the parts arriving. Primary use will be PRS matches out to 1000 yds and various steel beyond 1000 for fun. I shoot a .260 Rem AI AT now, and have two unopened boxes of Virgin Lapua .260 brass that I set aside a while ago. Is it worth it to shoot the $$ Lapua brass in a gas gun, or would I be better off saving that for the AI and using some other brass? I have a ton of various .308 brass - from Virgin Winchester to Lake City, FGMM, 118LR, etc that I could neck down to make .260 easily. My main question is is it worth beating up the expensive brass in a semi and will I see a difference in accuracy over other brass makes?

Any thoughts or suggestions much appreciated.

 

[Three57]

I use 308 Lapua brass in my SR25 and it does not beat up the brass at all, the accuracy gains were absolutely worth using the Lapua brass.
The Winchester brass I tried, did not work for me at all. The neck wall thickness was too thin and didn't match well with the chamber in my SR25.
I don't know about the dimensions of the .260 chamber, not sure if you will experience the same problem I had.
Brass prep takes a lot of time. I prefer to start with good brass.

 

[TheOfficeT-Rex]

IS premium brass in an AR10 necessary?

 

[ReaperDriver]

I use 308 Lapua brass in my SR25 and it does not beat up the brass at all, the accuracy gains were absolutely worth using the Lapua brass.
The Winchester brass I tried, did not work for me at all. The neck wall thickness was too thin and didn't match well with the chamber in my SR25.
I don't know about the dimensions of the .260 chamber, not sure if you will experience the same problem I had.
Brass prep takes a lot of time. I prefer to start with good brass.

Makes perfect sense, thanks. I figure if I'm paying this much for an upper, a few more pennies for good brass isn't going to kill me.

 

[FLIGHT762]

When I've necked down 308 brass to .260, I found the older Winchester and Hornady cases that weigh 160 grains (W/O primer) necked down fine without having to turn the necks. If you neck down from Federal GMM brass, you're going to have thick necks.

If you load hot in a gas gun, they will beat the brass. I have a 1993 SR-25 and a 2013 GAP 10. My SR-25 likes Remington brass with .003" neck tension.

 

[Laseredge]

We just did this a few weeks ago.

Range Report - Is Premium Brass in an AR-10 Necessary?: A Minor Experiment

My standard load for my AR-10 in 260 Rem has been using Lapua cases and Lapua 139-gr Scenars. Note that I automatically used Lapua cases because I use them in my bolt guns. But I was becoming tired of losing expensive brass at PRS matches and began thinking about the necessity of premium brass...

www.snipershide.com

 

[Precision Underground]

Not necessary if you’re just looking for 1/2 moa. Hornady brass will do that no problem. I buy big lots of 1x hornady and don’t sweat it when one gets lost.

 

[Dschapp44]

I use lapua since I sold the bolt guns I was using the brass in. Was able to tune the gas systems to not show any pressure or unusual wear on brass which has resulted in .25-.4 inch groups with regularity but at much lower speeds with a ton less powder than I expected

 

[D1gger]

In my case, it's not really is the brass beat up, it's more can I find it. My 6.5CM throws the brass a mile with the dual ejectors on the bolt. Sometimes it's hard to find all of it. If I can find 8 out of 10 I consider that lucky

 

[ReaperDriver]

In my case, it's not really is the brass beat up, it's more can I find it. My 6.5CM throws the brass a mile with the dual ejectors on the bolt. Sometimes it's hard to find all of it. If I can find 8 out of 10 I consider that lucky

True. That was one of my concerns as well. Especially during a match when it's harder to police up brass and not get it mixed up with others shooting at the same time.

 

[hollywood1981]

I shoot Lapua brass thru my gas .308 AR10 currently.

 

[Bullspotter]

I run Lapua in both of my AR 260s. Well worth it for me, Running the heaviest BCG i could find at the time, Running Tubbs weight in one of them, Both with adjustable gas blocks, and adjusted proprly. Both easy on brass, and group the brass in a small area, Still do loose a few in the snow with the hunting one. but life goes on. Before the lapua i was using 243 necked up brass and R-P, Had random fliers all the time. , was not to happy, The lapua defiantly lets me get the best out of both of them now.

 

[Ravenworks]

I would definitely get all the tuning done and broke in.
Breaking in a new gasser can go good or it can be finicky.
My gas guns are all easy on brass,but it took a lot of understanding and time to get there

 

[LANCER]

I would never sacrifice my Lapua brass to my LMT MWS. That thing is so overgassed that LC-LR brass will run from it. Don't even think about running it suppressed.
I download my bolt gun charges by 2 full grains before they go in the gas gun. I still get beat up brass. Mine also has dual ejectors and have stopped running it suppressed. It only gets LC-LR now, with a lower-pressure recipe for 168 HPBT's.
Mileage may vary. Personally I wouldn't do it.

 

[ReaperDriver]

I would definitely get all the tuning done and broke in.
Breaking in a new gasser can go good or it can be finicky.
My gas guns are all easy on brass,but it took a lot of understanding and time to get there

Thanks. Im getting an adjustable gas block plus and adjustable weight BCG (JP). So should be able to tune it for suppressed pretty well and not beat up the brass. Hopefully.....