New Lapua Brass - Neck Tension

[Lmi3]

Hi Guys,

I bought some new Lapua Brass to start reloading 6.5 CM.
According to my math:
Brass thickness: 0.015 x 2 + 264 = 294 - 0.003 = 291
so i just got my bushing (L.E WILSON) 291 and start preparing the brass, but when i get to bullet seating (Lapua Scenar 139), it's really tight and hard to push it down ( i'm using K&M Arbor press for the seating)
What is your experience with new 6.5 Lapua brass ?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Emerson0311]

Lubing my bullets really helped in virgin Lapua brass 300PRC. That being said, I know not too much, so YMMV.

 

[Lmi3]

Lubing my bullets really helped in virgin Lapua brass 300PRC. That being said, I know not too much, so YMMV.

Thanks - what lube do you use ?

 

[DIBBS]

Did you put a good chamfer on the case mouth? What is the neck diameter with a bullet seated? You might try a bushing that gives .001-.002 tension from what your loaded round measures.

 

[Lmi3]

Did you put a good chamfer on the case mouth?

no i didn’t - should I ? Even if i’m not trimming ?

 

[DIBBS]

no i didn’t - should I ? Even if i’m not trimming ?

Absolutely, it will help the bullet start into the case much easier.

 

[Lmi3]

Absolutely, it will help the bullet start into the case much easier.

Thanks !!! I will do so

 

[XLR308]

Lube the necks and run either a turning arbor or mandrell through them first.
Just depends if you want .001 or .002 neck tension.

 

[Emerson0311]

Thanks - what lube do you use ?

Generic RCBS on my fingers. Low tech for the basic brain.

 

[XLR308]

Generic RCBS on my fingers. Low tech for the basic brain.

I do the same with the Lee paste for sizing as well since I usually don't load more than 300 rounds at most usually much less.

 

[straightshooter1]

Hi Guys,

I bought some new Lapua Brass to start reloading 6.5 CM.
According to my math:
Brass thickness: 0.015 x 2 + 264 = 294 - 0.003 = 291
so i just got my bushing (L.E WILSON) 291 and start preparing the brass, but when i get to bullet seating (Lapua Scenar 139), it's really tight and hard to push it down ( i'm using K&M Arbor press for the seating)
What is your experience with new 6.5 Lapua brass ?

Thanks for your help.

It's NOT unusual for Lapua brass to have that kind of problem and the same can be said for many other virgin brass. Besides the surface of the neck's inside being "too clean" where lubing can help, there're two other issues that's a problem:

1. If these were Lapua's that came in a bulk box, the necks can be out of round a little and dented, where running a mandrel through them can straighten them out. And keep in mind that the neck thicknesses are really uniform where the thickness may vary by .001 (maybe a little more) that can add to that problem.

2. The neck mouths are often peened due to the tumbling process they go through where the edge of the mouth is curled inward. Again, running a mandrel through can help a little with this. But chamfering the interior a little also helps and I find using a Lee neck sizing die first has helped me most with this issue after chamfering.

We've talking virgin brass here, so once you've solved this problem, you'll be good to go.

 

[memilanuk]

Besides the usual case prep, tumble the new/virgin brass in some used/dirty media (rice, corn cob, whatever). The bare metal + the residue from the final 'wash' stage during manufacturing leaves the neck IDs almost 'sticky' when it comes to sliding resistance. A little bit of tumbler dust will help immensely. FWIW, that was a tip I got from the Lapua rep at a big match some years ago when I was grumbling about the same thing.

 

[sierracharlie338]

I chamfer/deburr and then hit it with a madrel .002 smaller than caliber and load n go.

 

[Threadcutter308]

I buy my Wilson buttons .002" under. I don't use a mandrel. Works fine.

Also, make sure you have the numbers on the button pointed up while sitting in the die. The ID of the button is tapered from top to bottom. Perhaps you have it upside down ? Did you measure the ID of both ends of the button to make sure it wasn't cut incorrectly or mis-labelled ?

 

[918v]

No need to tumble hew Lapua brass. Lube the necks with imperial graphite, run a .262” mandrel through them, and slightly chamfer the case mouths.

But if you want to tumble then tumble away. It doesn’t make any difference.

 

[Lawnboi]

The problem your having isn’t with the numerical interference of the neck but friction of a fresh clean annealed neck.

Dry tumble it in some dirty media for an hour, make sure you have a good chamfer and I’d bet things go smoother.

FWIW I have never needed to neck size virgin lapua, I just mandrel with a wet lube, I use imperial, dry tumble and zip it through the giraud. This has left me with ammo that I would put up there with fired/sized cases.