Once fired "NT" headstamp .338 Lapua Mag. brass at Grafs

#2
I think I remember reading the "NT" stamp designates it for commercial loading by someone other than Lapua. It's still Lapua-spec'd brass. I bought 200. I'll let you know if I find any issues.
 
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#4
Already been discussed a few times in the last few days. Here is what Kevin with Lapua USA posted about the NT headstamp.

Hey Guys,

No, that's Lapua brass, made in Lapua, Finland, to the normal Lapua specs. The NT is for Nammo Tactical, our 338LM production operation in Mesa, AZ, and is meant to differentiate our production stuff from that loaded in Finland. But yes, the brass is all from the same place, same machinery, and same material. Good stuff, and a real steal at these prices.
 
#6
Just for clarification, the NT (as PeeJay has mentioned) is for Nammo Tactical. Nammo (Nordic Ammunition) is actually the parent company that owns Lapua . . . along with several other major manufacturers you'd be familiar with. Some years back, they purchased Talley Defense Systems in Mesa, AZ, and installed a full small caliber loading operation to serve US government contracts. The NT headstamp merely differentiates the ammunition that is loaded here in the Mesa facility from that which is loaded in Finland. The brass, however, all comes directly from the Lapua plant in Lapua, Finland. Same machinery, same specs, same material, same operators. The components are shipped here to be assembled in the US, making it a US product. Same sutff, exactly, just assembled in different parts of the world.

The once-fired stuff that Graf's has is the fired cases that result from our normal QC accuracy firing. You'd be surprised just how much brass can be generated in this manner when it's not being reloaded. At any rate, it's once fired brass, used with standard, factory loadings, and fired in Match chambers out of a machine rest in our 300 Meter accuracy tunnel. If you guys have any other questions, don't hesitate to give me a shout, not a problem. Headed off to Germany tomorrow, so I may be a little tough to get hold of for a day or two, but I'll check by from time to time. Wonderful thing, the internet. Really doesn't much matter where you are, there it is!
 
#8
I bought some once fired 338lm brass from Barrett and I needed a small base die to get it back down small enough to even chamber. And redding don't make it yet, ain't checked back for awhile. Been told that once its been blown out that u will fight it for the life of the case. I personally would be cautious. It was Norma. I only buy new Lapua. I hope this is great brass and y'all love it.
 
#9
Jack Daniel said:
I bought some once fired 338lm brass from Barrett and I needed a small base die to get it back down small enough to even chamber. And redding don't make it yet, ain't checked back for awhile. Been told that once its been blown out that u will fight it for the life of the case. I personally would be cautious. It was Norma. I only buy new Lapua. I hope this is great brass and y'all love it.
Click to expand...

Well Kevin with Lapua stated that it was fired from match chambers so there really shouldn't be anything to worry about. I see what you are saying but if Kevin says its good to go then that is good enough for me.
 
#11
I placed an order for 100. We'll see how they do. I don't expect a problem if they are from factory loads in tight (match) chambers. You can always put them on Gunbroker if they don't work for you. The price is attractive enough to make it worth a little risk - nearly 1/2 price of new.
 
#19
#20
My brass arrived today. Looks great! Actually has lots of Lapua headstamped pieces, not just NT. Only problem I've encountered with it so far is that about half of the pieces have primers that have backed out far enough that they wont fit into my shell holder. Guess I'm gonna need to groove my holder to get enough clearance to feed the brass into the holder. Anyone have any other solutions to this issue?
 
#23
Spectre1 said:
My brass arrived today. Looks great! Actually has lots of Lapua headstamped pieces, not just NT. Only problem I've encountered with it so far is that about half of the pieces have primers that have backed out far enough that they wont fit into my shell holder. Guess I'm gonna need to groove my holder to get enough clearance to feed the brass into the holder. Anyone have any other solutions to this issue?
Click to expand...

You can knock the primers out by hand with a stem out of a die. I have several cases I do this for because I don't size them at all for several firings. I just knock the primers out and start reloading.
 
#24
Idaho CTD said:
You can knock the primers out by hand with a stem out of a die. I have several cases I do this for because I don't size them at all for several firings. I just knock the primers out and start reloading.
Click to expand...
Good Idea. Just do it over a hole in your bench or whatever, huh. No use "modifying" the hard to find redding shell holder, huh?

I don't have my sinclair Shoulder bump gauge yet (backordered), but these seemed to feed rather easily into my MRAD without even full sizing. Do you guys think I could just setup my redding FL die per their instructions, then neck size and it will be ok?

This backordered malarkey has got to end. For Pete's sake, how can a bump gauge for a $6 cartridge be on backorder?
 
#25
I ended up using a small brass hammer to tap the primers back in enough to get the cases into the shell holder. BTW, I didn't realize that the redding shell holders were hard to find, and how did you know that's what I'm using?

Now that my brass is sized and deprimed, I'm ready to trim. Have the correct collet for my forster trimmer, however the collet holder on the trimmer doesn't have a large enough opening to get the casehead into the collet! Man, oh, man...
 
#27
If it makes anyone feel any better about this, the cases having slightly protruding primers are most likely new, once loaded, unfired cases that were expended in our QC process. During production, 2% of our rounds are pulled down, and analysis of concentricity, neck tension (bullet pull) and charge weight is done and logged. The unfired cases then have their primers popped before the cases are tossed into the bin with those used in accuracy testing, which then wind up at Graf's. New cases, once loaded, and still unfired but with a little bit of primer soot. Seems like a pretty decent trade for the price, doesn't it?
 
#28
ksthomas said:
If it makes anyone feel any better about this, the cases having slightly protruding primers are most likely new, once loaded, unfired cases that were expended in our QC process. During production, 2% of our rounds are pulled down, and analysis of concentricity, neck tension (bullet pull) and charge weight is done and logged. The unfired cases then have their primers popped before the cases are tossed into the bin with those used in accuracy testing, which then wind up at Graf's. New cases, once loaded, and still unfired but with a little bit of primer soot. Seems like a pretty decent trade for the price, doesn't it?
Click to expand...

Indeed, Kevin, indeed!
 
#29
ksthomas said:
If it makes anyone feel any better about this, the cases having slightly protruding primers are most likely new, once loaded, unfired cases that were expended in our QC process. During production, 2% of our rounds are pulled down, and analysis of concentricity, neck tension (bullet pull) and charge weight is done and logged. The unfired cases then have their primers popped before the cases are tossed into the bin with those used in accuracy testing, which then wind up at Graf's. New cases, once loaded, and still unfired but with a little bit of primer soot. Seems like a pretty decent trade for the price, doesn't it?
Click to expand...

I thought I was going crazy. I thought that they looked like they weren't fired and were too similar looking to the new cases. Great to have you on the board to explain this, Kevin. Can we expect more when Graf's is out and do you send them anywhere else?
 
#30
Graf's is the only one so far, and they definately have an inside track here. After all, they're one of our primary importers. I suspect that there'll be more in the pipeline as we proceed. Remember, this isn't something we set out to create, it's just the side effect of the regular QC testing we do in Mesa.

Glad to help!
 
#31
ksthomas said:
Graf's is the only one so far, and they definately have an inside track here. After all, they're one of our primary importers. I suspect that there'll be more in the pipeline as we proceed. Remember, this isn't something we set out to create, it's just the side effect of the regular QC testing we do in Mesa.

Glad to help!
Click to expand...

Thanks Kevin,

I am sure glad to be able to get some of this. It looks very good, possibly even better than the box of Lapua brass I bought from Sinclair last summer----the plastic box broke in shipping, and about 20 cases were damaged, one irrepairably. I don't think it was Sinclair's fault, necessarily, and they did give me a credit of $14.00 shipping fee to make it right. My point is that I just got the NT's from Graff's, and they look pristine. I am very pleased, and will definitely get more at a later date pending my funds, and their availability.
 
#32
Got mine in several days ago and agree they look great. Case mouths are in better shape than some new lapua brass I've received in the blue boxes. Graf's did a great job packing the box.
 
#33
Just received 200 and quite impressed. About 150 were the popped primer type, look like new. Half of the remaining once fired ones had the L stamp, not NT. Anybody looking for Scenar bullets; Euro-Optic has the 300gr ones in stock at $71/box. Burned up 300 of mine last week so 600 are coming my way; hope there's no regrets for not buying more.
 
#34
Just got 100 in myself and like others have stated, looks damn good and actually about half of the pieces are the regular Lapua head stamp. If they size and prime good which I'm pretty sure they will, this is a hell of a deal for sure.
 
#39
No, unfortunately I really can't. Have to remember, this isn't like a standard supply situation where we can just order more from the factory. It's simply a side effect of the testing we do, and therefore dependant upon that testing. Large contracts or orders being filled means more testing and more spent cases going to Graf's. Lower production for contracts means less testing, and fewer cases available for surplus. It just flows as the orders do. All the more reason to take advantage of it when it appears.
 
#42
I just went through the 100 that I bought, and have to say I am impressed. First, I got exactly 100 (no shortage). All 100 pieces had the NT headstamp. About half of them had primers that were noticeably backed-out, but not a single one failed to fit into my RCBS shell holder when I ran them through my depriming die. The ones with the primers backed out had very round edges around the perimeter and around the firing pin indentation. Of the ones that had level primers, the primers themselves were noticeably flatter and the edges around the firing pin indentation were sharp. I believe that the ones with backed-out primers have never been fired except for having their primers popped (as Kevin from Lapua described), and the ones with level primers were actually fired. That would mean that half of these are essentially virgin brass. A random sample including three with backed-out primers and three with level primers (six total pieces) all chambered in my Savage without difficulty right out of the bag. I think it was a heck of a deal!
 
#43
I ran a sample of 20 of them through my MRAD and all of them chambered without any sizing. You think I could get away with neck sizing them only for the first firing? I don't have my comparator bushing yet to measure the shoulder.
 
#44
cobravenom39 said:
I ran a sample of 20 of them through my MRAD and all of them chambered without any sizing. You think I could get away with neck sizing them only for the first firing? I don't have my comparator bushing yet to measure the shoulder.
Click to expand...

Yeah, if they chamber easily enough, even with a little resistance, then you're fine with only neck sizing them, IMO.

I wouldn't FL size them, if they fit your chamber.

Chris
 
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