F T/R Competition Winchester vs Lapua brass: Real Question....

B

BigtimeAub

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Aug 7, 2011
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Auburn, AL
#1
I've searched this site but haven't been able to find a direct enough answer for my question.

If I take the same load (bullet, bullet seating depth, powder, powder weight, primer, primer seating depth, case dimensions all the same) but simply change only the brass itself, from Lapua to Winchester, how much difference would I see in performance, i.e. rise, drop, POA vs POI? I know that the Win brass has more interior volume but I'm just curious as to how much difference I could expect since the pressure would change from one case to the next. Just curious if anyone has done any work in these regards and came up with any concrete results. TIA
 
#2
Re: Winchester vs Lapua brass: Real Question....

I have not done that with 338LM,but with others. 222,223,308 , 280, 300mag. Actually, everything except 338LM and 6PPC. Results too close to attribute to brass brand change.
 
#3
Re: Winchester vs Lapua brass: Real Question....

I asked almost that same question. I was told if you are going from lapua to winchester add .5 grains to your load to keep the same speed. Now, having said that, don't take my word for it because i have not had time to do it myself. When ever I do, I will post something about it.
 
#6
Re: Winchester vs Lapua brass: Real Question....

Not sure about the change but Id bet that the Lapua would be more consistant (which would be better IMHO)
 
#7
Re: Winchester vs Lapua brass: Real Question....

Best way and the only way to know for sure is to try it yourself. I don't think it will make that much of a difference for tactical shooting purposes. Where it likely will make a difference in how many times you can reload without annealing.
 
#8
Re: Winchester vs Lapua brass: Real Question....

Having used Win, LC and Lapua I would always spend the coin on Lapua brass if it were avalible.
 
#9
Re: Winchester vs Lapua brass: Real Question....

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BGEFIVEFOURONE</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Having used Win, LC and Lapua I would always spend the coin on Lapua brass if it were avalible. </div></div>

The other side of that coin is that I just sold 500 Lapua cases and am sticking with WW. My rifle holds .2s at 200 with WW and my vertical at 600 with WW is inside the X-ring. (7X my last 20 shot match and 6 in my last 14 shot string for practice) I cant see that Lapua is buying me anything.



I played with a few Lapua cases but I didn't do any side by side load workups to determine the difference between the two. I'd definitely not just load to 0.5 gr different and start shooting. Work up to it.



Aub, one of the problems with asking that question here online is that many people here have lots of trigger time but not that many (with exceptions and you can figure that out) have the trigger time shooting at an F class target and on the interwebs you will get a lot of "use only the best" answers, and out of the box Lapua is made better than WW; however, I can't see that it makes a wit of difference down range. It may reload longer, but that's assuming that your failure mechanism is going to be cracked cases, it is loose primers after 7 or 10 reloads then they will both fail at about the same frequency.
 
#10
Re: Winchester vs Lapua brass: Real Question....

You don't mention the caliber that your shooting. I use both the Lapua and the Winchester 7MM-08 brass for my 260. I also shoot the Winchester brass in my 284 and have been very happy with it so far.

Accuracy wise I can tell no difference. I did bump the Winchester brass about .5grs as mentioned above. The one big advantage is the life of the brass. Lapua is by far the best for reloading when it comes to longevity. Other than that I don't feel there is any difference when shooting either one.
 
#11
Re: Winchester vs Lapua brass: Real Question....

If you take your Lapua brass 308 load and change to Winchester brass, the speed WILL be slower. I have shot the same powder charge, primer, etc. in Lapua and Win brass and the Lapua was significantly faster. I didn't record the differenc in FPS because I felt it was pretty much useless info.

As for which is better, that question wasn't asked. I do tend to conserve powder though.
 
#12
Re: Winchester vs Lapua brass: Real Question....

I recently bought 100pcs of Lapua brass to try in my 260. My go to brass is 7-08 Win necked to 6.5. I used the exact same charge of H4350, same primer, bullet etc... I shot 10 rounds of the 260 Lapua brass & noticed a 30fps increase in average velocity, accuracy was the same.
 
#13
Re: Winchester vs Lapua brass: Real Question....

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: raptor99</div><div class="ubbcode-body">You don't mention the caliber that your shooting. </div></div>

We're talking about shooting F-TR here, the question relates to 308 Win.
 
#14
Re: Winchester vs Lapua brass: Real Question....

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The other side of that coin is that I just sold 500 Lapua cases and am sticking with WW. My rifle holds .2s at 200 with WW and my vertical at 600 with WW is inside the X-ring. (7X my last 20 shot match and 6 in my last 14 shot string for practice) I cant see that Lapua is buying me anything.</div></div>


I'd put the Lapua vs Winchester into the same class as the 185gr Berger vs 175gr/155gr situation. Some people have the shooting ability to where they can utilize the added benefits of the better components, others not so much. The only way to get the answer is by looking at the results over a whole shooting season not one or two practice sessions/matches. Compare your scores to what others who have the same shooting ability as you do to see if you gain from using the premium components. If you were shooting scores of 197~198 with 10~13X for a 20 shot string @ 600 yards I'd say you have a good load.
wink.gif
 
#15
Re: Winchester vs Lapua brass: Real Question....

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: XTR</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: raptor99</div><div class="ubbcode-body">You don't mention the caliber that your shooting. </div></div>

We're talking about shooting F-TR here, the question relates to 308 Win. </div></div> No, I certainly believe .223 also fits in that class
 
#16
Re: Winchester vs Lapua brass: Real Question....

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Cigarcop</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: XTR</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: raptor99</div><div class="ubbcode-body">You don't mention the caliber that your shooting. </div></div>

We're talking about shooting F-TR here, the question relates to 308 Win. </div></div> No, I certainly believe .223 also fits in that class </div></div>

On paper anyway
 
#17
Re: Winchester vs Lapua brass: Real Question....

I use W-W 7-08 brass for 260 and when I switch to Lapua (same same) everything The Lapua is 50 fps faster with 123 Lapuas. After brass prep no dif in accuracy. 8-10 reloads with W-W, Lapua olny has 3 firings on it so can't give a solid number.
 
#18
Re: Winchester vs Lapua brass: Real Question....

Once you've worked up a load for the rifle with both cases it's a moot point. Both rounds will more than likely be more accurate than the man behind the rifle. If I can find the article on six sigma of reloading I'll pm it to you.
 
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