(possible) Stupid question

[Jedabug92]

I have a chrono that I seldom use. It is good to have for load development. After that you don't need it again until you change the load. You can get a simple chrono and do the math with an excel sheet on your laptop. A caculator would work too.

yea a chrono is on the shopping list haha, unless someone on hear doesnt mind renting out the chrono hahaha

 

[7stw]

Palma brass uses a small rifle primer.

Is Lapua brass worth it? In my experience, YES. Getting 10 or 12+ loadings from a piece of brass is nice, but the consitency between cases is the best feature. All I do is uniform the primer pocket, chamfer the necks, and load the brass. The flash holes are drilled so they are very consistent as is. If you enjoy sorting and prepping brass cases, there is no reason Lapua would out shoot a Winchester, Federal, etc, case with the right preparation. The Lapua brass just allows minimal prep for me and I still get the accuracy I am looking for.

With that being said, I wouldn't waste my time with it in a firearm that wasn't capable of sub moa accuracy at distance. It's expensive and the brass is not going to turn a 2 moa gun into a .5 moa gun.

Spot on. I use it in .308, 243 and turned .30-06 into 6.5-06 plan on using Lapua for my 7mm-08 improved as well. Very consistent brass and no 10plus firings isn't normal with "other" brands. I anneal them after four firings and have some that has surpassed 12 firings (closer to 20) with no signs of case head seperation or loose primer pockets.


Sent from NSA wire tapped device.

 

[Jedabug92]

I anneal them after four firings and have some that has surpassed 12 firings (closer to 20) with no signs of case head seperation or loose primer pockets.

what is annealling? how do you do it?
and 20 ish loads? dang I might have to pick up some Lapua hehe

 

[7stw]

Lots of great info on annealing here. http://www.6mmbr.com/annealing.html I use a cordless screwdriver with a socket close to the size of brass to be annealed. I also primarily only neck size most all of my brass.


Sent from NSA wire tapped device.

 

[Jedabug92]

Lots of great info on annealing here. http://www.6mmbr.com/annealing.html I use a cordless screwdriver with a socket close to the size of brass to be annealed. I also primarily only neck size most all of my brass.


Sent from NSA wire tapped device.

How does the socket anneal the brass and would a neck resize work?

 

[swampratt]

look at the link that 7stw sent the socket is for holding the brass while you heat the neck.
You can hold it in your fingers also, harder to spin but no chance of overheating the case.

You can neck size only if you want to. I have measured my neck sized only lapua cases and other neck sized only cases and after each firing the case changes dimensions just a bit until about 3 firings when the case gets hard to chamber and hard to extract.... well not hard really but sticky i should say.

This i did not like, the case growing to a different size on each firing.
My gun shot better groups if i minimally resized the entire case. this way all cases measure the same weather they are 1x or 3x fired.. i have shot groups with 1x and 4 time fired lapua .308 and all hit the same under 1" at 200 yards. good enough.

If you minimally size the cases and your chamber does not expand the neck a bunch you can get many shots without annealing.
Custom chamber and a custom or modded die set up for your round and you can get 60+ firings from 1 piece of brass no annealing. it has been done.. i posted a link to it under reloading section and possibly under annealing.

 

[okietom]

look at the link that 7stw sent the socket is for holding the brass while you heat the neck.
You can hold it in your fingers also, harder to spin but no chance of overheating the case.

You can neck size only if you want to. I have measured my neck sized only lapua cases and other neck sized only cases and after each firing the case changes dimensions just a bit until about 3 firings when the case gets hard to chamber and hard to extract.... well not hard really but sticky i should say.

This i did not like, the case growing to a different size on each firing.
My gun shot better groups if i minimally resized the entire case. this way all cases measure the same weather they are 1x or 3x fired.. i have shot groups with 1x and 4 time fired lapua .308 and all hit the same under 1" at 200 yards. good enough.

If you minimally size the cases and your chamber does not expand the neck a bunch you can get many shots without annealing.
Custom chamber and a custom or modded die set up for your round and you can get 60+ firings from 1 piece of brass no annealing. it has been done.. i posted a link to it under reloading section and possibly under annealing.

By minimally sizing do you mean using a full lenght sizing die and backing it off ( unscrewing it) until you are not moving the case shoulder when you size but still sizing the neck and case body slightly?

I do this on two cartridges I load for my Contender because it is the only gun I shoot those two loads in. Using this method or with neck sizing your cases should be dedicated to one gun. You could have feeding problems otherwise.

 

[Jedabug92]

If you minimally size the cases and your chamber does not expand the neck a bunch you can get many shots without annealing.
.

how do you do this?

 

[ASP785]

Traditionally most people will screw the sizing die down until it touches the shell plate, then turn it maybe a 1/2 a turn or so and start sizing. The problem with this is that depending upon the chamber of your firearm, you may be bumping the shoulder back too much. There are two problems with this. 1. Excessive sizing could lead to case head separation after repeated firings as the case expands to the point of failure in the critical web area. 2. Your accuracy may suffer. The first problem is a little bit more serious than the second.

The solution to this is pretty simple. You need something like the Hornady Headspace Gauge: http://www.hornady.com/store/Headspace-Gauge-Kits/

After firing a cartridge in the firearm you are reloading for, measure the cartridge using the tool and then screw your die down to either neck size only, or bump the shoulder back .001" to .002" for a bolt action firearm. For a semi auto gun, its best to go at least .004" back from the fired dimension for reliability. The tool will allow you to measure the shoulder moving back as you ever so slightly adjust your sizing die. Following this method of sizing cases will lead to longer brass life and typically be more accurate. However, it requires a specific set of brass for each firearm you shoot.

 

[bsd230]

If I were shooting competitions I would say that it is probably worth the extra just to get any match brass regardless of brand. For someone like myself that goes to the range often and shoots on a regular basis I really don't benefit that much from Lapua. It is a great brass, but the possible few extra reloads out of it doesn't off set the cost. Depending on the charge, I regularly get 10+ reloads with several brands. Norma has some great brass too. I've done well with Winchester as well.