Win Brass VS Lapua brass

[Macmathews]

I can find win brass locally for $46/100 and currently am shooting lapua brass and pay 76/100. But I only have 200 pieces. 200 seems like the minimum for cycling.

I was thinking of buying 300/400 pieces of winchester and starting to use that !.

How much better is lapua and what about it is better ?

Shooting .308 WIN

 

[cega]

Re: Win Brass VS Lapua brass

For me moving to Lapua only took care of a few things, in addition to great case life.

Since I anneal every 3 firings having a single headstamp means I don't have to screw around with the settings on my annealer.

Also the case to case consistency with Lapua in the 3 calibers I use it for (6.5x47, 308 and 338LM) has been outstanding so I've given up the hassle of weight sorting cases since I tested 1500 .308 cases and found only 87 that fell outside a +/- 1gr spread.

 

[Macmathews]

Re: Win Brass VS Lapua brass

CEGA ,

well you are more advanced than me.
A few questions to pic your brain, how important is case to case consistency with weight ( I did noticed they are very close)
How many firings are you getting with your .308 ?
What is the purpose of annealing (longevity ? )

Kyle

 

[l115a3]

Re: Win Brass VS Lapua brass

Anneal will yield your neck tension.


I would suggest with Lapua too.

 

[ZiaHunter]

Re: Win Brass VS Lapua brass

You can't go wrong with Lapua brass. While prepping new brass I generally wind up culling quite a few pieces of Winchester brass due to defects that will always be problematic such as variations in neck wall thickness. This increases the average cost per case. Lapua brass in the other hand is very consistent in all areas and requires less prep. Annealing brass has several advantages. Brass hardness will be more consistent from case to case which results in uniform neck tension and FL sizing.

 

[Niles Coyote]

Re: Win Brass VS Lapua brass

I have about 800 Winchester, 600 Lapua, 500 Lake City 91, 200 federal match and 47 Hornady match. The federal has been retired and I do feel it is junk brass for the reloader to stay clear of. The rest all shoot well with some of the older Winchester and Lapua having 20+ firings. I also anneal after my 3rd firing and I believe that extends the life of any brass except federal as its primer pockets are loose after 2-4 firings. Case heads have equally loosened on all the over brands if heavy loads are used, when not they stay tight (doesn’t matter for federal).

If I were to say which one appears to shoot tighter groups, Lake City and Lapua may have a slight advantage but I have often wondered if that could be due to the thicker necks of those two positioning the bullet ever so slightly more in line with the bore.

Both my Lapua and Lake City weight quite a bit more than Winchester and Hornady but those last two also have larger H2O capacities. For me it all comes down to price and what I can afford at the time but as you can guess there will be no more federal headstamps.

 

[MtnCreek]

Re: Win Brass VS Lapua brass

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have about 800 Winchester, 600 Lapua, 500 Lake City 91</div></div>

I bought a bunch of LC 91 Match from Jeff Bartlet years ago; it is good brass after prep work. Also loads similar to Lapua. I wondered if the crimps (or whatever they're called) above the head would cause issues, but I've never had a head seperation with that brass.

 

[cega]

Re: Win Brass VS Lapua brass

Kyle -

Thanks for the compliment but not sure I'm all that worthy of it, just have been reloading for quite a while and have figured out what works for me, generally at least. If anything I can add helps you or anyone else that is great.

Case to case weight consistency is an indicator as to case volume since the heavier the case the less internal volume - presuming the external dimensions are the same. So the idea behind keeping the cases segregated by weight is to tailor the loads to the specific case volumes so that they shoot identically/similarly across the various weights. As I mentioned, the Lapua in my inventory has proven to be so close that I don't bother worrying about it. Add to that the idea that I seriously doubt I have anywhere close to the skills to be able to shoot and tell the difference and for me at least it is a "why bother?" issue.

As far as how many firings I am getting out of my 308 Lapua brass I have many here with 12+ on them, some as high as 19. This I believe also ties back to your question about annealing as I am of the belief that doing so every 3rd firing has helped maintain the necks and has extended the life of the brass. Contrary to many I full length resize every time and have not suffered for it though I understand the logic behind neck sizing only unless other factors indicate otherwise.

I also tend to not load extra "hot" if you will. Loading at, or even above book max if your rifle indicates you can, often will shorten case life.

Anyway, hopefully the above makes sense and helps you out some.

 

[turbo54]

Re: Win Brass VS Lapua brass

Other than Lapua brass looking refined and cool, I have not seen it to provide any measurable benefit over other brass.

For example:

I got a 5 gallon bucket filled with mid-60s through mid-70s vintage 7.62 brass. I did sort it, and got several large lots of like headstamps. IVI69, IVI70, TW66 and LC71... In particular, the IVI69 was ugly. Flash holes were badly off centered and had lots of "hanging chads". My prep work including swaging the primer pockets and trimming to ~2.010".

Admittedly, to achieve the same 2675fps MV that 45.5gr Varget + 175smk was yielding in the Lapua brass, I had to back the charge down to 44.75gr. Once I did that, the IVI69 cartridges could be mixed with my Lapua cartridges with no ill effects on group size...which is to say, they shot better than me. I was able to print 1/4 moa groups a couple times, though I am not a 1/4 moa shooter, so I can't do it "all day long" nor can I do a 5x5 like that.

If you're running some kind of whiz-bang close neck clearance chamber, the Lapua brass will undoubtedly maintain closer neck thickness. In a field rifle with ample neck clearance though, this point is moot.

On Federal brass being really soft:

That's not my experience. 45.5gr Varget + 175smk = 2675fps in my 308 with either Lapua, Winchester, PMC, Federal or RP brass.

If I bump that charge to 45.75gr, all of the above cases will "push a button", where the casehead will start to flow into the ejector hole in the boltface. Kept at or below 45.5gr Varget, I've never worn out a piece of brass except when firing wet cartridges (that loosens a primer pocket on the first shot) or in load development when I've gone overcharged, Federal included. Admittedly though, my oldest batch of FC cases only had 10 or 11 firings on them. Still took a primer tightly, good to go.

I suppose the Lapua cases might survive a long-term torture test better than the rest, but I'm a practical field shooter, and I'll lose the brass before I ever wear it out.

Also consider that by the time you've fired a 308 (read: inexpensive) case even 5 or 6 times, the "cost per firing" is rapidly reaching zero.

 

[Macmathews]

Re: Win Brass VS Lapua brass

Hey thanks guys , all great info

Kyle

 

[280nosler]

Re: Win Brass VS Lapua brass

All my 308 Win brass typically get 6-7 reloads with annealing them. Another poster above is correct, FC is garbage. I bought 2 cases of FGMM 175 grain a few years ago thinking the brass must be made of gold, only to find out 2-3 reloads and it is worthless. My Lapua brass is certainly cream of the crop, and I have a bunch of Lake City match brass too. I only shoot my 7.62 brass from my SCAR, and I let me bolt gun devour the 308 brass.

 

[glock63]

Re: Win Brass VS Lapua brass

I reload Federal brass once, usually for an application where I either can't or don't intend to pick it back up.

 

[Macmathews]

Re: Win Brass VS Lapua brass

Ok , since we are mentioning other names.
What about REM brass ?

Kyle

 

[Mag 300]

Re: Win Brass VS Lapua brass

a suggestion is to "invest" in the brass you want for that rifle

example I have
AWM in 308 and it uses the Lapua brass great firing life I have 15 firings and there still going strong

AWM 338 lapua only lapua brass for the same reasons

Surgeon scalpel in 6.5 Creedmoor only Hornaday brass its the only available

I have invested in a lot of reloading equipment , 2 of the Dillon 550's and acculab 123 vic scale for precision, a 3 drum tumbler each drum if capable of 15#
Giraud trimmer, Giraud Annealer etc

its like having kids youcan have them but them you have to feed them!!!!!!

Invest in the lapua in the long run it pays off

Bill