Fixing to get on quickload and start playing. Any body know the max h2o capacity a virgin piece of .308 lapua brass will hold???
- Thread starter Aimsmall55
- Start date
Just measure yours...its very simple
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2
I read on the Internet it was 56 grains.
I just checked and it was 53.8 grains
this may or may not be close enough for what you need, but here is the news: they can very well both be right, yes even lapua brass can vary that much - even in the same batch - which brings back this
"Just measure yours.."
but this:
"it is very simple"
is very deceiving
to get h2o volume results that are accurate is not easy, you will need to:
have brass that is sized, shoulder bumped and length trimmed uniformly ( you do not get this from any factory )
install primers(that will be scrap)
have a scale that is up to the job
fill the brass in a way that insures no air bubbles
get a repeatable fill level (probably the most challenging aspect)
wipe off water drops on the outside
is this operation to be called "simple" ??
Last edited:
Mine is 53.8 also. I got lucky that my match lc brass weighs and has the same internal capacity as my Lapua. Can't tell any difference between the two on paper either.
Leaving a new or spent primer in there is not the way I do it. you can have as much as a half grain of water get past the flash hole and into the primer cup, not to mention the water that occupies the flash hole.
I use an old bar of glycerin soap, carve off a small fragment of it, then force it into an empty primer pocket and up into the flash hole so that it extrudes into the case body. Then I use a chop stick to knock the small extruded worm of soap off from inside the case.
This process ensures that only the internal case volume is measured and not the flash hole or primer pocket/cup voids.
From there, I place the case onto the scale and zero the scale. Then I use a syringe to fill the case with distilled water until the meniscus is just bulging out over the top of the case mouth, and record my weight. I do this on at least 5 cases in a given lot, and average the weight to get a value I use for that lot.
Also, you do NOT want to do this with a resized case. You do this with a fire formed case from the rifle you are going to shoot that round in, because that is the true volume of the case once ignition starts and expands the case walls into the chamber.
Once I am done taking measurements, I use the tip of my air nozzle and blow the soap out of the primer pocket so I can use the case, or if I have a large number of cases in that lot, I index that case by writing the measured volume in Sharpie on the outside, and place it in a loading tray I have set aside for measured cases, dummy rounds from a fresh barrel install or whatever. Makes it easy to go back and confirm later.
I use an old bar of glycerin soap, carve off a small fragment of it, then force it into an empty primer pocket and up into the flash hole so that it extrudes into the case body. Then I use a chop stick to knock the small extruded worm of soap off from inside the case.
This process ensures that only the internal case volume is measured and not the flash hole or primer pocket/cup voids.
From there, I place the case onto the scale and zero the scale. Then I use a syringe to fill the case with distilled water until the meniscus is just bulging out over the top of the case mouth, and record my weight. I do this on at least 5 cases in a given lot, and average the weight to get a value I use for that lot.
Also, you do NOT want to do this with a resized case. You do this with a fire formed case from the rifle you are going to shoot that round in, because that is the true volume of the case once ignition starts and expands the case walls into the chamber.
Once I am done taking measurements, I use the tip of my air nozzle and blow the soap out of the primer pocket so I can use the case, or if I have a large number of cases in that lot, I index that case by writing the measured volume in Sharpie on the outside, and place it in a loading tray I have set aside for measured cases, dummy rounds from a fresh barrel install or whatever. Makes it easy to go back and confirm later.
Sorry to thread-jack, but what is the advantage to knowing the case capacity exactly? My understanding is that it is all about using appropriate powders with your case capacity. However with the knowledge here, other forums, and reloading forums, I doubt anyone (reasonable) is going to try loading a 300wm with RL-10x...
Honestly, I've just followed the reloading manuals and here for guidance on starting powder loads for my ladder tests.
Honestly, I've just followed the reloading manuals and here for guidance on starting powder loads for my ladder tests.
Because I wanted to put in the most accurate data I could in Quickload to see what powder would best serve my purpose. given that I have a very long throat I can stuff more powder and get higher mv with same pressure. And quickload takes all that into account
