FL Size Virgin Lapua brass?

[mikeltee]

Hey guys. I'm getting ready to pop my cherry on finding a precision load for my 308 bolt gun. I have some brass that was factory ammo that I shot through my gun (fireformed is the correct term I do believe). I then took a measurement with my headspace gauge. My virgin Lapua brass is .01 shorter than the fire formed brass. Should I just go ahead and load the brass to find my appropriate load, or should I fireform the Lapua brass first with a weaker load, FL resize, then do my OCW test?

Also, will there be correct neck tension with the Virgin brass? I am using the bushing style FL resizer die.

 

[bjay]

I would use expander die mandrel makes mouth uniform then load

 

[Silverbullet2]

If you don't FL resize them, and load. It will not hurt a thing. Just some piece of mind. J

 

[mikeltee]

Can I trust the results of the OCW test if I dont resize the virgin brass? That is my main concern. Thanks for your replys gentlemen.

 

[SporterII]

I am pretty new at this but can see it would depend. It would depend on your chamber and its actual dimensions compared to the brass.
I started with a masterfully cut chamber and Lapua brass was recommended.
The pair are a match and first load is like reload.
I did not resize and just insured mouths were open. Any slight ding on a mouth , I used a boat tail bullet to address the ding.
I suspect there is no insurance other than to give it a go.

 

[JoeBUtah]

My lovely wife gave me 100 Lapua Cases for Christmas; all I did was neck size them. The shot great and now I have 100 fire formed Lapua Cases....

 

[ksthomas]

We do reccommend that new cases be run over an expander mandral before their first loading, but a F/L sizing is unnecessary. If you don't have an expander mandral (assuming you haven't purchased on yet; you need one), then a N/S die with the expander ball would be a second choice option. We suggest this merely to ensure that the mouths are perfectly round and delivering uniform neck tension, and to remove any of the minor dings or out-of-round conditions caused during shipping. I see many guys trimming, F/L sizing and performing a host of other operations, all of which are unwarranted on new brass unless being used in a very tight (below SAAMI spec) chamber.

 

[mikeltee]

Wow. A post from the man himself... Sweet
I have the mandral in my Sinclair cart. I was waiting for more input before I pulled the trigger. Ill go ahead and order now. I inspected all the brass in this lot and they all appear to be perfectly round with no dings but ill still wait for the mandral.

 

[red hawk]

I use the expander for new Lapue brass.That the reason I buy LAPUE, 1. very good brass, 2. They care about the customers! Thanks Kevin !

 

[Fatelvis]

Just load 'em up and shoot. No FL sizing needed from the factory.

 

[ksthomas]

No problem at all guys, glad to help!

 

[lte82]

Last week I shot two 5 shot groups during a load work up session with my 260 rem using unprepped virgin lapua brass.. .5 moa and .75 moa groups with the best loads.

Today I loaded up some ammo with the load that shot .5 moa and I shot a 10 shot group at 200 yards. Again, unprepped virgin lapua brass. If I did the math right, .52 moa center to center. If I subtract the diameter first, I get .65 moa. Not sure which way I should do it, but I like thinking I got .52 ha! See link below.

Kevin, thanks for the tip, I'm going to press the rest of mine through the NS die.

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/5498/20130527131658.jpg

 

[Aimsmall55]

Get a lee collet die for like 28$ and problem solved. That die is the most cost effective piece of gear I've ever bought