I will admit, I am kind of shocked. I have read endlessly about how amazing Lapua brass is. So, I bought my first 100 box of 300 Norma Mag. It arrived today and I opened it expecting the world to look a little brighter. This is what I pulled out of a sealed box from a major reloading vendor. Did I just get a shit box that might have been through a plane crash on the way here? Or, is this typical?
Is this really what to expect from Lapua brass?
- Thread starter Thunderkok
- Start date
I've bought thousands of pieces of Lapua brass...You occasionally get a slightly out of round neck or 2 due to impacts during shipping, but I've never seen anything like that. I'd contact them, and see what they say. They seem to be a great company, so I'm sure they'll make it right.
You’re supposed to run a mandrel through the necks prior to loading them to uniform the neck ID.
Eh, they come with tight necks anyhow, just run it through a mandrel.
Well it comes loose packed so theres no reason they should show up perfect. Their boxes are shit too and shatter like glass with rough handling. Still the best brass available. Even if they were eyeball round, you still need to mandrel or size/mandrel them.
My last two boxes of LRP 6.5 CM Lapua brass looked just like that.
The most recent 6-BR had just a couple of dented mouths.
Back in the gold/black, paper box days, none were dented. It was also $37 per box...
The most recent 6-BR had just a couple of dented mouths.
Back in the gold/black, paper box days, none were dented. It was also $37 per box...
My exact response. Lapua comes with excessive neck tension. I run all new lapua through a mandrel before loading.
I've recently gotten 3 boxes of Lapua 300-NM ... and other than a couple of out-of-round cases ... they're beautiful. I'd be pretty pissed off if they looked like that. That said, everything, even new brass, goes through a mandrel in my processes. Most of those will get fixed that way ... although some of these in the photo are probably throw-a-ways.
I disagree. None of the necks in that photo are that bad. I’ve taken brass that was run over at the range, pretty much 2/3 flat and restored it back to life. Brass is pretty malleable.
It’s funny, but Lapua never had this problem when they used their older, gold cardboard boxes.
Must be the fact that there’s more flex in those?
Chris
Must be the fact that there’s more flex in those?
Chris
I've had a few dinged necks in about every box that I've ever bought. But that picture shows more than normal. But I don't see any that are damaged enough to effect the case life. It doesn't bother me because I resize every new case that I load.
I look at it like every other product I buy. For example, I have a Jeep and a Mercedes SUV. From the day I took the Jeep home from the dealer, there has been crap that doesn’t fit right. But, I always shrug and say “It’s a Jeep” and then I fix it. For the coin I shelled out on the Mercedes, I expect damn near perfection in every aspect. And, frankly, those little German fuckers deliver.
When you shell out the coin to “buy the best”, should you really have to shrug and say “Brass is malleable.” I haven’t bought ADG yet, but I know which seems higher end between the Peterson and Lapua in the pics. Maybe the Lapua will be the better brass after 20 fires. But I know which I am going to be happier with on the first fire.
When you shell out the coin to “buy the best”, should you really have to shrug and say “Brass is malleable.” I haven’t bought ADG yet, but I know which seems higher end between the Peterson and Lapua in the pics. Maybe the Lapua will be the better brass after 20 fires. But I know which I am going to be happier with on the first fire.
The thing I like about adg and alpha is that they come in mtm style cases where the cartridges are more supported and it seems there necks don’t look at rough. Lapua is excellent brass though and prefer it in the long run, but much prefer adg and alpha packaging
I will agree, the ADG and Petersen brass are packaged better. For the cost of Lapua, it would be nice to see it shipped in a decent 100rd divider box with foam on top to protect the necks.
You people are bitching about something that has absolutely no effect on anything. You have to run a mandrel through the necks anyway. The mandrel makes the necks perfectly round.
It’s like bitching that your new Mercedes had dust on it.
It’s like bitching that your new Mercedes had dust on it.
Some of those necks look pretty ratty and I’d be a bit disheartened when I opened up that box.
Chris
More like buying a Mercedes and it shows up with dents in the hood. You gonna say "It just needs a little bondo and paint what's the big deal?"
Regardless how the necks look and how bent it makes you....has zero effect on accuracy. Lapua has excessive neck tension and needs a mandrel anyway, they are perfectly round after that.... all the bitching in this thread is just that..bitching....Zero effects on target downrange.
Why? It’s brass. You have to mandrel it. Then it looks perfect.
Looks good to me. All bulk packed brass need the necks tried up. Mandrel or expander ball at the least.
That’s not the point.
It shouldn’t be that way for the prices they charge.
I’m a guy who bought a case of 338LM from Pettibone in 2007, a Lyman moly kit and 1000 300gr. SMKs and sold them in lots of 50 on EBay at the time, since Sierra didn’t offer a moly coated 300gr. SMK.
I even sold a couple of sealed boxes to members here 15 years ago and there was never a problem, or anything even remotely close to what the OP posted.
Trust me, the problem started when they went to the plastic box.
Any theories?
Chris
My experience is limited to Lapua 308 brass but, in the dozens of boxes I've bought over the years, none have ever looked like that. Regardless of how it looks, run them through your die and you'll be ok.
Alpha comes in a nice 100 round count box, in perfect condition. If 100 pieces of lapua brass had 100 dinged necks, wrapped in news paper that a bum wiped his ass with after eating 4 gas station burritos, I'd still shoot the lapua over the alpha. The hurt feelings of having to mandrel 100 dinged necks instead of mandreling the same amount of non-dinged necks are far out weighed by the quality of how the brass performs throughout its lifespan.
It is brass after all, not tool steel. And they’re not sawed in half or anything. If they look like shit even after running through a die then call someone
There’s also a choir of angels that sing every time a package of Alpha brass is opened. I wept when I opened mine, that’s for damn sure
I wept every time I had to prime Alpha brass. That is until I gave that shit away and came home to lapua.
ADG is worse, actually.
Regardless, all this consternation about necks you're going to size and mandrel anyway is wasted energy.
Considering the fact that normal use when the case is extracted & launched 3 or 4 feet from the rifle is going to dent necks & shoulders, I wouldn't get tied around the axel about it.
Dealing with dented cases is a normal part of the process. Get used to it.
Like 918V & others have said, run a mandrel through the necks & move on, nothing to see here.
Dealing with dented cases is a normal part of the process. Get used to it.
Like 918V & others have said, run a mandrel through the necks & move on, nothing to see here.
I always size new brass and after getting some unseen grit embedded in my sizing die from some new brass, I wet tumble it too. I don't trust anything out of the box anymore.
That’s horrible. I would be pissed! I only run adg anymore and I have yet to have any show up that doesn’t look near perfectly round/new. I don’t run a mandrel. I just load them as is for the first firing.
The box was fine there were 100 220 grain sierra match Kings and 8 pounds of powder in the box. Everything was wrapped in paper with paper filling all of the empty space. It was definitely not the box.
I did get 101 cases, so maybe they felt bad.
I did get 101 cases, so maybe they felt bad.
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I had a couple hundred pieces of gold box 243 with dented necks and big ole burs in the primer pockets. I think the dents have more to do with who shipped it, and the burs are rare, judging from a few thousand pieces for various cartridges. Also mostly with some dents necks. I don't really look for them though. I run any new brass over an expander before I chamfer and debur.
Most of mine have only had 100, but I just opened a new blue box of 243 the other day and it 101.
The extra case is cool, no doubt, but I don’t recall if that’s the case with my gold box stuff, as I’ve never bothered?
My point was mostly that the paper boxes didn’t have as many dinged in necks vs. the hard boxes.
I’m not going to die on this hill.
Chris
I never understood why people get so bent out of shape about dented necks, wanting to load their new brass without sizing it first. Seems like you'd have to be a real cheapskate with your time or just not understand the effect, to want to skip that step. Personally I'd much rather make sure my brass has the same neck tension for the first loading as it does for all the others, so of course it's going to get sized, or a least run over a mandrel or expander ball. I mean, Duh?
