Lapua brass question

[dmproske]

Just got my 1st box of .308 Lapua brass. Are the necks on these already sized for loading? Mine measure .335 to .336 outside neck diamater. I was going to size them using my lee collet die before loading but they are tight going into the decapping stem/manderal of the collet die.

So should I size them anyway? Some of them have dents in the necks. I thought about expanding them using my K&M expander then sizing them with the collet die, but that would put extra wear on the brass. I may just push them through the collet die; the maderal will expand the necks just a little and iron out the dents. any thoughts?

 

[desertHK]

Re: Lapua brass question

If there is no dents in the mouth, I just load them and shoot them. If the dents are obvious, I just neck size it.

 

[Brent Thornton]

Re: Lapua brass question

I would load them! Then size after first firing.

 

[Sig685]

Re: Lapua brass question

I load Lapua straight from the box. I have never had one with a ding in the neck, but I guess it's possible. If that were the case, I have a mandrel for that.

 

[coulthard_west]

Re: Lapua brass question

always full lenth size right out the box to make sure there the same and the necks are all round instead of square. I get better results that way

 

[Red Ryder]

Re: Lapua brass question

dcp i'm glad you asked this question. I too am about to begin using lapua.

But i have another question and this maybe a good place to ask it (not meaning to hijack your thread). I've always used Winchester brass and I have a good load worked up for it. But if I start loading Lapua brass, how should I adjust the load I've used for years with Winchester brass?

Thanks in advance for your wise and experienced responses.

 

[McCrazy]

Re: Lapua brass question

I just loaded up some brand new Lapua brass and a few were dented. Ended up running all of them through the expander ball and neck-sizing them just to get them all consistent. Definitely I am no pro at this though.

Red Ryder- any time you are making a change in your reloads you should step down your powder charge and work back up to make sure you don't blow up your rifle. IIRC Lapua brass tends to have less internal volume than Winchester so if you put in the same amount of powder on what was already a near-max load you may find yourself beyond the maximum pressure your rifle can take.

 

[Red Ryder]

Re: Lapua brass question

Thanks McCrazy. I figured that dropping the charge weight was the thing to do but wanted to hear it from someone else -though I don't think 42.0 was near max. Would you agree the typical 10% reduction in charge weight?

 

[exhogflyer]

Re: Lapua brass question

Don't mean to hijack the thread but what does everyone think of Norma brass for the 338 Lapua?

 

[dmproske]

Re: Lapua brass question

Thanks for the replies guys. A few of them have noticible dings in the necks. I'll run them through the neck sizer. That way they will all be the same.

 

[McCrazy]

Re: Lapua brass question

RR- if you are only at 42 gr you should be fine. Just don't start within 10% of the published max load for that bullet-powder combo.