Finally stepped up and got some for my new custom 308. Just picked them up yesterday and a box of 178 amax's. Do I need to run these through a neck sizer and chamfer/debur like I do Remmy brass? The cases necks are not beat up, but some do look just a little out of round. Do I ever need to uniform primer pockets on these? Paid 65.99 for them which I thought was a good price.
- Thread starter jsthntn247
- Start date
Re: Lapua Brass
If you're looking for accuracy make every case exactly the same. I would run them through a neck sizer due to the fact they probably got a little beat up during shipping. Usualy the primer pockets are good on Lapua brass.
If you're looking for accuracy make every case exactly the same. I would run them through a neck sizer due to the fact they probably got a little beat up during shipping. Usualy the primer pockets are good on Lapua brass.
Re: Lapua Brass
The only thing I did with mine was put them in my lee collet neck die. I then chamfered the inside and outside. It has shot small groups like that for me.
The only thing I did with mine was put them in my lee collet neck die. I then chamfered the inside and outside. It has shot small groups like that for me.
Re: Lapua Brass
I just finished processing 500 pieces of new Lapua .308 brass and I treated them just like any other. The first thing I did was to run a few through a Redding f-l body die to make sure the shoulders, etc were all in spec. The die wasn't even touching the cases so I blew off running them all through.
I ran a Sinclair expander mandrel into the necks to make them perfectly round and open them up to about .001 -.002 under bullet diameter. I ran them through a Sinclair primer pocket uniformer and got shavings on every case. I couldn't see any burrs around the flash holes, but I ran them through a deburring tool anyway - just enough to leave a tiny funnel shape on the lip of each hole.
I also ran them through a Gracey trimmer even though the case mouths were a lot cleaner than typical Win brass out of the box. They were plenty short so I wasn't looking to make them shorter, just to make sure the case mouths were square and to put a chamfer on the inside. I set the trimmer to just barely touch the case mouths.
This brass is for my new GAP gun so I got really anal. I sorted the cases based on variations in neck wall thickness. Roughly 47% had less than .001 variation, another 47% had less than .002, about 4% had less than .003, and I had 10 cases with .003 or more.
I'm also processing 500 new Win cases for the same gun. These had much rougher necks than the Lapua, especially right at the mouth of the neck. They definitely needed to be touched by the trimmer more than the Lapua. The other big difference is with the neck wall thickness variations. I'm not quite through sorting these yet but it's looking like I'll get roughly 25% with less than .001, 70% with less than .002, and 5% with .002 or more. Only about half as many near-perfect necks compared with the Lapua.
I just finished processing 500 pieces of new Lapua .308 brass and I treated them just like any other. The first thing I did was to run a few through a Redding f-l body die to make sure the shoulders, etc were all in spec. The die wasn't even touching the cases so I blew off running them all through.
I ran a Sinclair expander mandrel into the necks to make them perfectly round and open them up to about .001 -.002 under bullet diameter. I ran them through a Sinclair primer pocket uniformer and got shavings on every case. I couldn't see any burrs around the flash holes, but I ran them through a deburring tool anyway - just enough to leave a tiny funnel shape on the lip of each hole.
I also ran them through a Gracey trimmer even though the case mouths were a lot cleaner than typical Win brass out of the box. They were plenty short so I wasn't looking to make them shorter, just to make sure the case mouths were square and to put a chamfer on the inside. I set the trimmer to just barely touch the case mouths.
This brass is for my new GAP gun so I got really anal. I sorted the cases based on variations in neck wall thickness. Roughly 47% had less than .001 variation, another 47% had less than .002, about 4% had less than .003, and I had 10 cases with .003 or more.
I'm also processing 500 new Win cases for the same gun. These had much rougher necks than the Lapua, especially right at the mouth of the neck. They definitely needed to be touched by the trimmer more than the Lapua. The other big difference is with the neck wall thickness variations. I'm not quite through sorting these yet but it's looking like I'll get roughly 25% with less than .001, 70% with less than .002, and 5% with .002 or more. Only about half as many near-perfect necks compared with the Lapua.
Re: Lapua Brass
Looks like I've settled on the lee collet die. I know the die works by squeezing the mouth on a mandrel. Will this make the case necks round for the first firing, didn't see anything about it having an expander. Also, how do I know how far to screw the die down when I don't know how much neck tension I need.
Looks like I've settled on the lee collet die. I know the die works by squeezing the mouth on a mandrel. Will this make the case necks round for the first firing, didn't see anything about it having an expander. Also, how do I know how far to screw the die down when I don't know how much neck tension I need.
Re: Lapua Brass
OldTex put it well.
usual the necks can be a bit out of round so you at least want to run them through a mandrel... which will leave you needing to size the necks back down for sufficient bullet tension (depending on your mandrel dia. ofcourse).
I personally run them through the full gammot of brass prep (weather they are new or X-times fired) excluding the one time shit like flash hole deburring and primer pocket depth/uniforming.
OldTex put it well.
usual the necks can be a bit out of round so you at least want to run them through a mandrel... which will leave you needing to size the necks back down for sufficient bullet tension (depending on your mandrel dia. ofcourse).
I personally run them through the full gammot of brass prep (weather they are new or X-times fired) excluding the one time shit like flash hole deburring and primer pocket depth/uniforming.
Re: Lapua Brass
You need to polish cone and lube to make the die run smoother and not hang up. Start die high with case in holder and ram all the way up, screw down to contact, lower the ram turn die down a little, run case up, repeat backing ram off and srewing down die, till neck sized you want it just were press breaks over, its a feel thing. Too much and the case will get crushed. You do not want marks on case neck either. Please sell links below which will help, there are some videos if you do a search.
I have been using them for years, much better run out control than bushing dies IMO
http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2011/04/tips-for-using-lee-collet-dies/
http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-292986.html
You need to polish cone and lube to make the die run smoother and not hang up. Start die high with case in holder and ram all the way up, screw down to contact, lower the ram turn die down a little, run case up, repeat backing ram off and srewing down die, till neck sized you want it just were press breaks over, its a feel thing. Too much and the case will get crushed. You do not want marks on case neck either. Please sell links below which will help, there are some videos if you do a search.
I have been using them for years, much better run out control than bushing dies IMO
http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2011/04/tips-for-using-lee-collet-dies/
http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-292986.html
Re: Lapua Brass
As long as the necks look round, I just dump fresh Lapua brass into my casefeeder and load them. 1/2" groups at 200 yards no problem. I'm certain that if someone was good enough to drive the rifle, this ammo would do a 1/4 moa 5x5 no problem.
As long as the necks look round, I just dump fresh Lapua brass into my casefeeder and load them. 1/2" groups at 200 yards no problem. I'm certain that if someone was good enough to drive the rifle, this ammo would do a 1/4 moa 5x5 no problem.
Re: Lapua Brass
How do they feed. I've heard some say that they run all thier brand new brass through the FL die to get them to the right size. As for uniforming primer pockets, you'll come to find that Lapua is actaully pretty good already. Much more so than Federal, Winchester etc.
How do they feed. I've heard some say that they run all thier brand new brass through the FL die to get them to the right size. As for uniforming primer pockets, you'll come to find that Lapua is actaully pretty good already. Much more so than Federal, Winchester etc.
Re: Lapua Brass
If you are using the collet die on new brass to round the mouths out I wouldn't even bother running the cases all the way - they are quite likely to be on the tight side. Just run the cases up the mandrel and then de-burr.
When you come to setting up the collet for once fired cases just keep on adjusting it down until you get the desired neck tension. This is a pretty good tutorial on how to set it up.
<object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mhTUgytUGnM"></param> <param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mhTUgytUGnM" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"> </embed></object>
If you are using the collet die on new brass to round the mouths out I wouldn't even bother running the cases all the way - they are quite likely to be on the tight side. Just run the cases up the mandrel and then de-burr.
When you come to setting up the collet for once fired cases just keep on adjusting it down until you get the desired neck tension. This is a pretty good tutorial on how to set it up.
<object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mhTUgytUGnM"></param> <param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mhTUgytUGnM" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"> </embed></object>
