Re: PRVI .338LM Brass
I've not had too much trouble with the Privi brass but it is what it is. I've got Privi(100pcs), Hornady (200pcs) and Lapua (300pcs). I figured it was worth trying the Privi and Hornady brass and any that didn't work out or split necks would go to the 12.7X48 pile and be reworked for use in that cal. So far the lapua is as expected, very close in weight and excellent quality. The hornady is looking better than expected though it seems to be thinner brass than the Lapua with a slightly larger internal capacity. The Privi brass does not fit the RCBS shellholder very well with maybe 3 of 10 cases fitting. It does fit in the Redding shellholder. The privi brass also has a lower capacity than either the Lapua or Hornady. Thats made for some interesting chrono sessions. Right now I've got at least 4 firings on all 3 types using 250gr Sierra MatchKings. I've measured velocity with the same load of 98gr of 5010 at 2950 in the privi(no pressure signs), 2850 in hornady and 2880 in the Lapua brass. We also tried 93gr of Retumbo using the same brass and got 2850 in the Privi, 2770 in the Hornady and 2810 in the Lapua. I've not seen any splits in any of the brass and none has been annealed. Using Fed 215 primers and redding dies. We tried the Lapua lockbase 250's and didn't see much difference between them and the sierra's. We did run a few 300gr SMK's but the 250's were more available when we needed them so worked up the loads with them. The rifles are 2 Desert Tactical Arms SRS bullpups and one Sako TRG42. The DT's have a 1:10 twist and the TRG is 1:12. The TRG didn't like the 300's much.
So far it looks like the privi brass is not a bad deal for blasting but the consistancy of the brass and the capacity mean its not good for real accuracy work. The hornady actually looks much better than I expected and the Lapua is really top of the heap. 4 shots out of the Privi bring the cost down to $.30/shot for the brass using $120/100 for a cost. The Hornady is $149/100 at Grafs and for the money its actually looking like a much better deal. The Lapua brass is $250/100 in most places though Brunos has it for $1930/1000 which makes it much the better deal if you can afford that much brass. We did a group purchase on it to keep the individual cost down.
Frank
