Will Lapua 6.5 Creedmoor brass be ok without bolt modification?

[Kracken McGraw]

I have a Defiance Stryker Ridge short action chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor. Really would like to purchase the small primer Lapua brass, but will it be ok without changing firing pins and adding a bushing. I feel like a lot of guys are just going ahead and just using it. What's your opinion. Thank you.

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

Why do you think you need a smaller firing pin in the first place?

 

[Kracken McGraw]

Why do you think you need a smaller firing pin in the first place?

I was thinking calibers like a 223 Rem with small primers have a smaller diameter firing pin. That was just my thinking, This is why I was asking for the opinion of the knowledge of the members of this forum. Thanks.

 

[wiuprof]

I won a Defiance action certificate at the Nationals in 2015. I ordered a Deviant hunter with the "then new" controlled round
feed option in the short action. Norm, from Defiance, asked me what my plans were for cartridge chambering. I told him that
a 6.5x47 Lapua was planned. He strongly recommended the small firing pin option if I planned to use the Lapua small primer
brass. I told him that I also planned to have another barrel chambered for 6mm Creedmoor and at the time, planned to use brass
for it with large rifle primers (Hornady factory brass). No problem, says Norm. The 6 Creedmoor barrel is on the rifle and it's working
fine with my using Fed. 210 match LR primers.

I'm facing the same situation currently, as I've got a Ruger Precision Rifle chambered in 243 Win. and I'm having it rebarreled this
coming week with a Benchmark barrel to be chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor. I have 200 pieces of the new Lapua brass with small
primer pockets. The question is, will I have to send my bolt off to get a smaller firing pin & have it "bushed", or will it be a.o.k. as
is??? That remains to be seen and I'll let you know..

 

[Kracken McGraw]

I won a Defiance action certificate at the Nationals in 2015. I ordered a Deviant hunter with the "then new" controlled round
feed option in the short action. Norm, from Defiance, asked me what my plans were for cartridge chambering. I told him that
a 6.5x47 Lapua was planned. He strongly recommended the small firing pin option if I planned to use the Lapua small primer
brass. I told him that I also planned to have another barrel chambered for 6mm Creedmoor and at the time, planned to use brass
for it with large rifle primers (Hornady factory brass). No problem, says Norm. The 6 Creedmoor barrel is on the rifle and it's working
fine with my using Fed. 210 match LR primers.

I'm facing the same situation currently, as I've got a Ruger Precision Rifle chambered in 243 Win. and I'm having it rebarreled this
coming week with a Benchmark barrel to be chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor. I have 200 pieces of the new Lapua brass with small
primer pockets. The question is, will I have to send my bolt off to get a smaller firing pin & have it "bushed", or will it be a.o.k. as
is??? That remains to be seen and I'll let you know..

Thank you Wiuprof, looking forward to see what your results will be.

 

[watercam]

My Winchester Palma gun pierced so many SR primers that I had to have it bushed by Gre-Tan. Works with both LR and SR so there really is no down side.
He charged $85 and turn around was very short. He does not do EVERY brand of bolt but worth asking him.

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

I was thinking calibers like a 223 Rem with small primers have a smaller diameter firing pin. That was just my thinking, This is why I was asking for the opinion of the knowledge of the members of this forum. Thanks.

Yes, I get that. I went from LRP on .308 Lapua to SRP on .308 Lapua Palma brass. I did not change the firing pin on my Panda action. After several thousand rounds of SRP .308 Lapua Palma brass, I've had no issues whatsoever.

I will take this opportunity to mention that unlike LR primers, not all SR primers are the same. Having used numerous types when shooting Service Rifle and then F-class with a .223, I standardized on Remington 7 1/2 primers a decade ago as the strongest, most consistent primers. When I switched to SRP Palma brass, I went back to my 7 1/2s and they have been perfect.

So in discussing your "problem," the brand of SR primer is THE MOST important information to convey.

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

Piercing primers means you're using the wrong primer.

 

[dminn1]

I switched to Lapua Palma .308 brass in my ummodified Savage action/ Shilen barrel last year and have had no issues with primer piercing or cratering over approximately 1000 rounds. I am running a stout charger of Varget with the 200g Berger Hybrid and CCI BR-4 primers at about 2630fps and have been very happy with the results.

 

[BRU15]

I won a Defiance action certificate at the Nationals in 2015. I ordered a Deviant hunter with the "then new" controlled round
feed option in the short action. Norm, from Defiance, asked me what my plans were for cartridge chambering. I told him that
a 6.5x47 Lapua was planned. He strongly recommended the small firing pin option if I planned to use the Lapua small primer
brass. I told him that I also planned to have another barrel chambered for 6mm Creedmoor and at the time, planned to use brass
for it with large rifle primers (Hornady factory brass). No problem, says Norm. The 6 Creedmoor barrel is on the rifle and it's working
fine with my using Fed. 210 match LR primers.

I'm facing the same situation currently, as I've got a Ruger Precision Rifle chambered in 243 Win. and I'm having it rebarreled this
coming week with a Benchmark barrel to be chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor. I have 200 pieces of the new Lapua brass with small
primer pockets. The question is, will I have to send my bolt off to get a smaller firing pin & have it "bushed", or will it be a.o.k. as
is??? That remains to be seen and I'll let you know..

You won't know until you try it, some have issues and some don't. I have 2 soon to be 3 RPR's and I didn't have any issues with the Lapua 6.5 Creedmoor brass and I just converted 100 308 Palma to 6 XC to try in my other Ruger Precision Rifle.

 

[wiuprof]

You won't know until you try it, some have issues and some don't. I have 2 soon to be 3 RPR's and I didn't have any issues with the Lapua 6.5 Creedmoor brass and I just converted 100 308 Palma to 6 XC to try in my other Ruger Precision Rifle.

Thanks for the info, I'll know by this time next week!

 

[spclark]

It's the physics behind primer ignition that matter most, not so much what the size of your firing pin is: a smaller diameter FP will transfer energy into a smaller area than larger dia.

If a rifle's ignition system isn't compromised in some manner (off-center FP, dirty FP bore or weak spring, FP protrusion not properly set, something else not allowing it to behave as designed) changing to small primer brass (where possible!) shouldn't cause any issues.

Take a close look at fired primers you get now. If FP impact is nicely centered you may even see an improvement switching to small primer brass.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

Thank you all so much for your replies, I think now I will order a hundred Lapua cases for my new rifle and give it a shot. The Lapua brass has been so nice in my .308 WIN, just hurt a little not to use it in my first custom.
Thanks, McGraw

 

[DHuffman]

Piercing primers means you're using the wrong primer.

Not necessarily. A lot of firing pins without the proper radius and/or excess clearance where the pin comes through the bolt head will crater primers or pierce them in the higher pressure small primer brass like palma & lapua. I had Gre Tan bush a Remington 700 short action last fall that would pierce any primer until he radiused the pin and bushed the bolt.

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

I switched to Lapua Palma .308 brass in my ummodified Savage action/ Shilen barrel last year and have had no issues with primer piercing or cratering over approximately 1000 rounds. I am running a stout charger of Varget with the 200g Berger Hybrid and CCI BR-4 primers at about 2630fps and have been very happy with the results.

BR4, 450, 7 1/2; those are the proper SR primers for the higher pressure loads.

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

Not necessarily. A lot of firing pins without the proper radius and/or excess clearance where the pin comes through the bolt head will crater primers or pierce them in the higher pressure small primer brass like palma & lapua. I had Gre Tan bush a Remington 700 short action last fall that would pierce any primer until he radiused the pin and bushed the bolt.

My point is that if you're coming from a LRP cartridge to an SRP cartridge of the same caliber and you're now piercing your SR primers, you have the wrong primers. The LR primer are all thick enough so as not to pierce; that's not the same with SR primers. Choose wisely.

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

Thank you all so much for your replies, I think now I will order a hundred Lapua cases for my new rifle and give it a shot. The Lapua brass has been so nice in my .308 WIN, just hurt a little not to use it in my first custom.
Thanks, McGraw

Please note that in the .308 Lapua Palma brass, the flash hole was smaller and would keep the decapping pin on my Redding S-Type bushing die. I contacted Redding and they sent me smaller pins by return mail. I removed the decapping pin, squeezed the end of the rod gently with pliers and installed the smaller pin and decapped thousands of rounds without issues since then.

 

[Jeff A]

I won a Defiance action certificate at the Nationals in 2015. I ordered a Deviant hunter with the "then new" controlled round
feed option in the short action. Norm, from Defiance, asked me what my plans were for cartridge chambering. I told him that
a 6.5x47 Lapua was planned. He strongly recommended the small firing pin option if I planned to use the Lapua small primer
brass. I told him that I also planned to have another barrel chambered for 6mm Creedmoor and at the time, planned to use brass
for it with large rifle primers (Hornady factory brass). No problem, says Norm. The 6 Creedmoor barrel is on the rifle and it's working
fine with my using Fed. 210 match LR primers.

I'm facing the same situation currently, as I've got a Ruger Precision Rifle chambered in 243 Win. and I'm having it rebarreled this
coming week with a Benchmark barrel to be chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor. I have 200 pieces of the new Lapua brass with small
primer pockets. The question is, will I have to send my bolt off to get a smaller firing pin & have it "bushed", or will it be a.o.k. as
is??? That remains to be seen and I'll let you know..

I have re-barreled my 243 RPR to 6.5x47 Lapua. I use nothing but Lapua brass with small primers & flashhole. Absolutely no problems whatsoever. I have a Savage bolt gun that in installed another 6.5x47 barrell. Same answer for this gun as well.

 

[shoot4fun]

Accuracy International now offers their rifles with small FP option. I think it was due to pierced primers on 6.5x47 but don't remember exactly. Remington 700 Fps seem to be the worst at piercing. I've had two converted to the smaller diameter FP with great results.
I just loaded 15 rounds of 6.5 Creedmoor Lapua brass. It will be a two-fold test; testing primers (using CCI 450) in my Badger M2008 action and taking a look at RL16 in this caliber.

 

[wiuprof]

I have re-barreled my 243 RPR to 6.5x47 Lapua. I use nothing but Lapua brass with small primers & flashhole. Absolutely no problems whatsoever. I have a Savage bolt gun that in installed another 6.5x47 barrell. Same answer for this gun as well.

That is very encouraging to hear. Thanks for the info.