260 Rem Lapua brass
- Thread starter Barlow
- Start date
Very good as to consistency - weights, neck thickness etc. Internal capacity is mid way between Federal (low) and Remington (high). As to strength / longevity, on a par with other similar large primer Lapua cases - ie 243, 308 and I assume 7mm-08, but haven't used the last named often enough to see how it holds up. With some neck-turning and annealing involved, the stronger Lapua 308 Win 'Palma' cases can be reformed to 7mm-08 and 260 Rem too for very hot loads.
I use Lapua brass in a few rifles and have found it to be excellent. I asked the question because of a bad review of 260 Lapua on Midway, granted the great majority were positive. Would it be an advantage to use 308 Palma cases? This rifle will be used for hunting and informal target work. Barlow
Using it in a 260 ackley. Good stuff. So far excellent results. Not overly hot loads. Always have had good results with Lapua though.
shoot4fun
Gold $$ Contributor
"Sucks" is painting with a very broad brush. You are definitely entitled to your opinion but, as there may be something the "fan boys" are overlooking here, I wish you would provide us all with the details as to why Lapua 260 Rem brass "sucks".
sucks==
have to neck turn unless you tell your gunsmith you need a giant neck (for the OP who is looking at a factory chamber... i'd definitely recommend he test before dropping over a grand on 1000 pieces)
primer pockets didn't last very long at all
i get the same SD and ES and accuracy out of brands that cost half as much
have to neck turn unless you tell your gunsmith you need a giant neck (for the OP who is looking at a factory chamber... i'd definitely recommend he test before dropping over a grand on 1000 pieces)
primer pockets didn't last very long at all
i get the same SD and ES and accuracy out of brands that cost half as much
shoot4fun
Gold $$ Contributor
Thank You.
Lapua is capable of turning out the occasional 'bad lot' just like other manufacturers, but the general consensus is that it produces fewer such than almost anybody else, and often a poor Lapua manufacturing lot is still better than average from many others.
Playing around reforming 308 Palma brass is really only for those with a) specialist long-range match shooting requirements and/or b) who want to use really heavy, high-pressure loads on a regular basis without constantly replacing cases whose case-heads / primer pockets have expanded. For hunting use, you might also have to bear in mind the low temperature factor. Small Rifle magnum primers will ignite 38-47gn powder charges reliably at 'normal' temperatures, but often don't at low temps, 'low' being defined as definitely anything below freezing, and with some powders between freezing and around 5-deg C (40-deg F). Keen Australian and New Zealand 260 users are it seems quite sold on Palma conversion, but they don't see cold weather as the average northern European or North American shooter knows it.
I'm intrigued by the 'giant neck' finding to the point of chambering problems. The SAAMI 260 Rem chamber is 0.298" neck dia. and the PT&G '260 Match' (6.5-08 Match) is one thou' smaller at 0.297". Having measured a fair few Lapua 260 Rem case necks, I've find the norm is 0.015", and the single largest reading at a single point on a single neck was 0.0155" and that was literally one reading (out of three at different points) on one case. A 15 thou' neck produces a round with a 0.294" neck O/D, let's say marginally more for bullets that might mike out to 0.2643" at the pressure ring. That produces 4 thou' or marginally less clearance on the SAAMI chamber, three on the PT&G Match. Even if my single largest neck reading applied all the way around some case necks, we're at 0.2650-2653" neck O/D, which is 0.003" on a SAAMI chamber. These are not only plenty large clearances, they're actually ideal for a SAAMI chamber
That would suggest your rifle was chambered with a reamer with smaller neck section dimensions than SAAMI to suit say Remington brass, or necked down Winchester 7mm-08. If you go down the route of a tighter than standard chamber to suit a particular make of brass, that's fair enough .... but to then complain that a case within the SAAMI / CIP maximum dimension gives an over-tight fit ....? That's a problem of your making, not the manufacturer. Lapua 260 brass has a noticeably smaller capacity than some makes of American made stuff - that can push you into excessive pressures if you run a hot load with the latter and don't modify your charges to suit your components. If that is the case, it's not the brass that 'sucks' but your handloading practices.
I have a Tikka CTR in .260 and haven't had any issues with the Lapua 260 brass.
My reamer was/is PTG . Have no problems. I dont turn necks. 290 bushing. Never specified which brass I would be using and wasn't a "custom". They had it in stock.
shoot4fun
Gold $$ Contributor
I also find the statement about neck thickness interesting. Both 260 Rem barrels I have had were not done with Lapua in mind but it has worked superbly in both. Primer pockets are always a bone of contention. If you're running hot and getting at the tip top of pressure then pockets will not last long no matter what brand of brass it is. I recently proved this out with pushing the limits on a 7MM08 load test. Lapua and WW pockets both gone after one firing on virgin brass. Funny thing was, there was no other "sign" of pressure showing up.
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