308 palma brass

[Louro]

Guys,

I just bought a batch of 308 Palma brass. I already have a good load for my 308. Do I have to start from scratch or can I just back-up 10% and work up from there? What kind of primmer do you guys recommend. TIA.

Lou

 

[Laurie]

The Palma cases produce slightly lower pressures and MVs than the standard large primer variety, the gain hopefully being in reduced MV spreads. In some combinations, particularly with slower burning powders and heavy bullets (210s and Viht N550 or Alliant Re17) they will accept MUCH heavier loads without any over-pressure signs appearing and with good brass life, running happily at loads that produce primer leaks or even blown primers with large primer cases.

You may find that the load that worked best with standard brass doesn't give the smallest groups in the Palma variety, but assuming your previous loads are in Lapua brass, I wouldn't go down a full 10%, rather somewhere around 1.5gn below where you are now and try 3-round batches with charges rising by 0.2 or 0.3gn to somewhere a grain higher than where you are now - again assuming that your present load isn't showing any signs of being on the limit such as really flat primers and pockets loosening excessively after a few loadings.

If your present load uses Remington, Norma or Winchester brass which are all thinner than Lapua I'd go down at least 5% for a new starting load.

Primers wise, it MUST be a BR or SR Magnum type. CCI-450, CCI-BR4 or the Russian manufactured Wolf SR Magnum are your best bet. Remington 7.5BR will work OK but has a slightly softer cup, and Federal 205M uses a thinner brass cup and is much softer. If I remember right, the US Palma Rifle team has tried all of these types with its 155gn Sierra Palma / VarGet load at around 3,000 fps and found that they all perform well. However, you don't say what your rifle action is. Note that SR primers are MUCH more prone to crater and even pierce than the LR type at same pressures if your bolt has a bit of clearance around the firing pin. This isn't an issue for the top Fullbore / Palma / F-TR guys who run RPA, BAT, Barnard etc actions, but can easily be so if you're using a Remy 700, Winchester 70 and to a lesser extent recent small dia. firing pin Savage Model 12. In some cases, the bolt needs to be bushed to give a better fit.


My experience with these cases suggests they don't suit some of the bullet / powder combinations that are almost standard in large primer Lapua brass. They obviously work fine with 155 / VarGet or the Palma team wouldn't have adopted them, but I got much poorer results with the 155 Lapua Scenar and Viht N140 loads that are the most popular UK combinations. It did just what it says on the tin though with 175gn SMKs and Viht N150 - same groups sizes (good), slightly lower MVs and reduced MV ES values.

Laurie,
York, England

 

[Louro]

Laurie,

Thanks for the iformation, the load was in federal brass with IMR 4064 and 165 grain sierra. I will go down 10% and work from there. Thanks

 

[KevinThomas]

The Sierra 165? Just a heads up, but we specifically recommend against using this brass for hunting applications. Some of Laurie's suggestions here touched on exactly why.

If you're hunting, I'd strongly suggest you go ahead and use standard 308 cases with a large primer.

 

[Louro]

Kevin,

Thanks for the information. Is going to be for paper punching.

 

[KevinThomas]

Should be good to go. Have fun!