308 vs. 308 palma

[Flat Land Shooter]

Reloading for a factory savage - is there any advantage to using the palma case vs. the std. 308 winchester?

Thanks for any information.

 

[ThunderDownUnder]

This question has come up many times in this forum so its really as easy as doing a search to find a lot of info on the subject. You will find as in all things, there is no definative single answer. I use both cases and favor the palma case for heavy projectiles as I like to think the small primer case head better resists expansion. I dont have any hard facts to support my view but I just like the additional brass in the case head.

Ian

 

[Flat Land Shooter]

TDU - thanks for the reply, I'll do a search.

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

(snip)
...as I like to think the small primer case head better resists expansion.
(snip)
Ian

And then when the primer pocket is too big to hold the SR primer, you can substitute an LR primer and get more use out of the case. Lots more loads that way.

 

[Cat MD]

The palma brass is a plus for my program, better numbers from crono and groups at long range confirm. Herb

 

[jonbearman]

Am I crazy or are you suggesting using a large rifle primer in place of a small primer when the brass pockets get loose.

 

[clowdis]

He was just joking Jon ........I think

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

Am I crazy or are you suggesting using a large rifle primer in place of a small primer when the brass pockets get loose.

You're crazy.

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

He was just joking Jon ........I think

Correct the first time.

 

[SixDasher]

We have about 10-15 people here with nothing but hangfires with the 308 Palma brass. I would stay clear and get the regular LR brass. We've tried different powders, primers, drilling up the holes etc, it's still bollocks. Lapua ofcourse "knows nothing about this" and continues to sell this brass off and clear inventory of a liability issue waiting to happen.

 

[hoverp]

Pm me and I'll send you my address where you can send all that hang fire lapua Palma brass!
:

 

[Rtheurer]

We have about 10-15 people here with nothing but hangfires with the 308 Palma brass. I would stay clear and get the regular LR brass. We've tried different powders, primers, drilling up the holes etc, it's still bollocks. Lapua ofcourse "knows nothing about this" and continues to sell this brass off and clear inventory of a liability issue waiting to happen.

Intresting... Is the weather cold when it happens? Like around 40* or below that? Please do tell.
RussT

 

[Dgd6mm]

I'll take some of that brass also, PM me. ;D

 

[NateG]

I had a few hangfires with SR (tula) primers in the Lapua brass.

All of them were on cool-to-cold mornings. In true controlled-trial form (HA!) I switched to LR primers and got a new firing pin spring, and haven't had one since. The new spring has noticeably more oomph, so that might have been enough.

I'll probably use up the rest of my SR brass once the weather heats up; I've got a few loadings left in that batch. They shoot *really* well--even in the cold--but the hangfires are too much. The warmest I had one was on the 800 yard line in the Palma individual this year. Caught a 10 at 5 from that one. Whew. It was a nerve-wracking wait for the target to come back up... I had a couple more at Butner for the NC LR match, and switched over to LR primers after that.

 

[SixDasher]

20-30°C is not very cold, tried with N130-N550, 450/BR4/205/6.5/WSR, it all clicks and then booms, 1/100 don;t even go off.

Hey, you get your permits in place and pay shipping from the EU, and I can send a couple of thousand your way at a good price. No doubt owners here are looking to offload this stuff.

 

[Scott Harris]

PM sent

 

[KevinThomas]

SixDasher,

I'm a bit lost on the whole "of course Lapua knows nothing about this" as we've been warning folks about the relatively strict conditions for using this brass from the very beginning. We've actively dissuaded hunters and others from using this brass in any situations where the firing conditions may approach anything that would be considered cool.

 

[SixDasher]

You should enlighten your euro colleagues perhaps

You told me about the problems in a topic I started myself a few weeks back and made some suggestions (thanks by the way, at least someone acknowledges the problem and tries to help). It's just not an isolated incident anymore and .fi simply says they are unaware of any problems. Brass that is this prone to misfires and hangfires like the 308-Palma should come with a clear warning on the box or simply not be sold to the general market like it is now.

I've been shooting the 6.5x47 case in ackley and 6x47 form for years with powders like N150/N550/N160/N165 and not a single problem in thousands of rounds. Only the 308 Palma is unreliable to the point of uselessness, and as explained before, it's not cold here and we're not using strange powders or matchstick heads Maybe they just sell us the bad batches here, don't know.

 

[SixDasher]

BTW: I'm not trying to p_ss on Lapua's parade. I love their stuff and if they'd FINALLY made a WSM or tad larger sized case for our 7mm's (hint hint, they've been promissing since 2010), I'd have nothing but their brass in all my guns. Even some of their bullets.

The 308 Palma brass is just giving people headaches after spending €75/100 and not giving reliable ignition when the whole point of this case is to give a more consistent ignition.

I had around 75% hangfires (click/boom) unless I drill up the flashhole to LR size (.082" ?), then only 10-15 out of 100 go click/boom, but the problem never goes away even with WSR or 6.5 primers (can't get 7.5 here). In the end I just gave up and dumped my cases in the copper bin and got €3/kilo for the metal value. Still have three unopened boxes trying to sell here and recover the damages (no, you vultures, stop PM'ing me).

Hope they work out for everyone else, but don't buy too many before testing them yourself if they work.

 

[FroggyOne2]

I would love to try the Palma brass.. but if I do, the first thing that I would do is open up and uniform the flash hole of the cases...