I’ve been running a 6BRA chambered with a wheeler#1 reamer Been through several barrels on two identical guns running Lapua and Petersen brass with pretty good results. I don’t anneal and I don’t tumble and recently last week switched over to Alpha brass thought I would give it a try! In my question to you guys is when do you toss your brass whether it be Petersen Lapua or Alpha what is your main deciding factor? Thank you in advance
6BRA brass life????
- Thread starter Elvin
- Start date
Alex Wheeler
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I dont think you can wear it out. If the chambers are cut with the same reamer and the smith does good work you can use it for many barrels but I normally make up a new batch for each barrel, just because.
I have pretty much the same setup as you I also don't anneal but I do tumble my brass. My guns are for varmint hunting, groundhogs, crows and such. I am shooting lite bullets, 58 and 60 grain and I am looking for the most velocity I can get and still have good accuracy.
I am also using Lapua and Alpha brass. The Lapua brass has 7-8 firings on them and they still look really good and still have tight primer pockets. The Alpha brass has 2-3 firings on them and everything still looks good with them also, including the primer pockets.
At this point with the amount of firings on my brass and given their good condition I really have no intention of retiring them in the near future.
To finally answer your question, lol, of when I decide to finally toss my brass. I try my best to keep an accurate record of the firings on my brass, and I also try to keep the amount of firings as close to each other as possible. I do this to track the number of firings on my rifle as well as the number of firings on that particular lot of brass. When I start getting several loose primer pockets and the obvious of when I start getting splits or cracks in that lot of brass I will throw that lot of brass away.
I am also using Lapua and Alpha brass. The Lapua brass has 7-8 firings on them and they still look really good and still have tight primer pockets. The Alpha brass has 2-3 firings on them and everything still looks good with them also, including the primer pockets.
At this point with the amount of firings on my brass and given their good condition I really have no intention of retiring them in the near future.
To finally answer your question, lol, of when I decide to finally toss my brass. I try my best to keep an accurate record of the firings on my brass, and I also try to keep the amount of firings as close to each other as possible. I do this to track the number of firings on my rifle as well as the number of firings on that particular lot of brass. When I start getting several loose primer pockets and the obvious of when I start getting splits or cracks in that lot of brass I will throw that lot of brass away.
I have four sets of fifty matched cases (200 total) for each rifle. I run my cases in order from set 1 to set 4 and then I start with set 1 again. At this point I’m at 14 firings on Lapua brass. I have run each set through multiple barrels. I swear the brass keeps shooting better and better. I do anneal after every firing to keep neck tension consistent. I’m planning on shooting this brass until accuracy declines or primer pockets loosen up.
Dave.
Dave.
Years ago I went out shooting and working up loads with a friend. He brought 1 piece of Lapua 6BR brass to reload, just to see how many rounds it took to wear it out. He gave up at about 55 reloads! Brass was still fine! I have yet to loose one case due to loose primer pockets. Good stuff !!
Paul
Paul
rwj
Gold $$ Contributor
I’ve got over 40 firings on Lapua 6BR cases. Adding Peterson cases to the mix with a new barrel just installed.
Following this thread. I shoot lapua brass in my rifles. I have a batch of 25 that have been shot 12 times. The accuracy just went away on firing number 12. I always shoot the same load in a batch of brass. This batch was 105 Berger vlds, 30.3 gr n540 and 205m primers. This is a known good load for my rifle. Just under .25 moa at 100 yards. Last range session, this batch shot 1+ moa in easy conditions. Primer pockets are good. I'm going to shoot this batch one more time to see. I do anneal after each firing. I'm thinking they're done. Btw: the necks are turned to .009 for a .266 neck chamber.
Edit: 6br Norma
PopCharlie
Edit: 6br Norma
PopCharlie
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rwj
Gold $$ Contributor
What attribute(s) leads you to conclude that the cases are the source of an accuracy issue?
I don’t know much about a .266 NK and I don’t anneal at the present time however almost every time I loose accuracy it’s traced back to light NT or I’ve overcharged for the condition and broke out of my tune window.
my 6 Norma brass has a ton of reloads and still shoots inside of decent.
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I thought about neck tension too. I looked at my notes for bullet seating force for this batch. It was good. High force was 30 lbs, low was 24 lbs. No anomalies. That's why I plan to shoot them again, with the same load. If they shoot bad again, I'll toss them.
My lapua brass for 6.5x47L and 223, have batches with 15 + firings and still going strong. I did have a batch a Lapua .223 that, after 6 firings, would no longer hold a primer. I could tap them on the bench and the primer would fall out. So I tossed all 100 of those.
PopCharlie
Northridge
Gold $$ Contributor
I've actually never retired a piece of 6BRA brass my oldest 200 pieces started life in 2017 and have just been assigned a "another deployment " I use the same method of keeping track of brass cycles like Dave way boxes 1-4 after shooting box one I will not return to it until 2-4 in that order are shot also I mark the bottom of each case of 50 a different color just in the event they end up in adjoining box. some folks are not as freaky about knowing what each piece has gone through and as they get jumbled up it shows up on paper that's why I typically suggest often with each new barrel 200 fresh pieces. the 6BRA really is amazing how well it the brass holds up.
Shawn Williams
Shawn Williams
tom
Gold $$ Contributor
I also haven't retired any. Sometimes when I want to run something I'm unfamiliar with up to pressure, I'll dig out my 2017 brass. Never annealed, ran 5 thou neck tension it's whole life, 30 plus firings....and it shoots right with or better than fresh stuff. I thought for sure I ruined some down in Missouri last June. I mistakenly took the wrong lot of 8208 down there. I was way over it on my first tuning ladder, and finally found the load more than a grain lower later on. That brass surprisingly didn't feel any different priming it this winter. I shot a coarse seating set of 3 shot groups this winter with a new lot of Roy's. It shot in the one's, so I didn't even manage to ruin that brass.
Tom
Tom
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Right. That's what I was wondering. Do most people simply retire brass, "just because"...to play it safe and because it's relatively cheap in the scheme of things?
I have a batch of nearly 800 pieces of 6BR Lapua that I purchased 24 years ago. I'd say most pieces have about 15 firings now. Primer pockets are like new, but neck "seating pressure" seems to be varying more now, even after annealing, though I don't have a AMP annealer yet, just a torch. But accuracy remains sub .25" at 100 with varmints, so if "seating pressure" makes a difference, I can't see it, lol.
I always assumed I'd be happy with 15-20 firings, but it seems I'm going to be able to double that...despite the fact I generally tune to "benchrest pressures". Lapua brass is amazing...
I have some Peterson brass {200pcs} that I have been shooting for more 5 years and I clean {wet/SS pins} and anneal @ firing and can only guess at how many times they have been fired but it would have to be in the order of at least 30-40 times and have never lost a case and primer pockets are still good.
A neck split or loose primer pocket is the only time I ever scrap a case. With the cost of brass and sometimes lack of availability as well, I am working on a process to revive the primer pockets as that is usually the first place I have found any problems.
(A bullet size rod down the case and steel ball bearing against the primer pocket and then tapping and checking with gauge rod till the pocket is tight again. Works for 6.5 C and hot 7's & .30's that punish the pockets if driven hard... NEVER have had to do it on my 6BR or AI though a few of the AI cases are not quite as tight as when new so perhaps that is in the future for them too...)
A neck split or loose primer pocket is the only time I ever scrap a case. With the cost of brass and sometimes lack of availability as well, I am working on a process to revive the primer pockets as that is usually the first place I have found any problems.
(A bullet size rod down the case and steel ball bearing against the primer pocket and then tapping and checking with gauge rod till the pocket is tight again. Works for 6.5 C and hot 7's & .30's that punish the pockets if driven hard... NEVER have had to do it on my 6BR or AI though a few of the AI cases are not quite as tight as when new so perhaps that is in the future for them too...)
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