Alpha Munitions 6 PPC Brass

[SmittyJon]

I needed 70 6 PPC cases, so I decided to try this brass. Hopefully it would also cut down on the amount of work required when making it out of Lapua .220 Russian.

It's for an older PPC I bought last year that has a 0.262" neck, so it required more than one turn on the trusty old K&M neck turning tool.

Things went well until about 1/2 thru the1st cut ... then problems started to show up. Rather than get into those, I want to ask if any of you have tried this brass?

If so, what was your experience? Excellent, very good, good, not-so-good, fair, bummer. Also anything specific you noticed, or experienced, when you were prepping it.

After almost 6 frustrating hours, I finally got 67 cases ready to fire-form. I fired one that came out well, but what a horror show!

Now, if you using it in a no-turn chamber, then prepping it obviously went a lot faster and easier for you, than it did for me.

What say youse?

SJ

 

[tharger]

Go to a .262 neck with one pass with a Forester attachment. Works good for me. Alpha brass

 

[jackieschmidt]

I am now shooting Alpha 6PPC brass in my .269 neck with great results. I can not tell it from fireformed Lapua 220 Russian.

You really should say what problems you encountered.

 

[ShtrRdy]

Did you look for some Norma 6PPC or 22PPC? It has a thinner neck which is better suited for a 0.262" chamber.

 

[LCazador]

Like Jackie above my chamber is .268" neck and have not experienced any problems whatsoever. It would be nice to know what you experienced.

 

[Evan]

I have turned the necks down on 15 cases and then sized them to 22 PPC with no problems. Everything measures great and when my current barrel gets too tired for BR work, I will use it to fireform and test the Alpha brass against my Norma 22 PPC.

 

[WyleWD]

It's for an older PPC I bought last year that has a 0.262" neck, so it required more than one turn on the trusty old K&M neck turning tool.

If so, what was your experience? Excellent, very good, good, not-so-good, fair, bummer. Also anything specific you noticed, or experienced, when you were prepping it.

Using the K&M also and using a #50 cutter in it to make .262 necks on Alpha 6PPC, and 6ARC. Never had even one hiccup or concern. All 400 of them turned out very nicely, so I'd grade them as excellent by your scale. JME. WD

 

[tikkaman308]

I have turned 250 pcs.of Alpha brass for my .262 neck guns.I turn it all to half thickness first then go take my finish cut on all of it.I did it in 100 rd batches at first and the last 50 in its own batch.I never had an issue with any of it. What issue did you find????

 

[SmittyJon]

I am now shooting Alpha 6PPC brass in my .269 neck with great results. I can not tell it from fireformed Lapua 220 Russian.

You really should say what problems you encountered.

Jackie:

I tend to have bad luck when trying to do something different from what I normally do. That's why I asked if anyone else encountered issues with this brass, before I outlined what I experienced. Since those who responded had no problems, it appears mine might be caused by my usual not-so-good, luck ... or not(?).

I'll try not to bog this down with too many details, but here's goes:

- the case necks were very soft. It took very little Imperial Die Wax on the expander mandrel and almost no effort to "pop" them out.

- despite a generous dollop of die wax on the cutter's mandrel after a couple dozen cases, brass residue built up on the cutter's mandrel. It got so bad and made turning so difficult, I had to stop and clean it off. I've turned 100's of cases on this tool, and that has never happened.

- this happened twice on the 1st cut, and 3 more times on the second. When you remove the mandrel, clean and replace it, you lose all the settings and have to frig-dig around to get them back.

- 4 cases bound up and ripped the necks and most of the shoulders off. Another 1 just snapped off. The cutter was set - as usual - to cut slightly into the juncture at the shoulder, so there appears to be no reason for this to happen.

- after they were all turned and trimmed, I ran them into a full-length sizing, bushing die. Another neck snapped off and stuck in the bushing. The next case went in a little tight, and then came out with the snapped off neck swagged onto its neck!

The tools: Ryobi 12V drill-driver with a K&M power case holder attachment. K&M handheld neck turner. Turner kept cool between cuts by placing on freezer pak, covered with a wet wash cloth.

I've been at this for over 25 years so this is NOT my 1st rodeo. In all that time I've NEVER had the number or type of problems, that I had while prepping this brass.

This is NOT an indictment of Alpha brass. I have 128 6mm BR Alpha cases that I prepped in Nov of '23. That work had none of these issues. They have been fired dozens of times, and are still going strong.

My takeaways?

The neck and shoulders of this brass are much softer than usual. This would explain the rapid build up of brass on the cutter mandrel.

It is thinner in the shoulders than any I've ever used. Maybe that caused the ripped and snaped off necks.

Then again, maybe I just got a bad lot.

Finally: This is based on my own personal observations and experience, so as always, I could be wrong.

SJ

 

[Evan]

Jackie: I tend to have bad luck when trying to do something different from what I normally do. That's why I asked if anyone else encountered issues with this brass, before I outlined what I experienced. Since those who responded had no problems, it appears mine might be caused by my usual not-so-good, luck.

I'll try not to bog this down with too many details, but here's goes:

- the case necks were very soft. It took very little Imperial Die Wax on the expander mandrel and almost no effort to "pop" them out.

- despite a generous dollop of die wax on the cutter's mandrel after a couple dozen cases, brass residue built up on the cutter's mandrel. It got so bad and made turning so difficult, I had to stop and clean it off. I've turned 100's of cases on this tool, and that has never happened.

- this happened twice on the 1st cut, and 3 more times on the second. When you remove the mandrel, clean and replace it, you lose all the settings and have to frig-dig around to get them back.

- speaking of the 2nd cut, 4 cases bound up and ripped the necks and most of the shoulders off. Another 1 just snapped off. So, 5 more times I had to remove the mandrel, to get the case necks off it. I noticed this brass looks a lot thinner than the Lapua, I've used in the past. The cutter was set - as usual - to cut slightly into the juncture at the shoulder, so there appears to be no reason for this to happen.

- after they were all turned and trimmed, I ran them into a L.E. Wilson full-length sizing, bushing die in my RCBS rock chucker press. Somewhere in that process another neck snapped off a case and stuck in the bushing. The next case went in a little tight, and then came out with the snapped off neck swagged onto its neck! With my frustration through the roof, I just loudly shouted ... WTF???!!!

My first thought is that you needed a 0.0005 smaller turning mandrel, or a 0.0005 larger expanding mandrel for the brass. It sounds like a huge frustration; my condolences!

 

[LCazador]

My first thought is that you needed a 0.0005 smaller turning mandrel, or a 0.0005 larger expanding mandrel for the brass. It sounds like a huge frustration; my condolences!

I think you have a mis match between the expanding mandrel and the turning mandrel. I agree with Evan above on mandrel sizes.

 

[wvlongshot]

Hobo oil for the turning lube worked great with my alpha brass. Getting ready to do 200 more pcs.

 

[Murray Brook]

@SmittyJon
If no one else has had that problem and you yourself use Alpha brass in other cartridges with good results then maybe you got a bad batch. Happens to the best of companies. Maybe let Alpha know. JMO

 

[SmittyJon]

@SmittyJon
If no one else has had that problem and you yourself use Alpha brass in other cartridges with good results then maybe you got a bad batch. Happens to the best of companies. Maybe let Alpha know. JMO

That's a good idea Murray. Right now I've got 67 loaded and ready to fire-form. I'll see how that goes and then go from there.

Thanks for the tip.

SJ

Did you look for some Norma 6PPC or 22PPC? It has a thinner neck which is better suited for a 0.262" chamber.

I used Norma 6 PPC brass about 20 years ago. At that time the case heads were softer than they should have been, which lead to loose primer pockets after only a few firings. That problem was fixed in later batches, but by then I had switched to a 6mm BR.

I bought this 6 PPC because it is a low milage, Kelbly built rifle, in excellent condition, and the price was a bargain. When the current bbl is toast, I'll likely have the bolt face opened, and covert it to a 6 BR. It will be my back up and practice rifle.

SJ

 

[SmittyJon]

My first thought is that you needed a 0.0005 smaller turning mandrel, or a 0.0005 larger expanding mandrel for the brass. It sounds like a huge frustration; my condolences!

None of cases, after expanding, went onto the turning mandrel tight. So, they seemed to have plenty of clearance during the turning process. I don't think a larger expander would help, but I could be wrong.

Thinking the cutter bit was dull, I put in a new one. Didn't make any difference in ease of turning or reducing the build up on the tool's mandrel.

I've used Imperial Die Wax for years and never had brass from the inside the case neck build up on the mandrel this like did.

I'd mentioned the brass was softer and thinner (in the shoulder area) than any I've ever turned to date. I think that's why it scuffed off during the turning process, and ripped off when it got bound up.

Very vexing for sure!

SJ

 

[HTSmith]

I'm no expert but when I changed to a carbide mandrel and cutter things got markedly better. Also, you can do pretty well with this brass on the first firing.

 

[Geronimo Jim]

I learned on this forum to always use the same company's expander as
your turner. My least favorite chore in all of shooting. Except cleaning guns.

 

[LCazador]

None of cases, after expanding, went onto the turning mandrel tight. So, they seemed to have plenty of clearance during the turning process. I don't think a larger expander would help, but I could be wrong.

Thinking the cutter bit was dull, I put in a new one. Didn't make any difference in ease of turning or reducing the build up on the tool's mandrel.

I've used Imperial Die Wax for years and never had brass from the inside the case neck build up on the mandrel this like did.

I'd mentioned the brass was softer and thinner (in the shoulder area) than any I've ever turned to date. I think that's why it scuffed off during the turning process, and ripped off when it got bound up.

Very vexing for sure!

SJ

I think those cases have a bit more springback and it may be that you're galling the necks when turning, hence the build up on the turning mandrel. Possible a .0005"- .0010" larger expanding mandrel may be needed.

 

[SmittyJon]

I think those cases have a bit more springback and it may be that you're galling the necks when turning, hence the build up on the turning mandrel. Possible a .0005"- .0010" larger expanding mandrel may be needed.

That would certainly do it. So, if I buy more A.M. 6 PPC brass, I'll also buy a larger expanding mandrel before turning them.

Thanks for the tip,

SJ

 

[wildcat3d]

My first thought is that you needed a 0.0005 smaller turning mandrel, or a 0.0005 larger expanding mandrel for the brass. It sounds like a huge frustration; my condolences!

I had to go up 0.0005 on my expander mandrel when I switched from Lapua to Alpha, And I use K&M Turner's also. two cut's no problems.