Anyone having problems with Alpha Brass for 25 Creedmoor?

[BarnDweller]

I am having problems with some Alpha Brass I purchased new for my 25 Creedmoor. When I first got it I think it was just a little small. SO much so that I ordered a Go No-Go gauge for my gun just to check out the rifle. It will not let me fire a cartridge with a mag or military primer....... Could be the gun I know. I was resizing some one fired, I annealed and I can not get it to size the same one case to another. I ordered some Peterson but have not received it yet. Then I was about just sizing some 6.5 Creedmoor down. I did 10 bran now cases and it took no effort to resize it. I turned with, primed them, and loaded some bullets in 10 rounds to test. Hopefully will see how they shoot and after they are fire formed I will be able to see how they resize and if they are more constant. I would rather have brass that is head stamped 25 Creedmoor but Lapua does not that I am aware sell 25 Creedmoor brass but I just happen to have 400 new ones on the shelf of 6.5 Creedmoor

 

[alphapygmy]

I have both Peterson and Alpha new brass and they measure within .001 with a Whidden bump guage.
Do you have some previously fired brass from that rifle to get a measurement from to compare to the new stuff?

 

[20 TAC]

The issue I faced with the Alpha 25 Creedmoor brass was a little different. During load development with new brass on most of the charges, I would have two shots print very close to one another, then have a random shot be 1-2” away from the other two shots. Every time this happened, I’d have a sooted case well into the main body of the case. Only after I annealed all of the necks was the problem eliminated and the random flier pulled back into the group. Extremely pleased with the brass from that point on.

 

[SpencerC87]

I am having problems with some Alpha Brass I purchased new for my 25 Creedmoor. When I first got it I think it was just a little small. SO much so that I ordered a Go No-Go gauge for my gun just to check out the rifle. It will not let me fire a cartridge with a mag or military primer....... Could be the gun I know. I was resizing some one fired, I annealed and I can not get it to size the same one case to another. I ordered some Peterson but have not received it yet. Then I was about just sizing some 6.5 Creedmoor down. I did 10 bran now cases and it took no effort to resize it. I turned with, primed them, and loaded some bullets in 10 rounds to test. Hopefully will see how they shoot and after they are fire formed I will be able to see how they resize and if they are more constant. I would rather have brass that is head stamped 25 Creedmoor but Lapua does not that I am aware sell 25 Creedmoor brass but I just happen to have 400 new ones on the shelf of 6.5 Creedmoor

Do you mean you can't chamber a loaded round with either of those primers? Can you chamber a piece of empty brass? Are you seating your primers fully into the pocket?

 

[20 TAC]

Do you mean you can't chamber a loaded round with either of those primers? Can you chamber a piece of empty brass? Are you seating your primers fully into the pocket?

And seating primers to proper depth on new brass was quite a chore!!

 

[Kracken McGraw]

And seating primers to proper depth on new brass was quite a chore!!

Your report on the Alpha brass and with the trouble on the 6bra brass, I will give it a hard pass.

 

[Fire Dog]

Your report on the Alpha brass and with the trouble on the 6bra brass, I will give it a hard pass.

Difficult primer seating seems to be commonly reported on the Alpha brass, never had that issue with Peterson or Lapua.
Peterson now used exclusively when possible over the Lapua.

 

[BarnDweller]

Do you mean you can't chamber a loaded round with either of those primers? Can you chamber a piece of empty brass? Are you seating your primers fully into the pocket?

No I can chamber all the brass just fine. I have been playing with this for a couple weeks. I ordered a set of Go No-Go gauges and the rifle passed that test. Last night after I sent this message I got the Idea to resize some new Lapua 6.5 Creedmoor brass to 25 Creedmoor. Loaded up 10 rounds 6 with regular rifle primers 2 with mag and 2 with #41. All fired no problems. As luck would have it when I got home from Church today I checked the mail and my Peterson brass was there. Did that same test All fired perfect.

I am not sure what all this means but I know what works and when does not work. I had never used Mag primers before, its funny the velocity went down just a little but the SD was fantastic is was less than 3!

 

[DLT]

Difficult primer seating seems to be commonly reported on the Alpha brass, never had that issue with Peterson or Lapua.
Peterson now used exclusively when possible over the Lapua.

Agreed