How Many 6PPC Shooters Are Switching To Alpha Brass.

[Mulligan]

My chamber is 1.520

Not sure why, but my reamer is 1.510"

CW

 

[Mulligan]

The Alpha Brass length out of the box fits my chamber perfectly. Maybe better than Lapua, which always comes out about 1.490 to 1.495 in length after fire forming. My reamer has a .050 throat.

Here is what the Alpha looks like in my chamber after about four firings. This case measures .1.510.View attachment 1663896

That looks like a darn handy gizmo!
CW

 

[jackieschmidt]

Jackie,
How long is your chamber?

CW

The print says 1.520

 

[Bronsin]

The Alpha I have is going between .013 to .014 in wall thickness, as they are varying about .001 as I go around with the ball mic.
My chamber is .269, I turn them to just under .012.

Mine were .013-.0135. If I just skim them, my loaded O.D. will be .269. After firefoming they were 1.505ish, so I will make the case length longer just to keep from trimming a bunch off.

 

[SeabeeKen]

Mine were .013-.0135. If I just skim them, my loaded O.D. will be .269. After firefoming they were 1.505ish, so I will make the case length longer just to keep from trimming a bunch off.

Same as mine. Very happy with my Alpha

 

[Lumpy’s guns]

so far seems good, turned really nice with my blueberry

 

[WyleWD]

But I have found that the upper load widow is at least 4 tenths grain lower.
Doing a back to back test, my Lapua 6PPC gives great accuracy in my LV at 30.3 grains, yielding 3430 fps.
The same load out of the Alpha is too hot. The groups opened up a lot.
When I finally dropped it to 29.9, it came back. And to my surprise, the velocity in the Alpha at 29.9 was the same as the Lapua at 30.3.
All of this is with my own 68 grn boat out of a 21 1/2 inch long 13.5 Krieger.
Visually, there doesn’t seem to be that much difference in the two. But it seems there is enough to change the load window.
Overall, I am impressed with the Alpha 6PPC Brass. But then it seems so are a lot of other shooters.
Of course, there is also the fact that the Alpha actually starts out as a 6PPC, eliminating the initial fire forming just to get the Lapua formed into the 6PPC configuration.
I turn the necks on the Alpha, fire it once, and it’s ready.

My brother and I were shooting PPC's yesterday with the Alpha brass and we found (almost exactly) the same numbers as you did. Dropped the charge weight between .3 and .4 grains and the Garmin confirmed the velocity (3445ish) and accuracy was what we were looking for, and the ES was far more consistent. We confirmed it over 3 different rifles and 2 different barrel makers. Thanks for posting your results Jackie, we were thinking ours was a fluke.

Reamer used to chamber those barrels is a JGS 1045 with a .262 Neck. The brass we used yesterday was on its 6th firing. JME. WD

 

[David Conder]

Jackie it looks like your are running 2 thousand neck clearance please let us know your tough on neck clearance Thanks

 

[ShtrRdy]

@jackieschmidt -- how far are you jamming your 68BT from Touch Point?

Thank You for sharing your experiences with the Alpha brass. I've been considering it but have two boxes of the Lapua brass to use first.

 

[jackieschmidt]

@jackieschmidt -- how far are you jamming your 68BT from Touch Point?

Thank You for sharing your experiences with the Alpha brass. I've been considering it but have two boxes of the Lapua brass to use first.

I shoot them just like I did the old Bruno OO BT from way back when. A hard jam, to where the marks on the bullet are longer than they are wide.

I have at least 4 boxes of Lapua 220 Russian, and about 75 cases turned, ready to fireform.

I just ordered 300 more pieces of Alpha from Bruno.

 

[kd4avp]

Seems many are having very positive experiences with the Alpha 6ppc brass.
I too am very happy with how it holds up and ease of case prep.
How many have considered abandoning Lapua 220?
I am seriously considering of going 100% Alpha brass.

 

[ShtrRdy]

Sounds like I should order a box or 2 of Alpha to spend some time with it.

 

[mje]

I have 1.500 max case lenght,should i trim the case first?
And what sizing die everyone is using

 

[ShtrRdy]

I have 1.500 max case lenght,should i trim the case first?
And what sizing die everyone is using

Ideally the sizing die should be based off your chamber. For me I use a JLC resizing die which is close to my chamber.

 

[jackieschmidt]

I use the same sizing die I have used for years. It just happens to be a standard Redding Body Die that I did a slight modification too.
I chucked the die body up and turned the base down to 1/16 wall thickness for about 1/4 inch in length. I then machined a ring to the proper OD from a piece of Grade 8 bolt, then pressed it onto the die base with about .003 interference, in a sense making it a tight base die.
Works great on 6PPC made from 220 Russian or the new Alpha.

 

[Eric Leonard]

I have 1.500 max case lenght,should i trim the case first?
And what sizing die everyone is using

What I have is 1.505 long out of the box so you would need to trim first.

 

[Bob Smith 208]

Good stuff gentlemen, Thank you for sharing. I purchased 200 cases but I haven't done anything with them yet. This really helps. Bob

 

[NileCitySlick]

My experience is both great and frustrating with Alpha 6PPC brass. With a 68HPBT, I load 30.0 of N133 with 002 neck tension, Rem 7 1/2 002 to 004 deep, and 003 into the lands. Result is 3444 fps. Pretty accurate for me. Variation of primer depth affects accuracy more than I expected. So I take great care to make sure I have the depth I want. I do not load at the range.
My issue with the brass is the rim thickness. I use a Centrury21 primer seater (great tool). Since it indexes on the top of the rim (like almost all others), the variation in depth happens due to case to case different rim dimensions. I seat and measure one or two then adjust the seater to let's say 002 and then I process about 10 to 20 pieces. I measure and sort these according to depth. Then I re-process the ones that are not at the depth I want. More variation in rim thickness than Laupa 220 Russian.
Also, found some pieces where the primer pocket has expanded after a few as 3 firings. I use a Ballistic Tool Primer Pocket Gauge for measuring primer pockets. One side is spec, the other too large. It accurately predicts primer pocket wear for me. Maybe it was a glitch in the 200 cases I have. Don't know for sure.
The brass seems robust but finicky in rim thickness.

 

[Jefferson]

I have 1.500 max case lenght,should i trim the case first?
And what sizing die everyone is using

I trim to 1.490

ay 1.505 I trim back to 1.490

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

I trim to 1.490

ay 1.505 I trim back to 1.490

Yes, it's a very good idea to measure YOUR exact chamber length. PPC being a wildcat, can be quite a bit different from one reamer to another. There's no right or wrong about it, just different and you don't want your brass to be too long in your respective chamber, creating potentially very high pressures. It's just a very good practice to check this on every chamber/bbl, for safety. I've got ppc reamers both long and short. I think the shortest is 1.500 and the longest 1.520. So there can be enough difference to cause problems if one just assumes their chamber is the longer variation. It's a good idea, IMHO, to know the actual length on every chamber, not just a ppc.

These are cheap and easy to use but are limited in regard to what neck diameters are available. I usually make my own from aluminum or brass.

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