How many times can Lapua 6MM Dasher brass be fired?

[40X Guy]

Just wondering how many firing's guys are getting with their 6MM Dasher brass. I noticed after 7 times fired and the necessary brass prep that my 450 CCI primers are going in pretty easy compared to new brass. Running 32.6 grains of H4895 and no pressure problems year round. I have never fired brass over 8 times in any rifle and I am thinking i need new brass? The rifle is still shooting well..

Frank

 

[johara1]

Frank, with annealing every time 30+ i quit counting, some are three years old...... jim

 

[22BRGUY]

Until the primer pockets get loose or the necks crack I would say. Have shot over 35 times with 22BRs and don't count the dashers but they are right up there too.
Best Wishes

 

[40X Guy]

Frank, with annealing every time 30+ i quit counting, some are three years old...... jim

wow, wish I could get that many times fired. Went thru alot of work on this brass (blue box). And just getting into the meat of the shooting season. I have a junk 6MM stainless barrel at local smiths now and am having a fireforming barrel built with my reamer. I anneal every time also and the case necks are perfect but my primer pockets are loose.

 

[FroggyOne2]

that is the way that it works out for me, primer pockets give up before anything else does.

 

[A j shooter]

Have you tried using win primers first and when primers get lose go to cci they go in tight . Works for me.

 

[Killshot]

When I first started with a Dasher, my first two lots of brass lost the pockets early as I was playing with the high speed node doing load development. Some were loose after only 4-5 firings.

Now that I (sort of) know what I'm doing loadwise, and stay away from the higher pressures, the pockets are remaining pretty tight with a load of 32.82gr of RL15.

I anneal after every other firing.

The guy who comes up with something the tighten primer pockets is going to be a wealthy F'er. ;D

 

[mikecr]

Hot loads, loose chambers..

 

[swed6.5]

Right there with you, the components we want are hard to find, last week i spent a day finding a nice shootn load with the dasher and some 105 vlds, and some 'unnamed' powder/ too hot, i was maxing out presure to get 3k,fps.
I didn't notice till later that week primers are falling out!! if you push it fast try to use a slower powder, Its a bummer that 3 loadings on a lot of finely worked brass are Garbage. Thanks to a good strong action we are able to still talk about our mistakes.lukily brass is still avial. and so is my buddy's hydro form die, Keep testing !!!

 

[Phil]

Once.............................Then you have to reload them.. 8)

 

[Old Navy]

If they aren't falling out or leaking , what's the problem? Later! Frank

 

[40X Guy]

Looks like I am on the ragged edge of pressure and I have always liked the upper speed node. The primers aren't falling out so I'm going to load them one more time and see what happens. I really hate to try any other component in this rifle as it shoots lites out. May have to retire this brass after one more firing and get some more brass fireformed in my fireforming barrel.

Frank

 

[johara1]

I may have a little different view of this primer deal, i find the ones that are loose stay loose. I run around 33.5 gr. of RL-15 with no loose primers that would let me get rid of them. I do separate them to fowlers or sighter rounds. The long free bore lets me run them faster with less pressure and my chambers are small. I only push the shoulder back .0015 in a full length die...... jim

 

[Alex Wheeler]

I got over 25 running 34 gr of rl-15 in a broughton, 3150fps, that was a fast barrel. You would have to be pushin them pretty hot to not get at least 20+. I anneal every time.

 

[BoydAllen]

Here's a thought from the short range game. I have heard (somewhere) that if moderate loads are use in the first few firings, that case heads will harden slightly in use, and with the result that subsequent hotter loads will not loosen primer pockets to the degree that they would have if cases were loaded hot from the get go. Also, a question...do you see much of a difference in performance if you come down from the top velocity node to the one just below it, and how far apart are they?

 

[bozo699]

Frank,
I was doing an experiment that Boyd Allen and I were discussing, I used the same piece of brass to work up a load in a 6BRX and I shot it 38 times with top loads, it was still going strong, I just was done with the load work. incidentally I have found with all my dashers and 6BRX rifles that 3015-3030 is the best velocity nodes, I notice some primer pockets loosen in 3-5 firings but seem to just keep going, I tossed some my son had been using 34.5 grains of Varget in a 6brx, lost track on round count for sure but around 30, and 3 of them I could push the new primer back out with a Wilson primer punch by hand, no hammer, so I tossed them but I am sure they would have still worked, just saw no reason to take the chance.
Wayne.

 

[40X Guy]

Here's a thought from the short range game. I have heard (somewhere) that if moderate loads are use in the first few firings, that case heads will harden slightly in use, and with the result that subsequent hotter loads will not loosen primer pockets to the degree that they would have if cases were loaded hot from the get go. Also, a question...do you see much of a difference in performance if you come down from the top velocity node to the one just below it, and how far apart are they?

Boyd, thats interesting about the moderate loads the first few firings. Actually a 32.4 grain load of H4895 netted me 3,011 fps with an ES of 13 and spread of 6. My 32.6 load @ 3,030 fps got me ES and SD of both 0 and I have stuck with that all of last year and so far this year. Rifle is a hammer and can outshoot me most of the time. Just frustrating for me to see this. I'm going to keep shooting them and just keep a close eye on things.

Frank

 

[40X Guy]

Frank,
I was doing an experiment that Boyd Allen and I were discussing, I used the same piece of brass to work up a load in a 6BRX and I shot it 38 times with top loads, it was still going strong, I just was done with the load work. incidentally I have found with all my dashers and 6BRX rifles that 3015-3030 is the best velocity nodes, I notice some primer pockets loosen in 3-5 firings but seem to just keep going, I tossed some my son had been using 34.5 grains of Varget in a 6brx, lost track on round count for sure but around 30, and 3 of them I could push the new primer back out with a Wilson primer punch by hand, no hammer, so I tossed them but I am sure they would have still worked, just saw no reason to take the chance.
Wayne.

Wayne, I have been PMing here with a fellow member who had a 6 BRX and after only 6 or so firings his primer pockets loosened up. He is of the viewpoint that the case heads cannot handle the increased pressure and added powder capacity of an improved 6BR case and that the brass may be too thin in the case head area.

Frank

 

[bozo699]

Frank,
I was doing an experiment that Boyd Allen and I were discussing, I used the same piece of brass to work up a load in a 6BRX and I shot it 38 times with top loads, it was still going strong, I just was done with the load work. incidentally I have found with all my dashers and 6BRX rifles that 3015-3030 is the best velocity nodes, I notice some primer pockets loosen in 3-5 firings but seem to just keep going, I tossed some my son had been using 34.5 grains of Varget in a 6brx, lost track on round count for sure but around 30, and 3 of them I could push the new primer back out with a Wilson primer punch by hand, no hammer, so I tossed them but I am sure they would have still worked, just saw no reason to take the chance.
Wayne.

Wayne, I have been PMing here with a fellow member who had a 6 BRX and after only 6 or so firings his primer pockets loosened up. He is of the viewpoint that the case heads cannot handle the increased pressure and added powder capacity of an improved 6BR case and that the brass may be too thin in the case head area.

Frank

Frank,
He well may be right, I don't know, I do know that I find the loose pockets in about the same amount of firings as your friend, however I have also found loose pocket with my old standard 6br when shooting top loads, I just don't see that until they won't stay in that there is really a problem, I am on my second season with some of my 6brx brass, loose pockets and it is still competing, 13-15 firings, I think after this match it will go into the ground hog pile but It will still go a long time I think.
Wayne.

 

[BoydAllen]

I think that the issue is that with the powders that are generally used, the higher capacity BR variants have room to make more pressure than can be readily achieved, with the same long range bullets, with the parent case, and shooters take maximum advantage of this, generating higher average pressures. Volume alone does not make pressure. Putting more powder in a given sized case behind the same bullet does. It might be interesting to use a strain gauge system to measure the pressures that are stretching pockets. My guess is that they are higher than might be imagined. One thing that can be done with weight at the muzzle, is to lower the velocity and pressure, at which a given accuracy node occurs. If you are between nodes when you back down just enough to preserve pockets, you might want to take this into consideration.