Lapua 222 brass???

[robbor]

Ive bought some blue box 222 lapua brass over the years. Just ran across a bunch of gold boxes of 222. Didnt realize lapua made 22 back then?

 

[gambleone]

Where did you run across the gold boxes?

 

[robbor]

In my storage stash. I had like atleast 6 gold 222 and i think 2 gold 6.5x284.
Im guessing the gold 222 is thinner beck than the new blue box

 

[gambleone]

Thought it would be the other way around. Mic em.

 

[robbor]

My storage is 8 hours away right now

 

[LHSmith]

The first box of Lapua .222 brass I bought was in 2006. It was in a gold box and was headstamped Lapua .222 Rem. Since I had to turn necks I could tell it was not like the .220 Russian Lapua. It was absent from the market until 2010. Supplied in the gold box it was now headstamped Lapua MATCH .222 Rem and it appeared to be of equal quality to the other Lapua brass I was using. I suspect early on the .222 brass was outsourced. The newer gold box necks mic a bit under 0.013"

 

[Laurie]

I've used Lapua brass (and bullets) since they were first available in the UK which was at the very latest the 1980s. 222 has been available off and on throughout that time, if nothing else because the cartridge has retained a minority, but very tenacious following across continental Europe. 222 is especially popular in Lapua / Norma / Sako / Viht's Scandi home-region where it is used for shooting small ground game (including game-bird species) in the winter. Although having lost ground to .223 Rem and .22-250 Rem, it is still popular across Europe for the native and prolific Roe Deer species, a small variety that rarely exceeds 70lb weight undressed, as well as the even smaller imported and escaped Asian pigmy Muntjac and Chinese Water Deer species.

When I started handloading 22 centrefires, Lapua 222 brass was superior to its 223 which was a low-capacity super-heavy build. At some point, still long before the Blue Box era, its 223 case was redesigned, lost 10gn weight, increased capacity substantially, and retained its strength but with improved quality. This was renamed '223 Match', but didn't have this word in the headstamp for a year or two. I suspect that took place around the same time as the '222 Match' variant @LHSmith mentions appearing.

 

[Infrequent Shooter]

Ive bought some blue box 222 lapua brass over the years. Just ran across a bunch of gold boxes of 222. Didnt realize lapua made 22 back then?

Will you sell 50-100 pieces of brass?

 

[TRSR8]

How does the Norma .222 brass compare with the Lapua .222? Is the Norma brass reasonably good?

It's good.....Probably not as good

 

[nakneker]

How does the Norma .222 brass compare with the Lapua .222? Is the Norma brass reasonably good?

Imo opinion Lapua is top of the heap, that being said Norma is a good option, starline is good, I’ve shot Remington, Winchester and PPU and they have all been ok, had some of the cheaper brass last a very long time. Lapua is the blue ribbon winner though.

There 170 pieces of new Lapua brass up for sale on gunbroker right now with a buy it now of 200.00 plus fees. It’ll probably be around 240.00 shipped. Its getting hard to find and you’ll pay a premium or you’ll get lucky.