Lapua brass problems

[mcxring]

I had ordered 300 223 lapua brass a couple of months ago, I loaded 20 yesterday and put then on a concentricity gauge as I do all my loads and found that 4 out of the 20 where out 6 thousands, which is alot, I was very surprised and confussed, I re sized them a second time and loaded 10 more, 3 of them were out the same, the others where 1 to2 out which is acceptable, today I loaded 20 more and 14 where out 6 thousands, I inspected the bad ones and it appears that the case necks where slightly bent, maybe from the annealing process??, through alot of force on the concentricity gauge I was able to get the bent ones straight, now have I weakened the cases, will shooting them fix them, or not shoot them at all, have I shortened there life by bending them back straight again, the first batch of lapua I have is great some have been fired 13 times with no signs of stress, anyone had a similar problem or any advise Thanks

 

[potatoe]

Shoot them then check your reloads for run out.

 

[ridgeway]

Yep...fire them once. If you still have runout after firing...you may have other problems.

 

[jonbearman]

Maybe the decap rod has a slight bend in it and when the expander ball goes through it pulls on the weaker cases.Just a theory,and it happened to me.It would do some straight and some not so straight.

 

[mcxring]

thnanks not just a theory on the last 20 i tried a different sizer prior to loading

 

[jelrod1]

I have a question. Why are you sizing new Lapua brass? I know everyone has there methods but I've checked hundreds of new ones and all would chamber. Neck tension has been higher than I want so I have a K&M mandrel to run thru the neck but that's all I do to new Lapua. After once fired I run them through a lee collet die and set up a body die to just barely touch the shoulder. I always have very little to no run out that way. Then I use a Wilson seater with an arbor press for seating. I guess I'm saying I've never seen a reason to size new Lapua and wondering if maybe I'm comprehending something wrong. Running new Lapua through a FL sizer in my opinion can only do harm with added run out, overworking, and such.

 

[Barlow]

New Lapua brass I just make sure the necks are round, then load and shoot them. After the initial bang I then check for runout, & headspace. I use Lapua brass in 6.5x55, 222, 308, and 6 Dasher (BR) and have had excellent results. Barlow

 

[Shynloco]

Forget all the theoretical fixes..if it's bad brass, it's bad brass. That happens with all brass manufacturers, even Lapua every once in a while. Get hold of Kevin Thomas (Lapua Rep) who posts on this blog and see if he can get you new ones to replace the bad ones.

Alex

 

[fdshuster]

mcxring: As others have said, shoot 'em, then check for runout.

The runouts you are quoting are little different than what I see--------- until the first firing. This is a common occurance with all new brass.

 

[ridgeway]

Shoot - anneal - resize/load - shoot - anneal.....

When you shoot for the first time, clean carbon off case and run the fired case on your concentricity gauge and report back here with results.

If perfect, resize and check the case runout again.

If perfect, load and check bullet runout.

 

[bozo699]

I am a freak when it comes to concentricity but I don't even check it on new brass, just load and shoot and then I check it.
Wayne.

 

[mcxring]

Thanks everyone for you input, to the earlier comment on why am I resizing new lapua brass, I'm fairly new to reloading, only about a year now, I have read that you should always re size new brass, maybe lapua is the exception, tommorrow I'm going out and shoot the loads that I described in my first message, I will then recheck and see if firing them helped, I reload with rcbs competition dies, very little run out loading with my older lapua and rem. cases, I have only been using the concentricity gauge for 3 months, so I don't know what the older lapua I have where like when they where new, really the first time i have checked run out on a new case Ill post my findings thnx again

 

[fdshuster]

mcxring: Factory brass, new, unfired, is already undersized before firing, so it is better guaranteed to fit in the thousands of various dimensioned chambers out there. That applies to all brands regardless of the manufacturer.

It's only after it's fired for the first time that it needs to be sized down (to the minimum necessary to fit properly in your chamber). I personally see no advantage or reason to size new brass.

I'd like to talk to the person who said new brass has to be sized before loading. Sounds like something that was published in "Guns and Ammo" magazine.

 

[mcxring]

Thanks for the information During the resizing I did notice very work happening to the case.

 

[M-61]

mcxring: Factory brass, new, unfired, is already undersized before firing, so it is better guaranteed to fit in the thousands of various dimensioned chambers out there. That applies to all brands regardless of the manufacturer.

It's only after it's fired for the first time that it needs to be sized down (to the minimum necessary to fit properly in your chamber). I personally see no advantage or reason to size new brass.

I'd like to talk to the person who said new brass has to be sized before loading. Sounds like something that was published in "Guns and Ammo" magazine.

In response to your last sentence I found the following on MIDWAY's site:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/187523/lapua-reloading-brass-308-winchester-box-of-100


I have NO opinion as to it's validity, but I remembered seeing this....it's the first paragraph under "TECHNICAL INFORMATION"

 

[mcxring]

I meant to say very little work

 

[mcxring]

Thanks M61 just went to midway and read it, I knew I seen it somewhere

 

[jelrod1]

If you measure new Lapua with a headspace gage you will see that all of them will measure less than one would after fired. What this means is that any full length sizing is unnecessary. Besides the possibility of pushing the shoulder back even more, if using standard unmodified sizers it will collapse the neck unecessarily and pull an expander back through it to get it back to size. None of this can be good for brass life and at the very least is just not necessary.

What you will see however on new brass is that the neck will usually have more tension than desired, and can have a neck dinged where it is not round anymore. Several things can be done to correct this without working the brass too much. My personal way is to use a K&M mandrel die to expand the neck to where it needs to be and round it back up in the process. Mine is modified a little smaller than standard. Another way is to expand is with a standard K&M then use a collet die or neck bushing die to set the desired tension.

It all depends on how much stock you want to put in rounds fired the first time. My opinion is that no matter what you do to them they will never be as good as once or more fired. After they are fired they are somewhat a "casting" of your chamber and with headspace gages you can set your sizer to only set the shoulder back .001-.002 each time allowing for minimal movement of the brass. This gives very consistent cases and prolonged life. I personally use a mandrel on new, then a collet die in combination with a body die thereafter. Many people have different methods and use either modified or custom dies to achieve the same or maybe even better but this is what I do. I'm still learning as I go also, but won't be sizing any new Lapua brass anytime soon no matter what Midway says.

 

[Erik Cortina]

On new brass, run expander mandrel through necks and then size necks only for your preferred neck tension. Do not F/L size new brass.

 

[LCazador]

If you neck turn your brass for a tight chamber it is necessary to shoulder bump and trim the brass so your neck turn cut is into the shoulder the same amount . Also it all has to have the same headspace clearance so that springback is all the same . I haven't seen any Lapua brass that I didn't have to neck turn to bring concentricity into line . I think their quality control isn't what is used to be . My last lot of 6BR , had rims that were too thick , wavy necks , and crumpled shoulders , not to say that concentricity , case length , and headspace was all over the place . It's still better than Winchester , Federal , or Remington . At least I know that the time I put into it is well worth the work !