my first 243 Palma brass tests

[Eric Leonard]

after getting 50pieces of Lapua Palma brass worked for the 243 I started with RL26 to see how the small primers would do with the slower powders on paper and across the chrono,,I am pleased so far but have a lot to do before I will give a firm opinion ,,

Lapua Palma brass
CCI 450
47.5 RL 26
28 inch Brux 8 twist
105 VLDH

5 shots 100 yards .285 at 3314 fps avg with ES 16 and SD 5

 

[Shawnba67]

I am watching this closely and I thank you for sharing you work.
How thick were the necks once you brought them down to 6mm?
Was 47.5gr a max charge for the combo?

 

[Eric Leonard]

I dont have anything to accurately measure neck wall thickness but with a 105 VLD seated the neck od was .277-.278 ,thick enough it would not chamber in my rifle,,by my math somewhere around .017-.0175 after necked to 243,,I wound up turning a couple K off before necking down and a couple more K after I necked it down,,

a fired case comes out of the chamber with the necks at .2765,,after turning the necks twice my loaded rounds measure .2715 with a 105 VLD seated ,,I tried a couple cases with the loaded round at .2735 and it seemed to tight ..I like enough clearance to be able to push a bullet in a fired case and at .2735 I cant and at .2715 I can,

I could shoot that load in hot weather and hot rifle with no problems,,I could go higher as long as the rifle and the ammo stays cool,,let the rifle or ammo get hot and I cant go any higher,,
your bbl,chamber and freebore could give you different results,,

 

[tonysnoo]

Cool data Big,

I tried 26 in my 6SLR and got similar speeds, didnt get the accuracy you did....

Kind of a side note. When I tested Lapua LRP brass vs Palma brass, I had very different nodes. The Palma brass was much slower with the same loads. I tested some Palma with drilled out flash holes. The loads/speeds were just about identical....

 

[TAJ45]

Cool data Big,

Kind of a side note. When I tested Lapua LRP brass vs Palma brass, I had very different nodes. The Palma brass was much slower with the same loads. I tested some Palma with drilled out flash holes. The loads/speeds were just about identical....

Not wanting to assume, therefore this clarification please:
Identical loads/speeds were with Palma drilled out flash holes....Same as non drilled Palma or Large primer?

Second Question, what # drill in case I want to give it a try. Thanks, Tom.

 

[tonysnoo]

Not wanting to assume, therefore this clarification please:
Identical loads/speeds were with Palma drilled out flash holes....Same as non drilled Palma or Large primer?

Second Question, what # drill in case I want to give it a try. Thanks, Tom.

Sorry for the confusion. I used a large rifle primer flash hole uniforming tool on the Palma cases. Not sure of diameter. After that the Palma cases behaved very similarly to the lapua large primer case.

 

[1lnbrdg]

I'm still shooting LR standard primers with the slow powders in my 6SLR but I have a couple of friends that are shooting the LR Mag primers and are claiming fantastic ES / SD numbers over the standard primers. I don't think I'm ready to try small primers from what I've heard.

 

[JakeGraves]

Interested in your process of necking down to .243 and if you encountered runout while sizing down. Thanks.

I am sizing Palma down to 6 Creed and getting .002" at neck when sizing down. Hoping to get better results.

 

[Eric Leonard]

I have shot a couple hundred rounds at 600 and 1000 yards and I cant get as good vertical with the Palma brass as I can with regular WW 243 brass,,I have about decide to just use the WW brass and trash it after 5 loads and not worry about it,,
I get better ES with the Palma brass and the primer pockets will take the pressure but I get better vertical with the WW brass,,makes no sense to me but the targets dont lie,,

 

[tclaunch]

Have you tested Remington 7 1/2?