Neck tension variations on new Lapua Match 222 brass?

[Dan877]

I broke down and bought a box of Lapua 222 Match brass, my first ever splurge on real quality brass.

I ran them through a Lee collet neck die to make sure the necks were round and straighten out any mouth dings. I was really suprised at the variations in force required to pass the arbor through the necks. On about 50% it took only moderate force, on 20% it took a bit less and 20% it took a bit more, but on maybe 5% it took little to no effort, and on 5% it took a *lot* of effort, and one case took so much force the neck folded.

I had just run a box of new Remington 222 through the die a few days ago and it all seemed pretty consistent, so I was suprised at how much variation there was with the Lapua. I can only imagine how inconsistent, not to mention difficult, it would have been to try to seat bullets had I not run them through the neck sizer, and how bad the resulting accuracy would have been. Surely that can't be normal for "Match" brass?

 

[Luke_NL]

Did any sizing wax, powdered graphite, white alum or other lubricant come into play at any point?

 

[LHSmith]

I run an expander through all new brass to ensure the necks are round. I use Imperial die wax inside the necks and remove it afterwards. Yes, occasionally one finds a neck that is mangled that no amount of staightening effort will save it.
Lapua outsourced the .222 brass a few years ago, that was headstamped "Lapua 222 Rem".....the new brass made in-house is headstamped "Lapua Match 222 Rem." The old outsourced brass was not typical Lapua quality.

 

[Dan877]

Ok, thanks for the info.

Like I said, this is my first splurge on top quality brass and I was just expecting it to be more uniform. I always do neck size new brass, but never noticed that much variation on cheaper brass.

My brass is stamped "LAPUA MATCH 222 REM" and it is really beautiful brass. I was using powdered mica for a lube, sometimes I use Imperial wax, but this time I was using the mica.