New Brass 10grn Heavier?

[mattri]

Just weight sorted some new 7mm-08 WW brass. Brand new in 50 round bags, production date unknown.

Previous lots have all weighed 155/156grn on average, this new brass comes in at +/-167grns.

Brass looks good, is consistent etc. just seems kind of heavy. Thoughts?

 

[FroggyOne2]

Compare the H2O weights between the two, that will tell you more.

 

[fredhorace77]

if ur wanting to know where the weight is...cut one in half and go to measuring

 

[bheadboy]

fire one, dont size, take an old lighter fired case, then compare the h20 volume of the two by weight of full case.

if the water volume is close, then the case gr weight is a factor of metal density.

Bob

 

[bigedp51]

After Winchester lost the contract to produce ammunition at the Army's Lake City ammunition plant Winchester sold off its brass manufacturing plant and no longer produces its own brass. It also sold off its powder manufacturing plant in Florida to General Dynamics weapons division and no longer manufactures it own powders.

Winchester/Olin only produces ammunition now and chemicals used in fertilizers, so you could say Winchester/Olin quality has turned to shit.

On the other side of the Atlantic in Finland Lupua is making the best brass in the world. Finland is also rated as having the No. 1 educational system in the world and the United States is ranked 41 and at the same level as many third world countries.

The Winchester stock holders are worried about dividends and not quality. :'(

 

[XTR]

W-W brass will vary by lot. Typically the difference in the depth of the extractor cut. I've got lots of 308 that are in the 154-156 and lots that are more like 158-160. Unless you are trying to shoot sub .4MOA groups at long range don't sweat it at all. I've never even bothered to weight sort my brass except for the F class Nationals/Worlds and I don't think it made a bit of difference. Hanging out here reading these boards would leave one to believe that w/o powder weighed to .02gr, brass sorted to .1gr, and bullets sorted by ogive and weight you couldn't hit an moose in the *** at 50 yards. It aint so.

If the rifle is capable of shooting .5s then making bullets to get there is not hard and doesn't require a bunch of OCD brass and bullet sorting, just good loading techniques that produce bullets of consistent neck tension, seating depth and powder charge. (I've achieved that with an RCBS Chargemaster, Lee Collet dies and a Forster or Redding seater)

Getting to consistent groups that are significantly better than .5 is where things start getting fiddly.

As for Lapua, yep it's pretty. I've used it, can't see the difference on the target, but I can in my checkbook. Not worth it to me unless it's for the small primer stuff that WW doesn't make. (and I don't think they don't make 7-08)

{EDIT} One other thought. All the WW brass I'm currently shooting from last yr was in the 154-156 range, the 308 cases I got this yr are heavier. Maybe the machines got maintenance and the brass is a little ticker somewhere.