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New Dasher Brass from bullets.com

dlwheel

Like an idiot I decided to give the dasher brass from bullets.com a try... again!

Here's how they describe it:
This extra-sturdy brass is the new and improved version featuring a normal rim thickness that fits your standard shell holder!

Unlike the first drop of the brass, it DOES fit into the shell holder. But the stuff is shit.

We load 32.8 of IMR 8208XBR@2960fps. Our fire formed Lapua brass is going on 8x reloads. Primer pockets are tight.
So I received the brass two weeks ago or so. We loaded and shot 40 of them. It looks like we MIGHT get one reload from the brass.
I was trying to get away from fire forming the Lapua. I was an idiot.
We called bullets.com and all they did was argue with us.
 
Was the reamer used to chamber the rifle originally intended for Lapua brass, or was it the new Norma brass reamer???
 
Did your chrono the 32.8 load with the new brass yet? If so, what kind of numbers are you seeing and how does it compare to the old "think rim" Norma brass?

I'm curious because I am thinking of moving over to the new lot of brass. Only issue I currently have with the thick rim stuff is it won't go into the Lee shell holders for my new priming tool. I would like to cut my tool drawn down to streamline. Not a huge deal, but I'm both space limited and lazy :)
 
kyreloader said:
I agree. Who is to say that the internal volume of the two brass is anywhere close? I would never change brass and not work up a new load.

But it is the brass's fault?
Click to expand...


Heck no.

I am working with the Norma brass and found a sweet spot 1.1 grains less than lapua.

It is a wide node that stretched 3 tenths. Velocity is about 40 fps off my old load but that was with hybrids and I am now shooting the 107smk. Really excited with my new dasher. Oh and this is with my lapua dasher reamer, necks trimmed to length.
 
FatBoy said:
Did your chrono the 32.8 load with the new brass yet? If so, what kind of numbers are you seeing and how does it compare to the old "think rim" Norma brass?

I'm curious because I am thinking of moving over to the new lot of brass. Only issue I currently have with the thick rim stuff is it won't go into the Lee shell holders for my new priming tool. I would like to cut my tool drawn down to streamline. Not a huge deal, but I'm both space limited and lazy :)
Click to expand...

#3 shell holder works perfect for the autoprime.
 
Thanks for the report.

My experience with the old, thick-rim stuff is you have to firearm it also. Not like Lapua BR brass but as new the primer pockets are so tight they deform primers. The brass will not handle reasonable power loads new. You have to shoot lighter loads at least once to get usable primer pockets and brass. Near the same as fire forming Lapua but not so radical.

30-30 shell holders work on the thick brass. No big deal.
 
CaptainMal said:
Thanks for the report.

My experience with the old, thick-rim stuff is you have to firearm it also. Not like Lapua BR brass but as new the primer pockets are so tight they deform primers. The brass will not handle reasonable power loads new. You have to shoot lighter loads at least once to get usable primer pockets and brass. Near the same as fire forming Lapua but not so radical.

30-30 shell holders work on the thick brass. No big deal.
Click to expand...

I have had no issues priming with cci 450s and the br4. I'm running 2960 with zero issues on new brass. Pockets feel perfect.
 
Strange. I cannot prime new brass with 450's without crushing many of the primers trying to seat them. I have tried other types of small rifle primers but then asked myself, "Why"? Would not use them anyhow so I gave up trying.

Normally run 3010fps with 105's and Varget. Have to drop a solid grain of powder for that first firing or I get serious primer pressure issues. Even after one firing or more that Norma brass does not take the loads I use with Lapua in another Stolle/Dasher I shoot.

I would not buy more of the stuff but it is usable after the first firing.
 
I also have a problem with the 6mm Dasher Brass, I ordered a couple hundred and decided to run 50 0f the Dasher brass thru a Redding Die just to true up the necks, 4 out of the 50 would not go into the new speacial Redding shell holder made for the Dasher Brass I called up Bullets .com and told them what was happening and they tried to turn it around like i was doing something wrong, also was short 3 cases, asked to speak to owner, got disconnected.
 
I am running 32.4gr Varget under a 107 and getting 2975 on virgin Norma thick rim brass. Pockets are still like new after three firings.

I did have an issue seating at first but found I had worn out my old RCBS hand primer and the play was causing me to crush primers. I think they may have been starting tilted? I went and picked up a Lyman and have loaded 100 cases several times now with zero issues.

Now that it's warm, I may try to up the MV with a slower powder and see how it holds up. I have h4350 and rl16 on hand. Hoping for 3050 if I can get it accurately with zero pressure. This is with the PTG Norma reamer in a 7.5 twist 30" Kreiger. It may need to be throated a little to achieve this, but the overall case length of this reamer is shorter than my 6BR, so that shouldn't be an issue.
 
halo68 said:
I also have a problem with the 6mm Dasher Brass, I ordered a couple hundred and decided to run 50 0f the Dasher brass thru a Redding Die just to true up the necks, 4 out of the 50 would not go into the new speacial Redding shell holder made for the Dasher Brass I called up Bullets .com and told them what was happening and they tried to turn it around like i was doing something wrong, also was short 3 cases, asked to speak to owner, got disconnected.
Click to expand...

That was the exact experience we had with bullets.com. However, we did get a call from Norma and they acknowledged issues. We re currently documenting everything and sending it to them.

As to chrono'ng the loads, we are +/- 20fps from our OCW/ladder (2960fps) load of 32.8g of IMR 8208XBR with 105JLK's at .020 jump. No pressure signs. We will be lucky to salvage any of the once fired Norma for a 2nd reload.

FWIW, the 2nd gen corrected the shell holder issue.

Paul Reid reported his experience this way: "I rang them and explained the pressure issues I was having that did not exist with the Lapua brass. They were like....sorry abut your bad luck. They developed this brass for bench rest shooters. It has a thicker webbing so there is more pressure. If only they had advertised this."
 
Can you interchange thick and thin rim brass? Does the rim thickness affect the case length or is the thickness in the extractor groove and case length is not affected?
 
edw said:
Can you interchange thick and thin rim brass? Does the rim thickness affect the case length or is the thickness in the extractor groove and case length is not affected?
Click to expand...

Yes, you can without any issues at all. The case length is the same for both batches.

The internet is an interesting place. You get a lot of "salt and pepper" added to what we are supposed to have said. No, we do not tell people that the thicker webbing causes more pressure. I just checked with the customer service people before posting this.

As some experienced shooters have made it clear, new brand of brass means new loads have to be developed. Also, previous threads have discussed, ad nauseam, that one should not run hot loads on first firings. Each chamber and each rifle has different characteristics.

The long necks were done in response to shooters' requests on this site. The first batch of thicker rim brass is being discontinued at a really good price and once they are gone, they will be gone.
 
Just like the thread about the thick rim brass no good deed goes unpunished...
 
What Clavius posted, plus one!

I've lived by the basic rule: If it ain't broke, you can't fix it. So, just enjoy it until you break it, and pay someone who knows what they are doing to fix it.

LAPUA 6BR brass ain't broke...

You tinkerers stay with NORMA, it leaves more LAPUA for the rest of us.

:):):);)...
 
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