New gun, New Lapua Brass- how to prep?

[rvander1]

Hi,
I'm new to the 1000yd game. Went to Williamsport this summer and was loaned a 6.5-284 and did well enough to get me hooked.
So I bought some parts advertised in Varmint Hunter Magazine and had a local gunsmith build my gun. It is a 6.5-284, Nesika Bay action, McMillan Tooley MBR stock, Pac-nor super match barrel with brake, Night Force 12-42 BR scope. I was told the barrel is a standard chamber, and the "parts" came with 300 new Lapua brass.
I had previously thought that new Lapua Brass was so uniform that neck turning etc was not necessary to be competitive-- but there are so many posts on this sight about neck turning and other prep stuff,run-out gages etc.)
Question: what should I do to this brass before the first firing,if anything)?
And: what are the most common brass prep routines for this 100yd game after the first,and subsequent firings). For my varmint guns I tumble, trim, camphor/deburr, primer pocket uniform, and size with Redding FL S Bushing Dye-- will this get me in the running at 1000yds??
THANKS IN ADVANCE,
Bob

 

[billmo]

In a standard chamber about all you would want to do is clean up the necks. In some instances, it is not out enough to even worry about. But on the other hand sometimes Lapua needs to be cleaned up. Depends on your brass and you taking good careful measurements of the neck thickness. Hope this helps. Bill

 

[rvander1]

Thanks, Bill for the help.
I'll start measuring neck thicknesses. I've been resizing the fired cases and the Redding FL bushing dye only resizes the neck- even though the shoulder,headspace length) grew by .006. I guess I have a fairly long chamber,original barrel specs simply said "standard chamber" so I don't really have actual measurements of my chamber. Maybe I need a chamber casting?
Do you think I should sort the Lapua brass by weight? I know some guys do that as well as sorting bullets by weight or bearing surface.
Would be so much easier if I knew my chamber dimensions-
Thanks for any and all help.
Bob

 

[billmo]

Most Lapua brass is uniform in weight respects. I'd weigh a few and see how they look. If you are not seeing more than a grain or so difference, no need to continue. I would try the re-sized brass and see what happens. You will probably begin to see some shoulder bump after you fire that brass another time or two. I saw that same thing with .223 brass and full length bushing die that I was working with. Bill

 

[Spotcheck_Billy]

I've found the 6.5-284 brass from Lapua to be very good. Brass prep can go from the ridiculous to the sublime depending on how far you want to take it! It would help to know how you plan to use this rifle. LR competition, varmints, etc?

A "standard" chamber should mean that it's a no neck turn chamber. You shouldn't turn the necks on your Lapua brass if your barrel has a standard chamber because first of all they're pretty consistant. Secondly, the more material you remove from the neck the looser the neck to chamber clearance will be, which is not a good thing. I've found that weight sorting the 6.5-284 Lapua brass to be a waste of time for most kinds of shooting with no appreciable improvements in accuracy noted. But that's just me.

Here's what I do with new Lapua 6.5-284 brass -

1) Check for brass or debris in the flash hole. Remedy as necessary.
2) Check case length, just to make sure it's in spec.
3) Run the case into a Sinclair expander body/expander mandrel. There is no need to FL resize the new brass, and the expander mandrel will insure the proper inside neck diameter and concentricity without working the brass.
4) Outside chamfer 45 degrees, then inside chamfer 30 degrees,or is it 22 degrees?, I forgot how many degrees it chamfers), anyway it's the Lyman tool with the wooden handle.

They're all set to load and will fireform in your chamber. You can then start resizing after that. I recommend a neck bushing die with the expander button removed.

But that's just how I do things. You'll find that there are probably just as many different methods as there are shooters out there

 

[billmo]

Billy's methods are as good as you will find. He has some very good ideas. I tried a couple of things mentioned above and it works. Thanks, Bill Norris

 

[rvander1]

Thanks, Billy,,and Billmo)
Sorry to be so late getting back to you. Your approach to new brass in my situation makes perfect sense to me.
Just one question, since I'm not trimming to length, do you think I could skip the outside case mouth deburring? Seems to me that step is to get rid of burrs after trimming. The inside chamfer makes great sense-
Appreciate the help.
Bob

 

[billmo]

Bob, You are correct. But, most cases will have a sharp edge from the factory. Check it really good and make sure you are going be satisfied with not deburring. A lot of guys don't deburr until they trim but I always knock that sharp egde off.
Bill

 

[Spotcheck_Billy]

Bob, You are correct. But, most cases will have a sharp edge from the factory. Check it really good and make sure you are going be satisfied with not deburring. A lot of guys don't deburr until they trim but I always knock that sharp egde off.
Bill

+1

 

[rvander1]

Thanks for the help!