New Lapua Brass

[Jayhawker]

After about 5 years of loading and reloading my .308 brass, I've been starting to get some split necks so I'm starting over again with some new brass. What is recommended these days for sizing new brass for a first firing? Full length sizing and then the usual regimen of neck sizing with shoulder bumping? A shooting pal says he does nothing at all with new Lapua brass but load it and fire it the first time.

 

[bozo699]

After about 5 years of loading and reloading my .308 brass, I've been starting to get some split necks so I'm starting over again with some new brass. What is recommended these days for sizing new brass for a first firing? Full length sizing and then the usual regimen of neck sizing with shoulder bumping? A shooting pal says he does nothing at all with new Lapua brass but load it and fire it the first time.

Pete,
I would size it with a quality f/l die set not to bump the shoulder just to make sure the necks were round then I would f/l size and bump the shoulder from then on, there is NO benefits in neck sizing.
Wayne.

 

[40X Guy]

I run new Lapua brass thru an expander die to iron out any imperfections in the case mouth and neck, then chamfer case mouth inside and out with the proper chamfer tools. Inspect the primer flash holes for any obstructions then load and go.

Frank

 

[Leaddog]

All I do is run a mandrel through the neck and then through my bushing die to set neck tension. New brass is notorious for being undersized.

My new match brass gets a trim on a Giraud, expander mandrel, skim neck turn, and a .002 neck tension bushing die. I don't consider brass match ready until I have 2 firings.

I trim and anneal after each firing. Lapua is the only brass I use.

 

[Jayhawker]

I took my calipers and comparator tools and measured the new Lapua brass. The necks are sized dead-on as far as neck tension is concerned. The shoulder is set back much farther than I would set it but nothing can be done to change that except fire forming it. The neck runout, according to my gauge is, .001" or less. Other than trimming and chamfering as well as insuring the neck roundness and the flash holes, is there any sense in running it through any die? Let me know where my thinking is wrong since it seems that I've always FL sized other caliber's new brass.

 

[amlevin]

I get so many reloads out of my Lapua Brass I forgot what I did to it the first time 8)

Not really, I just ran it through an expander die and shot it before I did anything else to it.

 

[Leaddog]

Jay - The neck thickness determines tension. Only a ball mic can show you and that is the true neck tension variable. Outside diameter as measured on a caliper will not show it.

 

[Shynloco]

All I do is run a mandrel through the neck and then through my bushing die to set neck tension. New brass is notorious for being undersized.

My new match brass gets a trim on a Giraud, expander mandrel, skim neck turn, and a .002 neck tension bushing die. I don't consider brass match ready until I have 2 firings.

I trim and anneal after each firing. Lapua is the only brass I use.

Jayhawker,
IMHO, what Charlie says is the best advice. Don't FL size the new brass until after you fireform or shoot it once. I've messed up some Lapua brass before pulling that stunt. Do the other things Charlie recommends as well. Thats what I do and which is also based upon the advice from Kevin Thomas (Lapua Rep) who shoots in various competitions using his company made brass and posts on this blog as well.

 

[Jayhawker]

Here is a "by the way" I found fooling with this brass. I measured neck runout on my gauge at less than .001". I ran it through a Forster bushing bump die with a bushing set less than the OEM diameter. The die didn't do anything to the shoulder because it is set back so far already but the neck runout was less than what the factory had. About as close to zero as you could get it. Took another piece and ran it through my Redding F/L die without the expander ball. The die itself had no effect on the neck runout but once I added the expander ball to the formula, it came out with .006" runout.

I don't have an expander die. How do they work and who makes a good one?

 

[bozo699]

Here is a "by the way" I found fooling with this brass. I measured neck runout on my gauge at less than .001". I ran it through a Forster bushing bump die with a bushing set less than the OEM diameter. The die didn't do anything to the shoulder because it is set back so far already but the neck runout was less than what the factory had. About as close to zero as you could get it. Took another piece and ran it through my Redding F/L die without the expander ball. The die itself had no effect on the neck runout but once I added the expander ball to the formula, it came out with .006" runout.

I don't have an expander die. How do they work and who makes a good one?

Jayhawker,
I told you to use the f/l die because most people don't own a expander mandrel,I do it as others have mentioned with a expanding mandrel, Sinclair makes a good one, 21st century makes a good one and PMA also makes a very good one, I like Pats mandrel the best but all three I mentioned are good and I am sure there are many other good ones, I don't trim until after I fire them at least once, chamfering them is a good idea though.
Wayne.

 

[Jayhawker]

Thank you one and all for the help. I have never turned my brass and wasn't as familiar with the mandrel and die as I should be. But I did my homework and see the light now. For now, I don't plan on turning my brass but I can see that I'll be getting the die and mandrel to process the new brass.

 

[Shynloco]

Jayhawker,
Not trying in the least to rub it in, but I did the exact same thing you tried BEFORE firing some brand new 6.5 X 55 Lapua brass and ended up with a runout variance of .006 - .008 on about 17 out of 35 new pieces of brass. Even the others were of a less tolerance but nothing like what I'd expected. I ended up sending my Redding FL Die back to Redding along with some of the worse runout brass. They called me and said their FL Die was within company standards and the brass was at fault. Not sure I buy the brass being bad and I was able to "rehabilitate" some of the brass usuing a Sinclair Mandrel Die (with the appropriate mandrel) , but had to toss about 14 pieces in the trash. From that experience I learned not to touch a new piece of anybody's brass with an FL Die until after it has been through at least one cycle of the expansion/contraction phase that casings incur while being fired in the chamber of a rifle.

 

[Jayhawker]

From what I've read in various forums, Redding must be famous for blaming brass for reported runout. Nonetheless, I do use their dies with my 6 BR with excellent results. For what it's worth, I've gotten the same .006"-.007" runout with well-fired brass. I was in a bind when I found this out so I dragged out (dare I say it) a .308 Lee Collet die I had sitting in storage forever. That thing consistently produced .001" or less runout on all my brass but I'm in a quandry as to whether I'd keep using it because Lee does not seem to enjoy much of good reputation in the benchrest community and I'm wondering if there are some "side effects" of using their die that I'm not aware off.

 

[bozo699]

From what I've read in various forums, Redding must be famous for blaming brass for reported runout. Nonetheless, I do use their dies with my 6 BR with excellent results. For what it's worth, I've gotten the same .006"-.007" runout with well-fired brass. I was in a bind when I found this out so I dragged out (dare I say it) a .308 Lee Collet die I had sitting in storage forever. That thing consistently produced .001" or less runout on all my brass but I'm in a quandry as to whether I'd keep using it because Lee does not seem to enjoy much of good reputation in the benchrest community and I'm wondering if there are some "side effects" of using their die that I'm not aware off.

Pete,
People like expensive shiny things and Lee is neither so there over looked, regular lee dies are on the cheap side but the collet die in conjunction with a quality body die (Redding) can produce some of the most concentric ammo you will ever make. For the 6brx I have several dies the one that I use the most are the Newlon dies that Bob Green reamed for f/l sizing and a Wilson that my smith ran our chamber reamer in a std. 6br die. unfortunately Lee doesn't make a collet die for the 6brx, but if you called them maybe thay could build one for you, just a thought.
Wayne.