I got my first box of Norma .284 today. Inspection went as follows;
1. Neck wall thickness varies by a full thou. Not a concern since I turn anyway but for the no turn guys, it's a half thou more than the Lapua.
2. Neck runout is 2 - 3 thou. First fire-form will fix this. Body is near perfect round.
3. Primer pockets look good on the outside, but my bore scope reveals that inside there is something going on. It looks like maybe a support gets inserted when the flash hole is punched and it is not always centered. Sometimes it makes a gash in the edge of the flash hole inside. This has to affect overall internal volume, but hopefully it is so little it won't matter. I didn't see any burs obstructing the flash holes.
If I could only get this internal case volume sorting gizmo I invented to work (I think I will when I finally have time to custom make a couple of parts for it), that wouldn't matter either.
At any rate, I think the advantages of not having to neck up 6.5 brass and deal with the associated donut and runout issues induced by that will more than offset these minor issues. Stay tuned for a performance report.
1. Neck wall thickness varies by a full thou. Not a concern since I turn anyway but for the no turn guys, it's a half thou more than the Lapua.
2. Neck runout is 2 - 3 thou. First fire-form will fix this. Body is near perfect round.
3. Primer pockets look good on the outside, but my bore scope reveals that inside there is something going on. It looks like maybe a support gets inserted when the flash hole is punched and it is not always centered. Sometimes it makes a gash in the edge of the flash hole inside. This has to affect overall internal volume, but hopefully it is so little it won't matter. I didn't see any burs obstructing the flash holes.
If I could only get this internal case volume sorting gizmo I invented to work (I think I will when I finally have time to custom make a couple of parts for it), that wouldn't matter either.
At any rate, I think the advantages of not having to neck up 6.5 brass and deal with the associated donut and runout issues induced by that will more than offset these minor issues. Stay tuned for a performance report.
