Ive got a new FTR rifle in the works and I have a ton of new Winchester 308 brass that I could use rather than buying Lapua. My question is, what prep would need to be done to the Winchester brass to bring it on par with un-prepped Lapua brass? If I had to guess, case volume sort, uniform primer pockets, turn necks for uniformity. Anything I am missing? Any down side to prepping and using win brass instead of just going with the lapua?
using winchester brass for FT/R?
- Thread starter mao0720
- Start date
Jay Christopherson
Not An Admin
Check the dimensions of your Winchester brass vs. your reamer spec. If it's a match chamber designed for Lapua, you could possibly have an issue with fit.
If it DOES fit, then I would:
- sort
- uniform primer pockets
- ream flash hole
- turn necks
- trim to uniform length
- chamfer
If it DOES fit, then I would:
- sort
- uniform primer pockets
- ream flash hole
- turn necks
- trim to uniform length
- chamfer
Keith Glasscock
Gold $$ Contributor
What he said....
I've use win brass exclusively for F/TR with no problems. If you are using a typical neck diameter, you'll need to anneal every firing and watch the runout from sizing. Bushing dies are not your friend when you have to reduce neck diameter more than .005"
I've use win brass exclusively for F/TR with no problems. If you are using a typical neck diameter, you'll need to anneal every firing and watch the runout from sizing. Bushing dies are not your friend when you have to reduce neck diameter more than .005"
Make sure your flash holes are not way off center. I had a bunch like that and gave it away.
skiutah02
Silver $$ Contributor
A quick comment to add to the excellent advice above.
I've used both Win and Lapua in 308 for FTR this past year. Win has more case capacity and less weight (about 161 gr Win and 174 gr Lapua), and I needed more powder in Win brass to obtain same velocity as with Lapua (0.7 gr in my case). I'm on 7 firings on the Win and just starting to loose a few of the primer pockets. Also, the Lapua brass needed a 0.336 final bushing for 0.002 neck tension and the Win needed 0.331 for same 0.002 neck tension (both unturned). As mentioned in a post above, since my factory chamber is 0.343 (or so, based only upon 0.342 fired brass). I've had to step down the neck in increments and for the Win that means 1 more run through the die vs. the Lapua. So yes, I believe that the Win neck brass thickness is less.
Lapua were nearly flawless right out of the box. Winchester were horrible right out of the bag, but with some effort and brass prep were very consistent. You need to weight sort, round the neck (mine were all out of round from dents) and flash hole ream at the very least. PP uniforming, neck-turning, and trimming would be good options, but I did not do that (I eventually did trim after a few firings). I did win my State's LR FTR title using the Winchester brass (and Hornady bullet) this year if that helps.
Drew
I've used both Win and Lapua in 308 for FTR this past year. Win has more case capacity and less weight (about 161 gr Win and 174 gr Lapua), and I needed more powder in Win brass to obtain same velocity as with Lapua (0.7 gr in my case). I'm on 7 firings on the Win and just starting to loose a few of the primer pockets. Also, the Lapua brass needed a 0.336 final bushing for 0.002 neck tension and the Win needed 0.331 for same 0.002 neck tension (both unturned). As mentioned in a post above, since my factory chamber is 0.343 (or so, based only upon 0.342 fired brass). I've had to step down the neck in increments and for the Win that means 1 more run through the die vs. the Lapua. So yes, I believe that the Win neck brass thickness is less.
Lapua were nearly flawless right out of the box. Winchester were horrible right out of the bag, but with some effort and brass prep were very consistent. You need to weight sort, round the neck (mine were all out of round from dents) and flash hole ream at the very least. PP uniforming, neck-turning, and trimming would be good options, but I did not do that (I eventually did trim after a few firings). I did win my State's LR FTR title using the Winchester brass (and Hornady bullet) this year if that helps.
Drew
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