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What is your favorite brass, and why?

I use Lapua for my comp rifle however for my 308 purchased 50 Nosler cases about ten years ago and quite honestly after 15 or 20 reloads I have never had any issues so now they are designated to hunting loads.
 
bozo699 said:
Lapua has too much neck tension?…. Strange.
I’ve never seen that in any brass of any brand. I give it whatever neck tension I want it to have
Wayne
Click to expand...
I'll elaborate MY personal experience
Have you guys ever seated a bullet and noticed it shaving copper?
Even after chamfering the inside?
You can also feel the difference in neck tension when you seat a bullet
Some may take 2 lbs of force from the arm of the press, and some brass may take 10 lbs
You can easily put a weight gauge at the end of the press arm to measure this.
Anyhow, I have Lapua brass for a 260 and every single piece you can feel that it takes much more lever force to seat bullets than for instance Remington brass.
I have annealed tha Lapua necks to see if this will relieve the stresses and provide smoother easier neck tension, and did not feel one bit of difference.
Supposedly Lapua has a small percentage of Silver in their brass and this may be why.
The problem with TOO MUCH neck tension is that it can cause the shoulder to slightly collapse on one side
This results in more runout in bullet concentricity. not to mention erratic standard deviation in velocity.
I like bullet concentricity of .003" runout or less
With higher neck tensions I see runout in the range of .010" or more
Starting off a bullet crooked, causes the bullet to enter the rifling crooked and remain crooked
it doesnt straighten itself out
So, for instance...my 284 Win Brass, Smooth even neck tension for all of it
my 6 BR Rem Brass - Smooth even neck tension for all of it
My Peterson 284 Win Brass, has the exact same neck tension and feel as my 284 Win brass
Lapua, feels more like Lake City stuff, tough hard and non annealable to soften it
Just my experience with it. Lapua is good brass sure, but my loads show best accuracy with approx 1 to 3 lbs of force required to seat a bullet, not with 10 lbs or more.
Forget saying things like .003" neck tension, such as how much you size the neck down by
--One could have .002" neck tension, but require 5 lbs of seating pressure
--Conversely, one could have .004" neck tension but only need 1 pound of force to seat a bullet
The amount of sizing on the neck does not equally equate to how much pressure is needed in all circumstances.
The diameter of the neck in inches does not equate to equal tension in all brands brass.
for example we could all size all our brass down .003" in the neck
All the various brands of brass will require difference amounts of force to overcome the tension of the neck to cause it to expand when seating a bullet.
Have you ever seated a bullet and seen a ring around the tip where the seating stem indented the bullet?
Some may not even care about this, but this is also bad, too much neck tension deforms the bullet.
It is the elasticity....
....It is the amount of pressure required to seat a bullet that actually matters. Not dia. size of neck.
And of course we can turn down the necks to get the amount of neck tension & seating pressure desired
This is a way to tune the brass to how we like it
But then there comes the problem of what if we have to turn down the neck too thin and it not being able to be sized down now enough to hold a bullet
Or if too thin the necks start to crack prematurely.
The brass should not require so much force that it indents the tip of a bullet when seating
or shaves copper
Even when new, after being annealed or neck turned.
---Also my Lapua 6BR brass has a smaller sized flash hole than my Rem 6 BR brass
Why?
---My Lapua 6.5x284 Brass if fine though, had no issues with it but is the only brass I did not have issues or variance with.
Lapua brass may be tough and last a long time, Although there are just too many variances with it that I don't like to mess with it anymore
---So Peterson it is for me now
Good accurate consistent in all aspects and perfect neck tension right off the get go without performing any uniforming operations
Now Lapua Bullets on the other hand, Oh HECK YEAH! 1st round hits at 600 with those.
 
Last edited:
Bill Norris said:
Very easy to run a mandrel in the new necks to decrease neck tension.
Click to expand...
Good point, I could do that, but if I have to do that after every resizing operation...
... is an extra step I dont have to do with any of my other brass.
I'd rather just avoid having to do so if I can for instance buy Peterson and be good to go ya know?
Honestly, every single different caliber of Remington brass I have tried has just the right neck tension feel
from 223 on up. So I look for or tune my brass with that "feel"
Rem feels more "Elastic" and stretchy....
It's the feel of it, Lapua is tougher, if you can understand
---Lapua seems to fight expanding.
Conversely, how federal 223 brass is wayyyy too soft and wont even hold a primer after 1 firing
Some brass has different metallurgy in its makeup that gives it its own unique properties
So I have some and have experiemented with Lapua enough to know I like other brass
Maybe different calibers of Lapua are better or maybe different lots are better such as my Lapua 6.5x284 stuff
I have not tried enough different calibers of Lapua to know
But do know this, Lapua is the only brass other than Federal that has shown various qualities I don't like.
 
Last edited:
ELR LVR said:
I'll elaborate MY personal experience
Have you guys ever seated a bullet and noticed it shaving copper?
Even after chamfering the inside?
You can also feel the difference in neck tension when you seat a bullet
Some may take 2 lbs of force from the arm of the press, and some brass may take 10 lbs
You can easily put a weight gauge at the end of the press arm to measure this.
Anyhow, I have Lapua brass for a 260 and every single piece you can feel that it takes much more lever force to seat bullets than for instance Remington brass.
I have annealed tha Lapua necks to see if this will relieve the stresses and provide smoother easier neck tension, and did not feel one bit of difference.
Supposedly Lapua has a small percentage of Silver in their brass and this may be why.
The problem with TOO MUCH neck tension is that it can cause the shoulder to slightly collapse on one side
This results on more runout in bullet concentricity. not to mention erratic standard deviation in velocity.
I like bullet concentricity of .003" runout or less
With higher neck tensions I see runout in the range of .010" or more
Starting off a bullet crooked, causes the bullet to enter the rifling crooked and remain crooked
it doesnt straighten itself out
So, for instance...my 284 Win Brass, Smooth even neck tension for all of it
my 6 BR Rem Brass - Smooth even neck tension for all of it
My Peterson 284 Win Brass, has the exact same neck tension and feel as my 284 Win brass
Lapua, feels more like Lake City stuff, tough hard and non annealable to soften it
Just my experience with it. Lapua is good brass sure, but my loads show best accuracy with approx 1 to 3 lbs of force required to seat a bullet, not with 10 lbs or more.
Forget saying things like .003" neck tension, such as how much you size the neck down by
--One could have .002" neck tension, but require 5 lbs of seating pressure
--Conversely, one could have .004" neck tension but only need 1 pound of force to seat a bullet
The amount of sizing on the neck does not equally equate to how much pressure is needed in all circumstances.
The diameter of the neck in inches does not equate to equal tension in all brands brass.
for example we could all size all our brass down .003" in the neck
All the various brands of brass will require difference amounts of force to overcome the tension of the neck to cause it to expand when seating a bullet.
Have you ever seated a bullet and seen a ring around the tip where the seating stem indented the bullet?
Some may not even care about this, but this is also bad, too much neck tension deforms the bullet.
It is the elasicity....
....It is the amount of pressure required to seat a bullet that actually matters. Not dia. size of neck.
And of course we can turn down the necks to get the amount of neck tension & seating pressure desired
This is a way to tune the brass to how we like it
But then there comes the problem of what if we have to turn down the neck too thin and it not being able to be sized down now enough to hold a bullet
Or if too thin the necks start to crack prematurely.
The brass should not require so much force that it indents the tip of a bullet when seating
or shaves copper
Even when new, after being annealed or neck turned.
---Also my Lapua 6BR brass has a smaller sized flash hole than my Rem 6 BR brass
Why?
---My Lapua 6.5x284 Brass if fine though, had no issues with it but is the only brass I did not have issues or variance with.
Lapua brass may be tough and last a long time, Although there are just too many variances with it that I don't like to mess with it anymore
---So Peterson it is for me now
Good accurate consistent in all aspects and perfect neck tension right off the get go without performing any uniforming operations
Now Lapua Bullets on the other hand, Oh HECK YEAH! 1st round hits at 600 with those.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the insight
Wayne
 
ELR LVR said:
Good point, I could do that, but if I have to do that after every resizing operation...
... is an extra step I dont have to do with any of my other brass.
I'd rather just avoid having to do so if I can for instance buy Peterson and be good to go ya know?
Honestly, every single different caliber of Remington brass I have tried has just the right neck tension feel
from 223 on up. So I look for or tune my brass with that "feel"
Rem feels more "Elastic" and stretchy....
It's the feel of it, Lapua is tougher, if you can understand
---Lapua seems to fight expanding.
Conversely, how federal 223 brass is wayyyy too soft and wont even hold a primer after 1 firing
Some brass has different metallurgy in its makeup that gives it its own unique properties
So I have some and have experiemented with Lapua enough to know I like other brass
Maybe different calibers of Lapua are better or maybe different lots are better such as my Lapua 6.5x284 stuff
I have not tried enough different calibers of Lapua to know
But do know this, Lapua is the only brass other than Federal that has shown various qualities I don't like.
Click to expand...
I learn something new every day….. thanks
Wayne
 
I would also like to add one other aspect.
The powder charge initiation
As we know our powder builds so much pressure because it is under containment and resistance to allowing its gases to expand
IE: a smaller container builds more pressure
A HEAVIER BULLET, builds more pressure and even to the point of causing case or barrel rupture
Likewise
MORE neck tension, causes higher initiation pressure
I would personally prefer the neck tension to NOT be a factor in the powder charge initiation
Since if there are variances in how the powder builds pressure in the beginning we could have premature pressure spikes and varying velocities
If we eliminate neck tension as a major factor contributing to how the powder gets going
I believe we smooth out how the powder builds pressure in the bore
If all my neck tensions are light enough to only hold a bullet, ...
....then all my loads start off similarly and more evenly
(Also, if I have to pull bullets or disassemble loads, I like 4 smacks of the kinetic bullet puller
Not 10 or 15 lol)
 
Last edited:
I like Lapua and Peterson, in no particular order. I'd try Peterson 223 brass if they made it, or Lapua 6mm Creed in a LRP but they don't. I don't think you can go wrong with either however.
 
Only started my precision reloading journey three years ago. Still use my Dillon 550 for pistol and AR 223 stuff. Most of my brass is what’s available at the time I needed it. Having said that I find Peterson, Lapua, and Alpha OCD fairly equal. I am not good enough to shoot any difference between them.

i suspect many of us are brand loyal based on developing loads we are proud of. Do that a few times and confidence in your components increases. Which is great. In that final fraction of a second before ignition confidence matters. The fact you could have got there with another brand of brass, bullet, or powder matters not.

for me currently:

6x47L. Peterson
6mmbr. Lapua
6Gt. Alpha
308. Alpha
223. Starline until Lapua is made again
284. Peterson

All hunting rifle calibers, semi auto, and pistol will always be Starline for me. The brass is not the limiting factor in these for me and the savings help me justify spending up for the precision load brass.
 
Favorite?

None. Whatever I can find that is readily available. Currently only shooting 223 and 6 ARC. Only 3 providers currently for ARC brass. While I was shooting the 223 in local competition Lapua brass was nowhere to be had so I was using Norma and PMC and it worked beyond very well..

Besides I refuse to pay $1.00+ apiece for 223 brass. So why would I pay $1.40 apiece for ARC brass?
 
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