Everyone has opinions, however if you want facts check out Catshooter's $2,500 Ames Hardness Gauge and what he did with it.
http://forum.accurateshooter.com/index.php?topic=3860441.0
ShootDots
The "winning / record holding" F-T/R shooters at Bayou Rifles are ALL using Lapua "PALMA" brass.. It is nearly indestructible (within reason of course) and ( I hate to say this but it is true) you can run pressures HIGHER than L/R primed brass. The e.s.'s are low and accuracy is off the scale...
If you want the easy way do what Ben says above. He knows what he's talking about. That's what most people should do. The only problem is that the 308 Lapua Palma brass is scarce.
However, if you have time on your hands and like a challenge, than go the Lake City (LC) route. I believe that both the Lapua and the LC (308) are basically machine gun brass, that's why they have a thicker head/webbing than other brass. I've fired a M60 machine gun ('72 Basic Training) and those barrels get red hot. I figured that any brass engineered to go in those chambers has got to be the best there is.
You can buy virgin Lapua, you cannot buy virgin LC because Uncle Sam is the sole customer. As usual with Uncle Sam, he buys the best (it's only taxpayer's money after all) and after they shoot it once, then they virtually give it away.
I been playing with the Lake City for a few months and I can say for sure that it doesn't shoot better than Lapua, but it doesn't shoot any worse either. What I like about the LC is that it has nice and tight primer pockets, unlike the regular Lapua. Since I switched I gave away 300 cases of regular Lapua (fired 3X) to a friend that I practice with.
Regarding consistency, look at the picture below. I took ten cases of LC and Lapua at random and weighed their water capacity on my Sartorius scale. Guess which has less volume variance. The LC has less case capacity because it is thicker harder brass. I've gone up to 44.5 grains of Varget pushing a 200 grain Berger hybrid, had no impact on the LC, the Lapua's got thrashed because they wouldn't hold a primer after that. Did I mention that the LC brass is hard?
I anneal after every firing and turn necks and if you don't anneal stay away from the LC because it is hard (again), if you have a bad heart, high blood pressure, arthritis, etc... stay away from this stuff because the first time you resize it, you will have to use brute force. As usual, what makes it good is also what makes it hard to work with it. After the first firing in my chamber its been easy street.
I didn't switch to LC because they are cheap, I switched to them because they are hard and I believe it is the best 308 brass there is and its American. I expect to get 20 or more reloads out of them, but I haven't done it yet, so it is just a theory. I expect them to save me time and work. Saving a few hundreds of dollars is just icing on the cake.
Kindest regards,
Joe
P.S. I'm a new guy shooting F/TR at Bayou Rifle.
