I have saw post on several occations about 6.5x55 american verses europien and have decided to save for the lapua brass to have a better chamber fit and hopefully extended case life. What about 7x57 and 8x57 is there the difference between them also( I currently
resize 06 brass but want to purchase the correct headstamp so my son dosen't have to worry about dads crazy record keeping)the american is half the price but the safty factor is priceless!! Thanks 3006va

Save the money & buy American. Specs between European & US 6.5x55 Swedish brass are pretty much standardized. The first firing will fire-form it to your chamber anyhow and then it's put thru your sizing die. All comes out about the same in the end. The Lapua brass may be more consistant but if your shooting a military Swedish Mauser with the original bbl. you probably won't see any difference.

Alleycat-
Firing it does not change the case head size, which is incorrect in Remchester 6.5x55 brass. It also does not correct the inconsistencies in weight and case thickness in critical areas.

Buy Lapua and you'll never want for another brand again...

6.5X55 is larger in dia in the head then -06 brass, though I don't recall the difference off hand. -06 and X57 is the same, as the -06 was a derivative of the X57 case.

Besides the diff in dimensions, Lapua brass is much better then Remchester, and worth the difference, even in rounds of the same dimensions.

I know that firing a cartridge should not expand the head/web area of the brass. I did say that the Lapua may be more consistant. But if it is used in a Military Mauser (3006va does not say), possibly with a worn bbl., he may not see any accuracy difference between US or Lapua. He is using 30.06 sized to 6.5x55 and is not complaining about function or accuracy. There is a .007" difference, 30.06 being smaller, and when the reformed brass is fired in a 6.5x55 they most always show a bulge where the body and web meet. NRA says in thier manual that they know of no case failures due to this. He wants the brass headstamped with the proper cartridge designation. Good when there are multipal shooters. I doubt the difference between US and Lapua 6.5x55 brass is as great as reformed 30.06 and US 6.5x55 brass. He says he wants to spend the extra money because of safety. OK. For peace of mind it may be worth the extra money to him. I don't believe there is any safety issues between US or Lapua brass.
I stand by what I wrote. Buy American!

Thanks for the replies guy's,I should have been a little clearer. All rifles are surplus in great shape,6.5x55 is a mod 38 that shoots way better than me,7x57 is a 95 Chilian that shoots great but has the looks that have made it a truck gun,8x57 is one of the unissued yugo 48A Shoots good-looks good.
Was ordering the Lupua for the Sweed any way
and wanted to get some 7x57-8x57(06 resixed shoots good but then theres that hard headed boy who dosen't read notes or cautions!)and wondered about the sizes on them mostly.So the 6.5x55 gets Lupua and the 7&8x57's get
american. Thanks again for your help. 3006va

Ive been using Win. 6.5x55 brass for a few years now. Believe it or not I still have most of the brass from the original bag I bought way back when... I dont use strong loads so the brass very rarely needs a trim. I have one batch of brass that is up around 25 reloads and it shows almost no sign of wear other then then a slight discoloration near the mouth from annealing the brass every so often.

The brass does get a little bulge that I used to worry about, but once it settles in it doesnt seem to matter.

Let us know how well the Lapua brass works though, I was thinking about trying some once my Win brass wore out, but that looks like it may be a while.

Mudruck

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"Our Country won't go on forever, if we stay soft as we are now. There won't be any America - because some foreign soldiery will invade us and take our women and breed a hardier race!" - CHESTY PULLER, USMC
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Utah Varminters Association http://www.armscenter.com/uva