Wondering if some of you out there have experience with the Graf brand of brass? I have been using Norma, but the price of the Graf stuff sure is attractive. Has anyone measured the consistency and how about durability?

I had to anneal my Norma brass to keep the necks from splitting.

I have some, and believe that it is produced by one of the European outfits-Privi, Norma or Lapua-I don't know which. I have unfortunately not used any of it. Still working on the Lapua. Kudude

I had trouble with some of them as the rim was too thick to go into the shellholder. What the present situation is I don't know.

I think the rims are fine. They may be a little too large in diameter in the groove. I found a shell holder in my stuff that fits fine ... and the brass has worked out very nicely. Is good stuff if you can get beyond the slightly too large diameter in the groove.

I have some of the Grafs 9.3x62, but have not tried it out until now (my Lapua stock has got the nod thus far). The Grafs brass is slightly heavier than the Lapua, so without having measured actual internal capacity, one might guess the Grafs brass has a tad lower internal capacity compared to the Lapua. (Graf avg. weight: 198.22 grs, Lapua avg. weight: 188.5 grs)

As far as this issue is concerned:

quote:

Originally posted by Will:
I had trouble with some of them as the rim was too thick to go into the shellholder....

Sadly, that seems to be a condition commonly experienced in European brass - in many calibers... I have had this with at least Lapua and RWS in at least calibers 7x64 and .30-06. Not sure what the scoop is, those brands are about the best you can get, but you run into this problem quite regularly. The best remedy I have found thus far, has been to use either a different shell holder, or a shell holder intended for the 6.5x55 (slightly larger than the standard 30-06 head size).

- mike

P.S. If your alternative is 9.3x62 brass from Lapua, then my guess is, that it might be a good idea to lay in a lifetime's supply... Lapua has a nasty habit of terminating manufacture of brass in popular calibers. Of late, they have ceased making such classics as the .222 Rem, and the .270 Win I had a hard time finding Lapua 9.3x62 brass of late, and I *think* I saw it mentioned the .300 Win Mag brass had been discontinued...

The only two brands of 9.3x62 brass I've bought has been Lapua and Graf both purchased in 2003. The Graf has been as durable as the Lapua and I've been using them pretty much interchangeably. I've shot several of them multiple times and had no failures to date.

I did have some Graf brass in 7x57 which had oversized rims and I ended up using a different shell holder (I don't remember which number, but I believe it was the holder for .220 Swift), and they too have worked just fine for my purposes.

I have been hoping that Hornady will start making x62 brass to fit their bullets.

I have had no problems with the Graf brass. I load them on an old Bonanza press, so may not have noticed the rim thickness problem. I guess another reason to like the universal shellholder on a Bonanza/Forster press.

I've used Graf's 9.3x62 brass for several years both in Europe and Africa for hunting and have had no problems. The only problem during reloading was too thick a rim, but easly solved with a different shell holder (Lee number 10 if I remember correctly).

Figure that the recommended shell holder is for converted '06 brass. Shell holders are designed to fit the brass, not vice versa. If European brass needs a Swede shell holder, then that is the correct shell holder. The problem is not with the brass. After all, this is a European caliber.