I got my box of Lapua 243 Win brass yesterday and had a chance to work with it last nite. After seeing this stuff, I threw my Remington brass away.

I brushed the inside of the neck and ran them all thru my Type "S" neck-sizer then on to the case trimmer to square the mouth.

I measured the first case out of the box, 2.035" --- pulled another one, 2.035". Thinking this must be a fluke, I measured another 20 cases and only found ONE that was not 2.035"-- it was 2.036".

Set my Redding trimmer (I got it yesterday also and just had to try it out) to cut to 2.034" just to make sure they were square and trimmed all 100 -- just a little shaving off of each one.

Next it is time to debur the flashhole. Since they are drilled instead of punched, I figured that there would not be any sizeable burrs. Set the tool to just "kiss" the case and had just a little speck of shavings out of most cases. Some had none.

On to the primer pocket uniforming step. First case -- nothing. Same for the second.
Got a magnifying glass and looked at the third and noticed that the case already looked like they normally do AFTER you cut them.

Haven't had time to weigh them yet but I would be very surprised if they varied much.

All in all, I am most pleased with Lapua brass and will no doubt be buying more in the future.

It's the only brass I use.

Same here. In fact 6.5x55 Lapua is much the cheapest brass I have found, and the best IMO.

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Regards

Richard

Well it looks like I'm going to have to give Lapua brass a try.

I now use Norma 30-06 brass exclusivly for forming 8mm-06 A.I. cases. I prefer Norma because it has the same characteristics that have been attributed to the Lapua brass in this thread. (drilled flash holes, consistency etc.)

The price of the Lapua is much more attractive, and perhaps it is a little harder in the case head area. My Norma cases fail due to primer pocket expansion after about 12-15 loadings.

I have been tempted to try Lapua, but was not willing to try it without some feedback. Now I have it!

P.S. jdllyons: What does the case head measure? One of the things I like about Norma is that the case head is very near S.A.A.M.I. spec. of .473", thus avoiding bulged cases. Does the .243 brass measure .472"-.473"? Winchester brass ussualy measures .468".
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Life is more exitin' when yer stickin' suppositories inta a wildcats behind!

[This message has been edited by wildcat junkie (edited 02-25-2002).]

The few that I measured were all .470"

The only thing Ive ever heard bad about Lapua brass is their 223 brass isnt made by Lapua but is subcontracted out and its no better than anyone else's brass.::::MV

Funny you should post this topic because I had the same experience two weeks ago with .243 lapua brass. The last winchester brass I had were different in weight between 160.0 to 166.7 and case length varied by 6 thou. I tried the lapua stuff and all the cases were within 2.034 or 2.035. In the weight I think it was about 173 grains with of the whole box of 100 the most differential was .7 of a grain. I would had a hard time to make myself use the winchester stuff just for fouling shots.

Can anyone explain then why my 6.5x55 hates the stuff?

Primers are so tight they don't move at all and show light strike marks as a result.

They are difficult to eject even in plainly under pressure loads.

They show an increased propensity to sooty cases.

My own thoughts are that my rifle has a tight chamber from a US reamer that is set for US brass made out of 7x57/06 and prefers the smaller US brass case head?

I finally got around to weighing a sample of the trimmed and prepped cases.

Out of a sample of 20:

Average weight: 173.685 gr.
Extreme spread: 1.3 (.75%)
Std. Dev. : .39

I don't have the actual figures, but if memory serves, the Remington varied by as much as 2.5 - 3 gr.

I did notice that the primer pockets are quite a bit tighter also.

Now I will have to wait for the snow to melt and for the temperatures to warm up so I can see if the brass will make any difference in the size of my groups. I figure it sure won't hurt.

BTW, I only neck sized these new cases with my Redding Type "S" die. After loading a few rounds, I checked a few and they chambered OK. Is it really necessary to full-length size new brass???

With mine I just neck sized and ran them through the chamber to see the fit. I've already been to the range with nothing but premium results.

I agree - Good Stuff,

My 6,5x55 loves it .

Bn