Lapua Brass Quality

[sep]

I thought I would pick up some Lapua brass for my 30-06s to see if it is really better than the Winchester brass I usually use. I received 100 pieces in the mail today. I weighed 25 pieces of Lapua brass and 25 pieces of Winchester virgin brass I bought a few months ago.

The Lapua had a weight variation of 2.7 grains while the Winchester brass varied by 3.0 grains. So, I thought I would measure some Lapua case necks for variation in thickness using my Sinclair case neck sorting tool. I measured 20 or so Lapua cases and found case neck thickness varied by .002-003 with several running .004.

My previous experience measuring case neck thickness on the Winchester cases proved very similar to the Lapua's. I generally find 2-4 cases per 100 pieces of Winchester brass with case necks thicker than .004.

In retrospect, I'm not at all impressed with this Lapua brass. For the price, I don't see it as worthwhile. At least not in my hunting rifles. There is a lot of hype on the internet about the quality of Lapua brass. Maybe my expectations were too high? I expected greater uniformity than I discovered.

Anyone else have experience with Lapua brass being more consistent or less than the brass I bought?

 

[JoeJ]

I just happened to have a new box of Lapua 30-06 brass (100 rounds) and measured the wall thickness with my ball mic - measured 20 cases and 14 of them measured 0.00145 on the nose while the other 6 varied from 0.00142 to 0.00153.

I find the top shooters are normally sponsored by various companies and the rest of the pack follows the leaders relative to their equipment used. These top shooters can probably win matches with any of the top brass manufacturer's brass.

As far as Lapua brass goes, I consider it to be second to none - meaning that other brass out there might be just as good but not better. The cost of excellent brass needing little, if any case prep, will usually cost a little more but is well worth it to the competitive shooter. To the big-game hunter? I would think most wouldn't spend the extra money, while there will be some who always seem to gravitate toward using the best components they can get their hands on.

 

[sep]

Appreciate your feedback JoeJ, I ordered some Nosler and Norma brass too and will measure them to see which is most uniform. I'm curious to load some of the most uniform brass up and shoot it this coming spring to see if my rifles can tell the difference.

 

[Float Pilot]

I have only used LAPUA brass in the 6.5x55mm Cartridge. Lapua and Norma brass being the two best for that cartridge due to the odd head size of the 6.5x5mm case. I have some brass that has been reloaded 14 times. I should also state that the last time I bought Lapua Brass was about three or four years ago when I bought 200 new pieces of brass.

 

[iofthetaiga]

I have only used LAPUA brass in the 6.5x55mm Cartridge. Lapua and Norma brass being the two best for that cartridge due to the odd head size of the 6.5x5mm case. I have some brass that has been reloaded 14 times. I should also state that the last time I bought Lapua Brass was about three or four years ago when I bought 200 new pieces of brass.

Hey now! Nothing inherently odd about the 6.5x55 head dimensions; only odd that the U.S. manufacturers can't bring themselves to produce properly dimensioned brass.

 

[sh]

what micrometer is a good one to use for measuring neck thickness. ?

 

[Longbow6360]

I've been a big fan of Lapua brass for a long time. Some of my Lapua brass can be loaded many more times than other brands. I pay more but in the long run I save money AND I don't have to go through the case prep like fireforming and neck turning. I think Lapua is second only to Bertram brass.

 

[.338 mag.]

Never used it, never heard any thing bad about it and always hear it is the best. I also heard Norma and Nosler make exceptional brass.

I use Winchester brass for every thing but my AR. I usually buy it in the same lot number and about 250 pieces of brass at a time.

If I was into competitive bench rest shooting I would buy some Lapua and check it out.

Many of the accuracy achievements and improvements we hunters enjoy in off the shelf rifles came from the meticulous work of the nit picky bench rest shooters. We should thank them.

 

[dkwarthog]

I think one of the best things about Lapua brass are its mechanical properties. This is probably why people get so many more firings out of Lapua brass before having to anneal the necks. The dimensional differences aside....

 

[JoeJ]

what micrometer is a good one to use for measuring neck thickness. ?

I imagine there are several excellent ones on the market. I use the Mitutoyo 1" ball micrometer with 0.0001 measurements.

This is the one I have - price was a lot cheaper 25 years ago.
https://www.zoro.com/mitutoyo-tube-...gclid=CPzctLOgl9ACFQIKaQodr6QHAg&gclsrc=aw.ds