260 Rem - Lapua Brass

farpiece

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Nov 30, 2012
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I'm new to reloading, so please excuse the obvious. I'm looking at buying 200-300 cases of Lapua brass for my 260 Remy. I've got a Forester co-ax press with a full sizing die. When available, I can get 260 cases for about a buck apiece. However the 308 BR or Palma brass (small primer) is about .86 cents a case. The 308 is believed by some to be a better case, and cheaper. Thoughts? Can you think of any problems?
 
i thought about using the 308 palma brass for my 260, but was told i would end up with shorter necks? everyone i talked with said to use 243 brass and neck up.
i just use 260 lapua brass to save the headache.
 
Thanks Joejo, thinking the same way. I'm thinking I'll just resize the neck. Any tips on your loads? How many reloads are you getting to a case?
 
I use the 308 Lapua brass for my 7/08 and it is the best brass I have found. I also use a lot of
Remington brass with good success and normally only cull 5 or 6 Per 100 rounds after sizing,
trimming. And turning.

I wished Lapua made 7/08 (Proper head stamp) but they don't.

Someone said they made 260 brass and that would be the best of all worlds.

I always prefer necking down because I can turn the necks if they are to thick.

Just my opinion

J E CUSTOM
 
Running a stout load of H4350 and 142SMK I have about 8-10 firings on my Lapua 260 brass.Primer pockets are starting to get sloppy loose but not falling out.Other than that it has a held up very well.
 
Running a stout load of H4350 and 142SMK I have about 8-10 firings on my Lapua 260 brass.Primer pockets are starting to get sloppy loose but not falling out.Other than that it has a held up very well.

Midway sells a slick primer pocket tightening device for 30-40 bucks. It swages the pocket and works great. Ive had the same issue with my 308.
 
Thanks Joejo, thinking the same way. I'm thinking I'll just resize the neck. Any tips on your loads? How many reloads are you getting to a case?


i get a ton of reloads. i quit counting. i use a pretty stout load of 45 grn h4350 with either 130 bergers or 123 lapua scenars. easily in the 3100fps range with a 4 groove 28in krieger.
i will say though i need to anneal after the 6th firing. they still shoot pretty good but in f-class i will start to notice unexplained vertical. i usually prep 3 lots of 50 pcs for competition. fire them 6 times then send them off for sonic cleaning and annealing for 33 bucks a hundred. while the first 100 is getting cleaned and annealed i use the other 50 and just continue the rotation.

some of my cases have 12-18 firings and the only issue is some of the primer pockets are loose.

i think it helps that i use a collet die which works the brass very minimal and only bump the shoulder 1-2 thou every 3rd-4th firing. also the reamer is very much on the sammi minnimum. i turn all my necks to 14 thou bc the lapua stuff averages 14.5-15 thou
 
Sonic cleaning huh? I've got a tumbler and using SS rods, I wonder if that is a little harder on the brass?
 
Sonic cleaning huh? I've got a tumbler and using SS rods, I wonder if that is a little harder on the brass?


i only use sonic cleaning because its what dj's brass uses. i don't have either type here at home. i just use corncob media to shine them up between firings but it does nothing to clean the inside. i don't really like the inside of the necks clean anyway, but after 6-7 firings there is just too much build up in the cases.

i hear from guys the ss rods work great, i never tried them.
 
Another reason to stay away from the Lapua 308 palma brass is the small primer:

From article linked below: "Simply stated, the small primer in the .308 case is at the low end of acceptable ignition under ideal conditions - and conditions are often not ideal. As ambient temperature drops and especially if ignition systems are modified (uselessly, I might add) with lighter firing pins, ignition reliability declines. A system which is marginally acceptable under ideal conditions will then begin to produce hangfires and misfires. In many cases, when shooters used the Remington small primer cases as a full-length .308, this is exactly what happened. Heavier powder charges and slow-burning powders further add to the difficulty of ensuring reliable ignition. With the typical Palma load of 46 grains of Varget, a moderately slow powder, I will venture to say that many small primers will be inadequate to ensure adequate ignition under all environmental conditions."

The Rifleman's Journal: Cartridges: Lapua Small Primer .308
 
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