Norma, Lapua, or ......

[41mag]

I am having a 25-06 AI built. I have a ton of mixed cases as well as some new cases in 30-06 in Win., Rem., and Fed. Not as many of the virgin brass as the once fired stuff but enough to get things rolling with.

I did however get to thinking that instead of using the small lots of what I had on hand for the initial fireform and load development, that I might look into one of the upper class brands. My thought process has been driven by several other calibers and reading a ton of info in which is repeated, these cases last several times the life of other cases, these cases are way more consistant, these cases are much better quality.

Well from my humble beginnings I have for the most part used Winchester cases , and have had most excellent results from them in the factory rifles to which they were loaded. So now with a very nice custom on the way, I was wandering what your opinoins were on either the Norma or Lapua, and wether it was actually worth the added expense to go with one or the other, over what I have on hand, other than time spent doing case prep and such. Bsaically I am more looking for something that I can neck size, fireform, load and be done with verses all the extra work with the normal cases.

Thanks,

 

[royinidaho]

Mike,

When I can get Winchester brass for the cartridge I get it. But to feed the best to the best and Lapua makes a case that would work, I'd go with Lapua. Especially if you're going to push it a bit.

With if not doing the extreme thing I bet 50 rounds of w-w brass will last as long as the barrel. But I"m confident you can go hotter with the Lapua brass.

 

[Flybuster]

Norma

I feed my 25-06 ackley Norma .270 brass. Yep its spendy, but like you said you cut down alot of prep work on your brass. You should only fireform new brass, I don't think I would do it with once fired.
I have been shooting this brass since this time last year. I haven't worn them out yet, shooting at least once a week. It's given me some good accuracy. Still I am tempted to buy some Lapua 30-06 and neck them down though. So far I have seen Bruno's shooting supply has the best prices on Lapua brass.

 

[James Jones]

Norma and Lapua are the best out their as far as consistancy goes , the lapua is a bit tougher than the Norma though so it'll last a bit longer if your running warmer loads , you can get a couple hundred win cases sort them and do all the prep work and end up with around 100 cases that are the decient but the end price will be about the same as the Lapua and you'll have to do all the prep work to boot , the only reason I can see for doing this is if you absolutly wanted the 25-06 headstamp

 

[EZShooter]

What James Jones said... seconded

Mike/41 mag,

I would second James on his thoughts, I have tried the Lapua brass in 223 and found pretty much the same results - used to cull brass, prep, blah blah... I would rather shoot than prep, just my .02. The Lapua is IMO tougher than the Norma, I have shot the Norma in a 6.5 WSM... so I can't make a direct comparison, so take this with a grain of salt, but hot loads out of my 223 last a lot longer than the medium to hot loads in my WSM.

Let me know how she shoots... I'm in DFW, so not too far away, and have a factory 25-06 stick that I have been toying around with going 2506AI or 6.506AI. I hope it shoots great!

EZ

 

[41mag]

Thanks folks, your input is pretty much what I gathered, just wanted to hear it from some folks I actually knew did some serious shooting.

Roy,
you know that I will only be shooting mild loads in a rig like this right? Especially since I got the little package from Richard. Lets see, 28" Broughton 5C 1-9 and a couple hundred Wildcat bullets from 125 thru 142gr, yep standard loads all the way.

Hey ELZ,
We might be headed up your way to check out Shilen in Oct. They are putting on a swap meet and will offer tours of the facility. Figured it might be a decent experience, and a good break from some of the work we have been doing up that way. Here's the info.
Shilen Swap Meet

If your interested in heading down, shoot me your contact info to the addy in my profile. I wil get back with ya and let ya know if we're gonna make it or not. Our place is just north of Palestine so not too far a drive to get there.

 

[rotorhead]

I'm with fly buster this is exactly what I do. 270 norma to 25-06AI

Rh

 

[Chawlston]

I am having a 25-06 AI built. I have a ton of mixed cases as well as some new cases in 30-06 in Win., Rem., and Fed. Not as many of the virgin brass as the once fired stuff but enough to get things rolling with.

I did however get to thinking that instead of using the small lots of what I had on hand for the initial fireform and load development, that I might look into one of the upper class brands. My thought process has been driven by several other calibers and reading a ton of info in which is repeated, these cases last several times the life of other cases, these cases are way more consistant, these cases are much better quality.

Well from my humble beginnings I have for the most part used Winchester cases , and have had most excellent results from them in the factory rifles to which they were loaded. So now with a very nice custom on the way, I was wandering what your opinoins were on either the Norma or Lapua, and wether it was actually worth the added expense to go with one or the other, over what I have on hand, other than time spent doing case prep and such. Bsaically I am more looking for something that I can neck size, fireform, load and be done with verses all the extra work with the normal cases.

Thanks,

I have a lot of virgin 2506 Winchester brass. If you want some, I will sell it under what you can get it at a wholesaler. Send me an email.

Chawlston