Lapua Brass, Worth the Cost? Needed to Build Most Accurate Handloads?

i bought an 8 twist Tikka .223 that I plan to use to start to shoot longer range via twisting turrets. As such, I want to build some accurate hand loads using 75 grain Hornadys (HPBT or AMax).

I've got a good amount of Lake City brass, but I am wondering if I should buy some better quality brass (have not weighed any yet).

With that said, is Lapua worth the cost? It looks like it is just about double the cost or Hornady or Nosler brass. Inputs appreciated.

Yes

Lapua brass is about as good as it gets, it will help wring the last bit of accuracy out of your load. The question is - does it really matter that much in the field?

I use Lake City for varmint loads and Lapua for match shooting. The difference is slight but the Lapua does shoot better groups.

6mmBR had a table of 223 brass comparisons recently and #1 was Lapua and #2 was Lake City, everything else was lower rated.

drover

It's what the benchrest shooters use.

I remember seeing the table; surprised me that Lake City was #2!

I just bought a new digital scale (GemPro 250). Maybe I'll weigh some tomorrow and see what kind of consistency I can get.

Thanks!

Any other thoughts out there?

That is not what I am after in my brass, especially for a 223 and varmints.. most brass is more than accurate enough...

but for my needs, the Lapua stuff is definitely Mercedes Quality, but can give a very long brass life for a varmint hunter...

on their sight, Lapua makes claims of having reloaded brass over 300 times in their testing... that's pretty impressive... and even if someone only gets a fraction of that many, that still can be an awfully big amount of reloads....

I shoot other brands of brass, but then again, my biggest source is range brass, especially after the PDs do training at the local range and don't even police their own brass...but no one locally is complaining at all...

Originally Posted by Akbob5

I remember seeing the table; surprised me that Lake City was #2!

I just bought a new digital scale (GemPro 250). Maybe I'll weigh some tomorrow and see what kind of consistency I can get.

Thanks!

Any other thoughts out there?

Drastic variations aside, weight isn't the first consistency to worry about. Case necks having uniform thickness around their circumferences is much more important in the pursuit of precision.

Over on Accurate shooters forum a couple guys mentioned they match prep LC 223 brass and it shoots just as well as Lapua, FWIW

Yes

What does the "match prep" include? If it includes checking the case necks and culling duds then I could easily see it doing quite well. I've done the same with several kinds of brass.

I agree with Mathman. What Lapua does is save you time. Other brass can be made to be just as accurate but they're gonna take a certain degree of sweat equity to get them there. However it is something that needs to be done only once. When I am buying brass to shoot in competition, longevity is not on my short list.
Even with Lapua I use fire culling as my final step in deciding what is practice and what is match quality.

Thanks all, some very good points to ponder. While I have reloaded for quite some time, I've never really taken "precision measures" such as measuring case necks. And most of it was larger caliber big game rounds.

Thanks again, much appreciated.

Lake City is good brass, especially for the cost.

Lapua is better though. Whether it's worth it or not is the question. Loading for a varmint hunt, 500 pieces of Lake City trumps 100 pieces of Lapua in my book.

The last batch of Lapooey 223 brass I got was just that pooey. I've had remmy and win brass more consistent. All of my match brass is now either Nosler or Norma with Norma being my preference.

I'd like to get some Lapua 223 brass and firestorm it for my AI. Then I'd have good brass just for that rifle....

It was reinforced for me yesterday why Lapua is a good idea. I just bought a varmint weight, short throated 6.5x55. While it was in the mail, I ordered the usual Redding dies and 100 Lapua.

It showed up with a bag of new WW brass. Since this rifle will be used for long range doggies in addition to target, I decided to load up some of the WW for coyotes.

What a waste of time. Of the 20 I loaded, over half have runout from 5 to 8+ thou. Talk about bananas! Expecting the rifle to shoot with those is like feeding a Formula 1 car kerosene and expecting it to be competitive.

I checked the dies, and they are fine. I loaded a few rounds with Lapua brass and all were under 2 thou runout. At least the coyotes and wolves will know I have class when they get shot with Lapua brass!

Originally Posted by mathman

What does the "match prep" include? If it includes checking the case necks and culling duds then I could easily see it doing quite well. I've done the same with several kinds of brass.

Mathman, I'd have to go back and check. I just remember them saying that they were getting as good results with the cheaper LC, I have been having good results with the last batch of WW , but I have a new box of Lapua that I will be trying to see if I see much of a difference between the two!

I try to use Lapua brass whenever I can, for chamberings like 222Rem,6PPC,22-250AI,6mmBR and a few others Lapua brass is all I use. for the 223 I dont think it is critical, I have used several different brands with good results. the biggest thing with Lapua brass for the 223 is the primer pocket it will stay tight forever and most other brands will start to loosen up after a few reloadings.

Agree on the Win primer pockets loosening up sooner. I find they only last 3-5 firings where LC brass lasts much longer.

I only have a few batches of Lapua but in all cases, it's marginally the most accurate brass in that rifle. If you want to control your variables, Lapua gives you less to worry about.
I suppose if you did full match prep in a Lake City lot, you'd come awfully close. I am really fond of LC brass, too.

Yes.

Lapua .223 Goodness.

[Linked Image]

I use it often in many rifles that I really want to get the best out of.

twofish

Well, I bought a box w/100 brass so we're going to find out! I'll use my Lake City brass in my ARs.

Welcome to the elite.
Have a cigar and a fine beverage, AFTER you're done loading, of course.

Originally Posted by devnull

Agree on the Win primer pockets loosening up sooner. I find they only last 3-5 firings where LC brass lasts much longer.

you boys ever considering toning down you load a hair?

I have Win Brass that has been fired 40+ reloads...they are neck sized and then the shoulder bumped back when needed, annealed every 4th reload...and my loads are in the 45,000 CUP range...

they are used for high volume varmint shooting...bot action..

Originally Posted by RickF

It was reinforced for me yesterday why Lapua is a good idea. I just bought a varmint weight, short throated 6.5x55. While it was in the mail, I ordered the usual Redding dies and 100 Lapua.

It showed up with a bag of new WW brass. Since this rifle will be used for long range doggies in addition to target, I decided to load up some of the WW for coyotes.

What a waste of time. Of the 20 I loaded, over half have runout from 5 to 8+ thou. Talk about bananas! Expecting the rifle to shoot with those is like feeding a Formula 1 car kerosene and expecting it to be competitive.

I checked the dies, and they are fine. I loaded a few rounds with Lapua brass and all were under 2 thou runout. At least the coyotes and wolves will know I have class when they get shot with Lapua brass!

Just wondering, did you try shooting the stuff you call banana's?

Don, I've done the same banana thing twice as an experiment, in a 2506 and a 204.
It matters, quite a lot. Something like a 50 percent reduction in group size, or more. I was amazed and horrified.
Bananas in their own group was like double or more the groups of the good, straight brass.
A small chamber moderates the effect somewhat, but blowing out and fireforming on centerline is a surprising big deal.
Now, I just glance at fired cases and if I have any doubt, I'll roll them on a leveled mirror. If I can see a wobble, it's gone. At two bits and counting per shot these days, I want to hit stuff.

Big fan of Lapua, but haven't really put it to much use in my 1:8 T3, just a few to run up and see where pressure is. I'm at 2,930 with 75 Amax kissing the lands. We'll see how they fair this weekend. I'll only use the Lapua with that bullet and LC brass will get 50 VMax.

On any NIB rifle, I run a box of factory ammo through initally to see whats up.

Shot #4 is to the left, 5,6,7 on the right. Not shabby for factory 75 HPBT

Be sure to report your findings once you start burning powder. Curious to see how your results compare to mine.

Originally Posted by Seafire

Originally Posted by devnull

Agree on the Win primer pockets loosening up sooner. I find they only last 3-5 firings where LC brass lasts much longer.

you boys ever considering toning down you load a hair?

I have Win Brass that has been fired 40+ reloads...they are neck sized and then the shoulder bumped back when needed, annealed every 4th reload...and my loads are in the 45,000 CUP range...

Seafire,
I just saw this and thought I'd respond. I'm a Win brass fan and it's usually my go to domestic brass of choice. This is especially true in .308 Win. However, in .223, I find that the pockets go pretty quick. In saying this, my loads are:

.223: 25 gr of Benchmark behind a 55gr VMAX giving me 3,167 fps
.223AI: 26.2 gr RL-15 behind a 75gr VMAX giving me 2940 fps

With that said, I don't feel like my loads are really that hot. I've come to really like LC brass and feel that the primer pockets stay tighter longer.

they are used for high volume varmint shooting...bot action..

I've got 22 loadings on both sets of 6.5x47 Lapua brass I have for my two rifles. I anneal every 1-3 firings. I don't over work the brass, only setting the shoulder back about .001" to .0015". I use Redding Type S bushing dies, sizing the necks .001" in one rifle and .002" in the other. The extra cost has definitely paid for itself several times over.

Alan

A lot of people hold Lapua in high regard but I don't.
I had some Lapua loaded ammo neck split in the sealed boxes.
Its going to need to be priced really low for me to ever buy any more...I've got pre WW2 ammo and even a few Spencer and Henry cartridges that don't have neck splits.

Originally Posted by Ackleyfan

Over on Accurate shooters forum a couple guys mentioned they match prep LC 223 brass and it shoots just as well as Lapua, FWIW

I think this is the advantage of the Lapua over LC. The Lapua is 'match prepped' from the pretty blue box.

For colony shooting, I will stay with LC and prep it.

For everything else, theres Lapua.