Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles New Lapua brass

Got new Lapua .223 brass.

Have always "prepped" other brands i.e. run thru sizer to round out case mouths, trim all to consistent lengths, and chamfered case mouths.

Since Lapua is supposed to be cream of the (brass) crop will this really be necessary?

(Yes I know I can just check the ones I have but am curious about other peoples experience!)

if you are use to doing it, why skip it? skipping isn't going to hurt nothing...

I should add an addendum that I NEVER trim the length of brass, new or range pick up, until the rifle tells me it needs trimmed...

The only thing I do to new Lapua brass is inspect them inside for debris, run a mandrel into the neck to insure they are round and chamfer.
No reason to trim until after first firing, that's when you'll see the largest stretch.
I didn't used to inspect them inside but my last batch had one case full of brass shavings from when they trimmed them to length so now I do.

Just loaded up some new Lapua brass last weekend myself, ran it through a Lee collet neck die and only chamfered the inside. the outside was so smooth it did not need it. I'm with NVhntr, waste to trim before you fire a time or two.

On a side note I also had some new Norma cases, they were defective. the primer pockets were too small and too shallow, I thought if I sent them back that I would probably see them after the Biden error was over.............it took 6 hours to ream and uniform to get primers in

Same as the others I just run a mandrel through the neck with any new lapua brass and thats it.

I need to take classes from you.

Lapua put out a bunch of 223 rem brass recently. A LGS had 10 boxes of it a couple weeks ago and I bought some for $80.00. Since I turned mine into 6x45 brass, I ran it through the sizing die, checked for proper length and examined all case mouths. Everything looked great. Had I used it for 223 rem brass, I would have been good to go without any prep at all. Good stuff as per usual, but still needs to be checked just to verify. Also, my box contained 101 pcs. Couldn't be happier with the quality.

Good to hear. Bought my 1st batch of .223 Lapua brass recently for use in a Browning Low Wall to replace the old batch of Federal nickel plated brass that's about worn out. Been a believer in Lapua brass for .30-06 and 6.5x55 for quite a while now, figured I was stepping up in the .223 world by switching to it.

As already mentioned, check for debris. I have found string chips inside maybe 1:250, like they came from the flash hole drill and were long enough to get stuck. Other than that they should need very little prep.

don't confuse knowledge and intelligence,

with lazy and being a cheap ass....

I put a heavy Chamfer on the inside of the case mouth. This is an aid in helping the bullet get started without scoring the bullet jacket. I neck size all the Lapua brass to insure uniform neck tension on the bullet.

When the brass is in the loading block, inspect the inside of the case with a small AA battery flash light.

My goodness! You mean to say you actually take
time to do something like methodically check cases
for problems or defects?!?

I was beginning to think that I was the only one left
who would actually do a non-mechanized step in the
loading process
Well, that makes two of us. Maybe there's someone
else. Maybe there's somebody that uses a beam scale.
Or even. . . . a single stage press. . . :-0

Ditto all three!😎

Ha! A big portion of knowledge and intelligence is knowing when to be lazy and a cheap ass...

I run all new brass through the sizing die, including Lapua and Norma. I also trim it to the same length and work on the primer pockets. To each his own, its just how I roll.

I just load Lapua brass as it comes out of the box. I've only used 3-4 boxes so far, but I never saw one piece of Lapua brass that had a defect of any sort.

That is how I was taught.

I check it for length. Generally new brass doesn't need to be trimmed. There are those rare occasions though..

I'm still learning and that's why I pay attention to these technique threads.

I got an extra pc. in my last new box. Hey 80 cents is 80 cents. 221 fireball to make into 20VT.

Seafire, the statement, "until the rifle tells me" will go straight over their heads. Most do not realize just how long a chamber is.

ON the Lapua, I neck size the brass for uniformity. Otherwise, your follow up load may have more/less grip on the bullet...adds some uniformity on your loading to begin with.

Also, most will only de burr a case mouth. The case mouth Chamfer is a funnel that acts as a bullet starter. So, I put a heck of a deep chamfer on the case mouth. Some time ago, the ill informed internet goo roos started a rumor that deep chamfers would cause case necks to split, and this is pure BS. The deep chamfer helps get the bullet started straighter as the base of a bullet does not get cocked on the edge. If you pay close attention, you can really feel how much easier the heavier chamfered case mouths start the bullets.

I have used Lapua brass in 6.5x55 and recently loaded some .308 brass with 168g Sierra's. The 6.5x55 brass doesn't fit my Barrett Fieldcraft but does work in my wife's Ruger. Rim size is too big for the Barrett The .308/Sierra combo is the only loads that didn't need straightening. Almost no runout for 50 rounds. All I did to the brass was make sure the necks were round and chamfer.

Maybe that Lapua brass is just meant for sloppy military rifle chambers. Send it to me, I'll use it. This is how mine works. Testing some loads last weekend in prep for a military rifle shoot coming up next month:

That could be, but I'll keep using it in my wife's gun. The Rim on 6.5x55 brass is listed as .479 in the Nosler manual. The Hornady and Federal brass I have is .474 and works in my Barrett.

223 or 6.5x55 are the only cartridges I've used Lapua for. IME they're worth the money.

The only reason I buy Lapua 223 rem brass is to turn it into 6x45..

Please tell me about that spot scope mount, it looks like a mix of homemade and freeland mount?

Good shooting and good luck in the match.

Yes, you are correct. It is an old Freeland from the 50's. I found it in a pawn shop a few years ago. The spotter is an old Bausch and Lomb 20x-60x, I believe it may be original to the freeland stand. I had to make the counter balance/rod and had that aluminum gear laying around that I use for the tensioner. That was a project I had in a machine tool tech course I took back in 2000, but it works great for a knob to tighten the spotter to the rod...






I think I paid $60.00 for the Freeland base and spotter. Its been a great set up. You know how they work, slide the spotter up and down that rod and you can shoot in any position, from prone to offhand. I'll be using it this Saturday at my clubs rimfire match, which consists of offhand and bench shooting with iron sights.. Thanks for the luck. I'll need it..

Excepting for 460 S&W brass to be shot in a revolver I don't resize ANY new brass. It's your time; waste it if you want to. It is highly unlikely that you will gain any accuracy advantage by messing around sizing or trimming new brass.

Thanks for the pics BSA, I probably made a half dozen different scope stands plus the ones I bought. Had an old Freeland stand and head like yours, then modified it with a 1 inch rod and homemade head. Sold that one with a Kowa scope when my ex was robbing me.
Got another Freeland tripod with 1 inch aluminum rod and modified Freeland head now.
I've been scheming on a homemade head like the Ray Vin head. RayVin is out of business as far as I know.

Knock'em out at the match!

Thanks buddy. I like the idea of a 1" aluminum rod. Should be more rigid than the 1/2" steel rod I'm using. Sounds like you are very handy. You should start a thread on your modified freeland stand. I'd like to hear more about it. The originals had a 2 or 3 piece hollow unit, I believe. Those seemed to work well. A guy at my club has one of those. He's used it since he was a kid and shot NRA rifle matches in Highschool...

I just finished sizing 200 221 fireball cases to 20 VarTarg. handled the cases 4 times and checked flash holes. I never found a single case that had anything wrong with it.

BSA, You a Seabee? Saw the "We Build, We Fight" on your rifle. Good outfit.

My dad was a Seabee. When I was a little kid, we were stationed in places like Port Hueneme and Rota Spain:


The first rifle I put the Seabees motto on was for my dad. He loved it, so the rest of them I do in honor of him. Thanks for asking.