Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Your experience/opinion with PPU Brass

I've had good luck with PPU brass in .308 Win. I bought loaded ammo and then reloaded the cases. I've also used PPU in .375 H&H where I followed the same process. Most of it was fine, but a few rounds were difficult to chamber in my CZ 550 Magnum, and a few would not chamber at all and I'm not sure why. I took some measurements and didn't notice any dimension that seemed out of spec but obviously something was off. Has anyone else experienced this?

The once-fired neck run-out, after low pressure loads is as follows:
1 case 0.005" run-out
2 cases 0.004" run-out
2 cases 0.003" run-out
1 case 0.002" run-out.

However, since I didn't discover the run-out problem until after the rounds were loaded I have no idea what the starting measurements were for these same cases. Also, this is after the loaded rounds were "corrected" with the Tru-Angle tool which may have had an affect. But those numbers overall still appear a bit better than they do before loading.

Before loading up 4 small test loads of 3 shots each, I decided to re-test if full length resizing this unfired PPU brass would clean up the poor neck run-out. I had tested this previously on 1 or 2 pieces of brass and saw no improvement. This time, I tested with 12 pieces of brass.

(I had sorted the brass previously and all pieces of brass with 0.006"-0.007" neck run out were put in one bag and those with <=0.005" neck run-out were put in another. These are from the bag with <=0.005" neck run-out).



While some of the new brass gains no benefit from full-length resizing others definitely do. And not one piece of brass came out with worse neck run-out. So, it seems that full length resizing this new brass can't hurt it and may in fact help it.

This brass was then used to load up 12 rounds, but unfortunately I wasn't careful enough and lost track of which case was which. 3-4 rounds had very high run-out (0.007"-0.010") but most had between 0.002"-0.006" which is much more manageable.

anneal the cases and run them through a full length sizing die with the expander ball removed so the neck is undersized in the chamber, set the FL sizing die to push shoulder down 3 thou., just one more than the usual 2 thou for fl sized brass

use the cream of wheat/pistol powder capped with parrafin wax (or toilet paper) method to fire a couple cases in the rifle to see if it fixes the runout

I had 50 pcs of Bertram 338 Edge brass with bad runout like your PPU cases, that fixed it and along with neck turning to clean it up, I was able to make the brass shoot decent groups

Annealing the cases have often resulted in less runout for me, whether it is a conventional, bushing, or Lee Collet die.

Glad to see full length resizing helped. I like to bump the shoulders back a mil on new brass ( some brands ) as well as make sure I bump the shoulders twice while rotating the brass 180. I only pull it over the expander once however. This reduces runout substantially.

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My 22 Hornet standard powder load wouldn't fit, had to reduce 1/2 grain.

Very good results in a somewhat finicky 308.

Azar,

Did you FL resize with the expander ball?

Also, IMO there is no need to anneal your brand new brass. It is annealed already. In my experience with PPU brass , it has been annealed sufficiently as it comes. Not to say it’s not a factor after you you’ve had a few firings on it,

As mentioned a couple of times, if you are not bumping the shoulder back a mil or two, you are not achieving what is possible in terms of straighten out cases with a full length sizing die.

On a side note. Not all dies are capable of bumping shoulders back on new brass. I’ve had to chuck up a few dies and turn off a few mil in order to bump shoulders on new brass.

My only real experience was with .300 win mag brass and it was decent enough.

Yes, I did.

I've loaded a fair amount of PPU .30-30 brass. Haven't measured anything, but it seems to be as good as other brands. No problems so far.

I purchased a 100 case bag last year in .308. Not as good as Hornady or Lapua, but didn't expect they would be. All I did was run them through a Lee Collet Die, trim to size and load. They appear to be annealed as well. Some difference in group size, but not sufficient to be a cause for concern. Overall, seems like a decent deal for the price.

The only PPU brass I have tried is new 6.8spc brass and it sucks.

I shot about 30 of the cases to develop some loads. I ran the once fired cases through the normal prep and when I went to prime them, the primer pockets were loose enough to where I could push in primers with my fingers. And they were not hot loads.

I still have about 170 cases of new once and done PPU 6.8 cases. They are significantly heavier than any of the other brands that I use.

As for annealing new brass, probably a waste of time. The manufactures anneal the brass as they manufacture it. The new cases may not have the annealing coloration, but thats because most clean/polish the brass as a last step.

Run a.323 expander from a 8mm Mauser (tapered ball if you have one) in and out then run in your Nagant FL die. For unfired new cases. It essential "fires" the case neck and creates a supported shoulder the FL dies can shape.

A .338 would work too but going up more than one caliber is a bit excessive and leave uneven mouths. Be sure to have the ball centered as best as you can and use dies of similar case size. It will work some, so a neck anneal may be in order.

That can cause considerable neck run-out.

Just a heads up for what ever it is worth. You are way over pressure on your loads. As you mentioned, “the cases are significantly heavier” which reduces cases capacity. Less case capacity means you should be reducing charge weights. I am assuming this is what is happening as I have made the same mistake once or twice in the many years I have been reloading.

It can most definitely cause considerable run out. It can also correct significant run out as well.

A lot depends on your equipment and skill level of the operator, in my opinion. A jerky operator is his own worst enemy at times, when it comes to making good concentric ammo.Among other mistakes I have made in my years of doing this, is being in a hurry and getting too quick on the press handle. ( major contributor to crooked ammo )

akaSawDoctor,

"A lot depends on your equipment and skill level of the operator, in my opinion. A jerky operator is his own worst enemy at times, when it comes to making good concentric ammo. Among other mistakes I have made in my years of doing this, is being in a hurry and getting too quick on the press handle. ( major contributor to crooked ammo )

There is a LOT more involved than being a "jerky operator." Brass consistency is a MAJOR factor in handload accuracy, and you apparently don't understand why--or even how to determine brass consistency.

Sorry for being so blunt, but there it is.