Lapua 6.5x55 brass neck thickness?

[GJgo]

Can someone with Lapua 6.5 swede brass (new, not turned) measure their neck thickness for me? Or, measure the overall thickness with a loaded round? I'm putting together an order for Redding bushing dies and need to figure out what bushing to start with! My searching didn't turn up much on this one... All I found is one guy using a .296 for a 2 thou press but that seems a bit wide to me. TIA

 

[atblis]

http://benchrest.com/showthread.php?41341-6.5X55-Swede-neck-thickness

 

[GJgo]

Thanks atblis. That thread has good information such as "Watch the runout on the Lapua brass for this caliber.... I've seen it great and I've seen it complete junk with .007 to .008 of runout for wall thickness variation.", however it doesn't actualy say what the thickness (..or range of thickness) on new Lapua brass is. They're mostly discussing custom tight-neck chamber dimensions.

 

[atblis]

Yeah. It was the closest thing I could find. They did give loaded round diameters which indirectly tells you the brass thickness (unfortunately not for Lapua).

So close

I checked my records and raw Norma brass ran about .2945 avg on a loaded round before turning and RWS ran .2965" on a loaded round before turning. For some reason I didn't record this number for the Lapua brass that I've shot.

Norma (0.2945"-0.264")/2 = 0.01525"
RWS (0.2965"-0.264")/2 = 0.01625"

I have a 0.292 neck in my 6.5x55. I use Lapua brass neck turned to a 0.013 neck thickness, which gives me a complete clean-up. I also run low neck tension, and have been very happy overall, with nice ES/SD numbers and no probs with brass at all, even when running hot loads.

Apparently a little > 0.013". 0.015" would be my guess. A 0.291 then? I think it varies enough from lot to lot that you might be best served waiting for your brass and measuring.

 

[GJgo]

Thanks again. I've never seen RWS brass, and I've heard that Norma Swede brass isn't very good. (although it's great in my 300 WSM) so I was going to stick w/ Lapua. This is just a hunting rifle so I'm hoping I don't have to turn the necks!

 

[atblis]

Norma brass tends to be a little on the soft side. Other than that, it's quite decent.

 

[USSR]

GJgo,

My loaded 6.5x55 ammo using Lapua brass measures .295" at the neck. I use a .294" bushing when loading them. Norma brass has slightly thinner necks, and the quality of the brass is NOT EVEN CLOSE to that of Lapua.

Don

 

[GJgo]

Exactly what I needed, thanks Don.

Funny how some companies have brass in calibers that they make good, and others that they don't. Makes me wonder if some of it is farmed out..

 

[GJgo]

I verified today with calipers that Winchester & Remington Swede brass have a .473 head. By chance does anyone know if Nosler Swede brass has a .473 or a .480 head? I've heard mixed results about the Nosler brass in various calibers.