lapua vs winchester brass

[wj kerr]

good evening all have a question here regarding brass.i have heard many times that lapua brass is one of the best makes on the market, i have been using winchester and see nothing wrong with it.here in the uk 100 pieces ww can be bought for around 30 pounds sterling as apposed to 65 for lapua . is lapua really that much better and if so in what way . im loading for a duice thanks in advance wj.kerr.

 

[kelbro]

I like that you don't have to sort Lapua. It is very uniform. Sorted Winchester brass does just as well for me on target. Most batches of WW brass that I have sorted yields 80-85% so there is a little cost difference.

 

[RyanM]

If you're shooting 2 cm groups at 100 meters already, Lapua brass and working up a new load will probably tighten them up some. If your groups are 6 cm, Lapua probably won't make a difference.

Lapua may also last for more loadings, but I believe the difference is proportional to the price, at best.

 

[45ACPUSER]

The price is made up in case longevity, and the lack of time doing match prep with Lapua brass. Winny brass is great stuff and with match prep it will do well. But, either brass would benefit from using a bushing die either Forster or Redding......decrease the work hardening of dragging the expander thru the neck.....

 

[Myke_Hart]

Check out this brass longevity test done by handloader magazine.

The results will surprise you.

.308 brass fired until failure.
Handloader magazine #257 December 2008-January 2009


In the case of .308, Lapua brass is not worth the expense vs Winchester if you are going for longevity.
But Remington might be the way to save some dollars.

 

[Myke_Hart]

To further go down the rabbit hole.

Same article titled Developing a accurate .308 load
Handloader magazine #257 December 2008-January 2009

Virgin .308 case accuracy


Once fired .308 case accuracy


Moral of the story, don't go to a competition with Virgin brass!!!

Anybody want my unfired Lapua so I can buy some Nosler?:banghead:

 

[Leaky Waders]

wow that is really some neat data - I'll have to order me up some handlaoder magazine.

 

[THplanes]

The chart on brass life is pretty much useless. He only tests one case of each type. I'd bet that if you use 10 cases of one type that they won't all fail on the same shot.

 

[Afy]

Lapua brass is fairly consistent. Though you do need to prep it for best results. I use Lapua brass for my 6 BR and 7.62x39. The brass is definetely more consistent than the other makes in terms of sizes and wieghts.

 

[918v]

Was it the exact same powder charge for each case brand? If so, then the difference in capacity explains the accuracy difference.

 

[Marlin 45 carbine]

ditto Afy, the X39 loads I make with Lapua group a bit better than anything else and last much longer before neck splits than Win.
IMI, PMC and PMP brass do well too.

 

[taliv]

those charts do not reflect my experience at all. did they really only test with ONE case of each type?

though i don't have the tools to test it, my bet is that the difference is lapua's brass is measurably harder than winchester's.

 

[627PCFan]

I bought over 100 cases of Winchester 6.5x55 brass when I rechambered my rifle. I had as much as 6 grains variance out of the 100, and 20% of the flash holes were offset/not dead center to the primer pocket. They have since been replaced with Laupa. Wont make that mistake again.