New Lapua Brass - load and go or prep first?

[peterdobson]

The necks are tight so some method of expansion to the proper ID is a good idea. Usually .002" less than bullet diameter.

 

[MartyK2500]

I find the 21st century/Sinclair standard expanding mandrel to fit the bill perfectly for this.
They are usually 1 thou smaller than neck dia in my experience, but you end up with 1.5/2.0 thou neck tension once spring back has had it’s effect

 

[todbartell]

I just run the expander ball in the neck to iron out dings.

Seating a bullet in the neck will do the same

 

[mikeelliot]

Expander mandrel, chamfer, and load.

 

[bigedp51]

I full length resize all new cases, this ensures the case body and neck are straight and in perfect alignment. The cases are banged around in shipment and checking the new cases for neck runout will convince you to full length resize them. Neck sizing or just using a expander mandril does not ensure the neck and case body are in alignment with each other. Then trim and deburr and prep as needed.

My 2 cents, the best part about reloading is the person pulling the press handle decides how to do it.

 

[kawicrash]

I'm prepping new 6.5x55 Lapua brass, and the necks are very tight, about 2-3 thou. under a sized case.
With these and the .308 I bought recently I got 101 pieces in each, small bonus!

 

[bcsteve]

Seating a bullet in the neck will do the same

As long as you're not a Fudd who uses flat base bullets.

 

[Slimbo]

I just seat my flat based bullets backwards

 

[bigedp51]

Quote Originally Posted by SuperCub View Post
"If it was all about saving money, we'd all be shooting Stevens 200s in 30/06."

Forgive me I must be a cheap bastard and have two Stevens 200 rifles, a .243 and a .223 HBAR with a 26 inch barrel.

Don't tell anyone but the Stevens 200 .243 has a Tasco scope and is very accurate.

 

[Ganderite]

I neck size and then champfer the case mouth.

 

[kthomas]

I just run the expander ball in the neck to iron out dings.

This.

I've shot some of my tiniest groups with virgin lapua brass.

 

[peterdobson]

Seating without uniforming ID works but will result in uneven neck tension which is not conducive to best accuracy.

FL sizing is unnecessary.

Regards,

Peter, the Lapua distributor

 

[chuck nelson]

What I do...

Run a brass bore bush inside the neck to rough it up just a little,
Dip the neck in graphite dry neck lube,
Run expander mandrel
Neck turn when required for tight neck barrels

Then just prime, powder, and seat a bullet.


Since doing this vs just loading without any prep at all, I can get real accurate loads out of my zero fired brass.

This is what I do. I prefer Hornady one shot in the neck to the graphite though.

 

[hawk-i]

I like to prep my lapua brass by first inserting a primer. Then I carefully weigh a powder charge and pour it in. Then I seat a bullet about .010 off the lands and shoot the prick.

Yep, thats pretty much what I do as well...

 

[ryanthace]

I have had a few pieces of lapua brass in 308 that would not chamber in my tikka arctic, luckily I only loaded one before I noticed. Now I do a measurement check on all the brass I plan to reload just in case. Other than the 4 I found that were too large the rest were good to go right out of the box and shot well.

 

[Rehner23]

I just loaded 30 rounds of .223 with new lapua brass. I didn’t prep them at all and noticed a big variance on neck tension while seating projectiles. From now on I will size and use an expanded mandrel to get them as consistent as possible.

 

[EC]

Expander mandrel, chamfer, and load.

This is what I do as well.