Lupau brass life vs Remington?

[zcrenna]

My question is what is the reloading life of Lapau brass against a more inexpensive brand such as Remington or Winchester?

I'm new to reloading and will be loading 308 rounds.

Lupau 308 brass looks to go for about $75 per 100 where Remington looks to be about $40 per hundred.

Of course, I'd like to get the most life out of my brass. But I am also on a budget.
If I can reload Lupau twice as much then obsiously it would pay for itself over time.

What's your guys experience with the life of these brands?
All my loads will be fairly conservative. Nothing heavy.

Thanks.

[Dan Newberry]

The Lapua is well worth the extra money, if you can find it. It'll outlast the RP brass 3 to 1...

[thump_rrr]

Lapua brass has more going for it than longer life.
When you purchase Lapua or Norma bras you will also get much more consistent weight in your cases. I typically get less than 1 grain extreme spread from lightest to heaviest.
Nearly 80% are within 0.5 grains so those are used for target shooting while the other 20% are used for fouling, sighters, or cold bore shots.

Thé flash holes are perfectly centered and appear to be drilled instead of punched.

[jepp2]

My question is what is the reloading life of Lapau brass against a more inexpensive brand such as Remington or Winchester?

A lot will depend on how hot you load and what your practices are. The Lapau brass will be much more consistent out of the box. But if you take the time to prep and sort Remington or Winchester (assume a 20% yield loss), the lower cost brass can be just as consistent. After that they will yield equivalent accuracy.

How much do you set back the shoulder when you full length size? If you are setting back the shoulder 0.005", then any brand is going to experience short case life. If you neck size and just set the shoulder back when chambering becomes difficult, then any will yield lots of loads.

Do you turn necks? Do you uniform primer pockets? Do you remove flash hole burrs? Do you weigh cases and sort? Do you anneal necks? Do you neck size, and if yes, how? How hot are your loads? How do you lube and how uniform is your application? All of these and more will determine case life in # of loads.

[reynolds357]

Lapua and Norma's primer pockets are really no more durable than anyone else's. The necks and shoulders are extremely durable. If you load at moderate pressure, the Lapua/Norma will outlast the cheaper stuff 4 to 1. If you load 5% over max, the primer pocket will get you about the same time on their brass that it gets you on the cheap stuff. For the most part, I use Norma.

[chiefr]

Not only Lapua, but I would especially add Norma as being superior to FC, WW, & R-P.
I have found Lapua and Norma to be uniform in case length and do not have to trim and prep before I reload them.
I too fully concur on the cases lasting much longer.

WW, R-P cases vary as much as .010, especially in the belted magnums.
I have also been impressed with Prvi brass.

[gundog5]

I shoot moa or better with my cheep old Remington/Winchester brass every day all day. I also get 15-20 reloads from my cheep brass. It would really surprise me if anyone was getting 40-60 reloads from lapua. The norma brass I have used never stood out as wow brass. I would recommend trying some of both and work up your loads for the best accuracy. Save your money for bullets, powder and primers. Just my .02

[thump_rrr]

I shoot moa or better with my cheep old Remington/Winchester brass every day all day. I also get 15-20 reloads from my cheep brass. It would really surprise me if anyone was getting 40-60 reloads from lapua. The norma brass I have used never stood out as wow brass. I would recommend trying some of both and work up your loads for the best accuracy. Save your money for bullets, powder and primers. Just my .02

I will agree that any old brass will do to shoot 1 MOA if the rifle is up to it.
I have a Savage 10 BA which gives me 1 MOA all day long with Remington, Federal, Winchester, and PMC brass.
I have spent countless hours trying to make match quality ammunition from all of the above brands of brass.
The difference is I have only been able to shoot .25-.50 MOA consistently with my Lapua brass.
I no longer frustrate myself by trying to make regular brass into high quality match grade ammunition.

My time and money are better spent elsewhere.

[NWPilgrim]

Make sure you balance your spending across all the factors, and for your skill level and intended purpose.

Other than the rifle barrel and muzzle crown, I think one of the biggest factors is the bullet itself. I've seen some low quality bullets that just would not shoot less than 2" at 100 yds (pulled military surplus). In the same .223 rifle I was able to get Nosler 69 gr HP to shoot 1/4" - 7/8" groups.

The next significant factor is powder and charge weight. I have tested a variety of .223 bullets and four powders and some combinations everything seems to shoot well (68-69 gr BTHP and any powder) and other bullets the most accurate powder can still vary from 2.5" groups to 3/4" groups.

Along with decent quality bullets and working up good powder charge ladder tests for them, you need basic case prep. I use regular full length size dies, measure and trim cases, uniform the primer pockets and clean the case really well. That is about it and in different off the rack rifles I can usually find several sub-MOA load combinations. At that point I think I become the limiting factor so I don't put more money or effort into tuning my handloads. Consistently getting 3/4" - 7/8" groups, and occasionally get a 1/4" or 1/2" group is plenty good for my purposes.

To get any tighter groups I am not sure if a better barrel, better dies, better cases, or more sophisticated case prep would be more beneficial.

You might get 100 or so of the Norma or Lapua cases to use for working up test loads. Then have a couple hundred or mre of cheaper cases such as Winchester and see how your loads perform in the Winchester versus your Lapua tests.

[Scottish Highlander]

No one has mentioned Sako brass which is what I use. Is it of a good standard ??

Jamie