How many times can Lapua .223 brass be loaded?

DaveInPA · January 2, 2009, 08:34 AM

I'm thinking about buying some Lapua brass for my precision .223 loads. Has anyone ever used it, and how many times were you able to load it before it needed to be tossed?

45Marlin carbine · January 2, 2009, 08:51 AM

not .223 but X39 and it's easily the best I've used. I've loaded some as many as 5 times so far. no neck splits.

DaveInPA · January 2, 2009, 08:52 AM

I was hoping to get a lot more than 5 loadings out of it considering how expensive it is. Hopefully the .223 lasts longer!

Sam06 · January 2, 2009, 08:57 AM

Dave I have never used the 223 Lapua but I do use the 6mmBR brass. I will say its the best brass I have ever used. That said I am not so sure it is worth the expense. Its very consistent in weight. The flash hole is smaller so you need to have a very small de-primer pin.

I did a test to see if it was more accurate and it did win but by a very small margin. I load the 6mmbr in a custom gun with a tight neck chamber and have to turn down the necks(Yea its a Pain in the Biden) but it does shoot good. I use the gun for BR matches and Ground hogs. I thought about getting some Lapua in 308 for my sniper match gun but have not wanted to spend the jack on it. I get a lot of loads out of the Lapua brass. Some have been loaded 45 times. I have to re anneal the necks after between 10 and 12 loadings But that is with a tight neck gun and tuned neck cases. I have to use a several dies to get the brass to last that long all are custom made or close to it. Accuracy is not cheap as we all know

I have a Rem 700pss in 223. The guns action was blueprinted and re chambered. I like the newer Lake City brass and find it shoots very good and lasts a long time. I would say its almost on par with Lapua.

The 6mmbr website has some good info on Lapua brass. They also have some good info on the 223. It is here:

http://www.6mmbr.com/index.html

What are you shooting the 223 out of?

DaveInPA · January 2, 2009, 09:01 AM

It will be used for AR-15 precision loads. I'm not expecting it to be any more accurate than my current Remington and WCC brass, I'm buying it because it's been reported that it can be loaded anywhere from 10-15 times. That's impressive!

Sam06 · January 2, 2009, 09:17 AM

Dave, I think I would use some of the LC brass for that self shucker. You will be paying 3 times as much for Lapua over say Winchester Brass. You MIGHT get that many loads out of it but maybe not. 60 Bucks a 100 is a little steep for me in 223. I would rather spend the money on really good bullets and do a good job sorting the brass by weight and prepping it. I think with a little time and elbow grease I could get LC to shoot as good as Lapua and last almost as long. Its your call though I hope my opinion helps you decide...................Sam

DaveInPA · January 2, 2009, 09:21 AM

Basically I'm not interested in annealing my brass, which I'm sure is part of the elbow grease you're talking about in getting the less expensive brass to last as long as the Lapua. I'd rather spend that time shooting

We'll see how it goes. I got it for $39/100 pieces so it wasn't quite as bad as the $60/100 you mentioned.

Sam06 · January 2, 2009, 09:43 AM

You got a good deal go for it. Let us know how many loads you get out of it. I have not tried Lapua in a autoloader. The 6mmBR site has some good info on making brass last. I follow it for most of my brass and it works. When I get brass new here is what I do, short version and it doesn't take that long:

1. Inspect it
2. Sort by weight and keep it sorted that way, forever
3. Check length and trim to the shortest case to make them all the same size
4. De burr primer pocket
5. Size it
6. Check length again
7. turn neck just a little for factory cartridges*
8. de-burr/ neck in and out

Load it a shoot it......Then its neck size form there on out with a hit on a body die every 3 loadings. But that is for a Bolt gun. For an auto you will work the brass a bit more.

* I set my neck turning tool to just scrape the brass a little. You have to practice this but it will take off the high spots and make the neck perfectly round. This keeps neck tension the same. With this method I can make even a dog of a gun shoot good as long as the barrel is not jacked up.

DaveInPA · January 2, 2009, 09:49 AM

Thanks for the tips. As far as sorting by weight, what sort of "ranges" do you sort them in? I'm sure every single weight reading doesn't have it's own bin on your bench, haha.

Sam06 · January 2, 2009, 10:15 AM

Dave here is a good article on it:

http://home.comcast.net/~jesse99/caseprep.html

This guy goes into a lot of detail and is a little anal but its good info. When i weigh cases I look for BIG Number like .4 gr differences. Most brass made today will hold that, but you do get brass that is outside that and it needs to be ID'ed. Weighing the brass is not 100% to be 100% you have to measure the volume. That means filling with water and measuring the volume. I don't do that but guys like David Tubb do.

I don't shoot 1000yd anymore there are no ranges her to do it with in driving range so i stick to 600yds and in.

You guys up in PA should have some good Ground Hog shooting. There is guy up there that makes Ground Hog guns in 300 WIN Mag with a slow twist barrel to shoot 125gr bullets at like 3800fps. He makes hits to 1000yds on ground hogs and blows them to pieces.

You got a good deal on the lapua brass. If he has any 6mmBR for around that price PM me please, I would appreciate it. Norma and Lapua brass is almost a buck apiece delivered. I don't think Remington makes any 6mmBR anymore. I can form it from 308 or 243 but its a pain, and not really worth it.

January 2, 2009, 08:34 AM	#1
DaveInPA Senior Member Join Date: January 20, 2008 Location: Berks County, PA Posts: 1,106	How many times can Lapua .223 brass be loaded? I'm thinking about buying some Lapua brass for my precision .223 loads. Has anyone ever used it, and how many times were you able to load it before it needed to be tossed?

January 2, 2009, 08:57 AM	#4
Sam06 Senior Member Join Date: May 19, 2008 Location: Fayettenam Posts: 1,086	Dave I have never used the 223 Lapua but I do use the 6mmBR brass. I will say its the best brass I have ever used. That said I am not so sure it is worth the expense. Its very consistent in weight. The flash hole is smaller so you need to have a very small de-primer pin. I did a test to see if it was more accurate and it did win but by a very small margin. I load the 6mmbr in a custom gun with a tight neck chamber and have to turn down the necks(Yea its a Pain in the Biden) but it does shoot good. I use the gun for BR matches and Ground hogs. I thought about getting some Lapua in 308 for my sniper match gun but have not wanted to spend the jack on it. I get a lot of loads out of the Lapua brass. Some have been loaded 45 times. I have to re anneal the necks after between 10 and 12 loadings But that is with a tight neck gun and tuned neck cases. I have to use a several dies to get the brass to last that long all are custom made or close to it. Accuracy is not cheap as we all know I have a Rem 700pss in 223. The guns action was blueprinted and re chambered. I like the newer Lake City brass and find it shoots very good and lasts a long time. I would say its almost on par with Lapua. The 6mmbr website has some good info on Lapua brass. They also have some good info on the 223. It is here: http://www.6mmbr.com/index.html What are you shooting the 223 out of? __________________ The two most abundant elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.

January 2, 2009, 09:17 AM	#6
Sam06 Senior Member Join Date: May 19, 2008 Location: Fayettenam Posts: 1,086	Dave, I think I would use some of the LC brass for that self shucker. You will be paying 3 times as much for Lapua over say Winchester Brass. You MIGHT get that many loads out of it but maybe not. 60 Bucks a 100 is a little steep for me in 223. I would rather spend the money on really good bullets and do a good job sorting the brass by weight and prepping it. I think with a little time and elbow grease I could get LC to shoot as good as Lapua and last almost as long. Its your call though I hope my opinion helps you decide...................Sam __________________ The two most abundant elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.

January 2, 2009, 09:43 AM	#8
Sam06 Senior Member Join Date: May 19, 2008 Location: Fayettenam Posts: 1,086	You got a good deal go for it. Let us know how many loads you get out of it. I have not tried Lapua in a autoloader. The 6mmBR site has some good info on making brass last. I follow it for most of my brass and it works. When I get brass new here is what I do, short version and it doesn't take that long: 1. Inspect it 2. Sort by weight and keep it sorted that way, forever 3. Check length and trim to the shortest case to make them all the same size 4. De burr primer pocket 5. Size it 6. Check length again 7. turn neck just a little for factory cartridges* 8. de-burr/ neck in and out Load it a shoot it......Then its neck size form there on out with a hit on a body die every 3 loadings. But that is for a Bolt gun. For an auto you will work the brass a bit more. * I set my neck turning tool to just scrape the brass a little. You have to practice this but it will take off the high spots and make the neck perfectly round. This keeps neck tension the same. With this method I can make even a dog of a gun shoot good as long as the barrel is not jacked up. __________________ The two most abundant elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.

January 2, 2009, 10:15 AM	#10
Sam06 Senior Member Join Date: May 19, 2008 Location: Fayettenam Posts: 1,086	Dave here is a good article on it: http://home.comcast.net/~jesse99/caseprep.html This guy goes into a lot of detail and is a little anal but its good info. When i weigh cases I look for BIG Number like .4 gr differences. Most brass made today will hold that, but you do get brass that is outside that and it needs to be ID'ed. Weighing the brass is not 100% to be 100% you have to measure the volume. That means filling with water and measuring the volume. I don't do that but guys like David Tubb do. I don't shoot 1000yd anymore there are no ranges her to do it with in driving range so i stick to 600yds and in. You guys up in PA should have some good Ground Hog shooting. There is guy up there that makes Ground Hog guns in 300 WIN Mag with a slow twist barrel to shoot 125gr bullets at like 3800fps. He makes hits to 1000yds on ground hogs and blows them to pieces. You got a good deal on the lapua brass. If he has any 6mmBR for around that price PM me please, I would appreciate it. Norma and Lapua brass is almost a buck apiece delivered. I don't think Remington makes any 6mmBR anymore. I can form it from 308 or 243 but its a pain, and not really worth it. __________________ The two most abundant elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.

January 2, 2009, 08:51 AM	#2
45Marlin carbine Junior member Join Date: January 26, 2007 Location: South-Western North Carolina Posts: 1,124	not .223 but X39 and it's easily the best I've used. I've loaded some as many as 5 times so far. no neck splits.

January 2, 2009, 08:52 AM	#3
DaveInPA Senior Member Join Date: January 20, 2008 Location: Berks County, PA Posts: 1,106	I was hoping to get a lot more than 5 loadings out of it considering how expensive it is. Hopefully the .223 lasts longer!

January 2, 2009, 09:01 AM	#5
DaveInPA Senior Member Join Date: January 20, 2008 Location: Berks County, PA Posts: 1,106	It will be used for AR-15 precision loads. I'm not expecting it to be any more accurate than my current Remington and WCC brass, I'm buying it because it's been reported that it can be loaded anywhere from 10-15 times. That's impressive!

January 2, 2009, 09:21 AM	#7
DaveInPA Senior Member Join Date: January 20, 2008 Location: Berks County, PA Posts: 1,106	Basically I'm not interested in annealing my brass, which I'm sure is part of the elbow grease you're talking about in getting the less expensive brass to last as long as the Lapua. I'd rather spend that time shooting We'll see how it goes. I got it for $39/100 pieces so it wasn't quite as bad as the $60/100 you mentioned.

January 2, 2009, 09:49 AM	#9
DaveInPA Senior Member Join Date: January 20, 2008 Location: Berks County, PA Posts: 1,106	Thanks for the tips. As far as sorting by weight, what sort of "ranges" do you sort them in? I'm sure every single weight reading doesn't have it's own bin on your bench, haha.