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Posted: 2/18/2017 4:11:58 PM EDT
[#1]
Being that they are for a AR that you will need to full size every time to run through the rifle, Since they are case gauging fine, and mic'g for OAL for trim lengths fine, them reload them as they are. But will add, may still want to do some brass prep, such as de-buring the inner flash hole channels.
If way they where for a Bolt action rifle that you are only going to neck since once fired formed from that point onward, same applies, with just adding in a second step after they are neck sized after firing forming, being to double check your OALs before being reloaded again. |
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Posted: 2/18/2017 11:30:24 PM EDT
[#2]
Since you bought Lapau brass, the case prep is done.
Check for proper neck tension, then load. |
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Posted: 2/19/2017 12:19:15 AM EDT
[#3]
I usually neck size for neck tension and trim to uniform length.
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Posted: 2/19/2017 12:31:31 AM EDT
[#4]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Since you bought Lapau brass, the case prep is done. Check for proper neck tension, then load. This.. people that will tell you to size and trim first probably have never bought Lapua brass. I have never bought 223 but I have a few hundred 338 Lapua and about 700 Grendel. I case gauged and measured many of them before I loaded. They were sized and trimmed more uniform than I could have done. Why make it worse. This doesn't hold for Hornady and Norma brass which have both been a disappointment to me. Dented necks, etc.. |
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Posted: 2/19/2017 4:01:27 AM EDT
[#5]
If the neck size is to your liking, you don't need to do any more since the shoulder datum is already within specs.
When and if the necks are not where you want them, or if there are dented necks, I have had lots of luck with .30 and .223 by straightening and adjusting the factory sizing with a Lee Collet Die. The taper on the mandrel will straighten and round out the worst of dents, and then the collet will size them without case stretch. |
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Posted: 2/19/2017 1:47:30 PM EDT
[#6]
At a minimum with Lapua brass, you need to neck size or use an expand iron mandrel to uniform the case necks. The brass takes a beating traveling from Finland to US then to distributors then to dealers and finally to you.
It seems that with the transition from the cardboard boxes to the blue plastic several years ago the cases take more a beating. |
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Posted: 2/19/2017 5:03:39 PM EDT
[#7]
Thanks for the responses guys. I contacted Lapua on their web site and got a prompt and friendly reply - on a Sunday afternoon as well! They say they are pre-prepared and I'm ok to go straight to loading them. Tomorrow I'll just plop one or two in the breach to be totally sure.
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Posted: 2/19/2017 7:50:14 PM EDT
[#8]
I will try to put some numbers to this question a little later. I shot some reloads today with untouched Lapua 223 brass straight out of the box, a string with trimmed but unsized and a string with resized and trimmed. Made a big difference in neck tension, you could feel it seating bullets, and extreme spreads were impacted significantly.
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Posted: 2/19/2017 9:11:04 PM EDT
[#9]
I always chamfer the case mouth and use a expander mandrel in the first station on my press before seating the bullet in order to uniform neck tension.
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Posted: 2/19/2017 10:33:27 PM EDT
[#10]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
At a minimum with Lapua brass, you need to neck size or use an expand iron mandrel to uniform the case necks. The brass takes a beating traveling from Finland to US then to distributors then to dealers and finally to you. It seems that with the transition from the cardboard boxes to the blue plastic several years ago the cases take more a beating. This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^. Any new brass, neck size or use a mandrel to iron out the necks. The can and do get damaged during shipping. |
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Posted: 2/20/2017 12:13:30 AM EDT
[#11]
Unprepped
ES=42 fps Ave = 2759 SD = 17.84 Trimmed ES=21fps Ave=2763 SD=7.69 Sized and trimmed ES= 13 Ave=2768 SD=5.40 Neck tension writ large. |
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Posted: 2/22/2017 4:41:52 AM EDT
[#12]
That's a very intriguing exercise, many thanks for doing that. SD = spread or standard deviation? Does resizing tighten necks then?
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Posted: 2/22/2017 5:54:54 AM EDT
[#13]
You can adjust neck tension by using bushing dies with interchangeable bushings of different diameters.
If done with an expander ball or mandrel, you can actually decrease neck tension, consistency is important. Some non bushing dies will run up to 0.004 (brass thickness will affect this.). Lately, I have been trending toward less neck tension in bolt action. Autoloaders still need about 0.002 to keep bullets from pushing back into the neck. With new brass, a little neck lube, graphite, motor mica or the like is a good idea as well. |
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Posted: 2/22/2017 6:07:59 AM EDT
[#14]
Quoted:
Snip A word of caution, Lapua brass comes from the factory with way too much neck tension. You will either need to neck size new Lapua brass or run an expander mandrel (Sinclair International) or Expandiron (K&M) to get something closer to .002" to .003" of neck tension. Bolt actions only need .001" of neck tension. Anything higher than .003" of neck tension is detrimental to accuracy. This guy is worth listening to, this is taken from a thread on duplicating FGGM 308 |
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