308 Lapua Cases

[phillh]

Hi all,

I recently bought 200 new 308 Lapua cases and went through the process of neck turning all of them, just taking off the high spots. I have only used them 3-4 times each mostly using 46.0 gr 2208. Some I put in 46.5 gr for the 800 at NSW Queen's. During the Queen's I encountered some rain during shooting and the cases would of got some moisture on them but they weren't swimming in it.

When I reloaded all my cases I noticed when I was using the primer tool some of the cases were hard to get into the case holder and some I had to force them in, these also had very little friction when loading the new primers, I would classify some of these as "loose". I kept these a side and shot them in practice then discarded them.

After this I have increased my normal load to 46.5 gr 2208 and no obvious signs of excess pressure looking at the fired primers. I have found another 10-15 cases with the same primer pocket looseness and problem getting into the primer tool shell holder.

Can this issue only be from excess pressure from the increased powder load or are there other factors which could cause this?

Cheers,

[DaveMc]

Simply rain Phill,
A very slight amount of moisture on the outside of the case and the case loses its ability to grip the chamber. If you are running on the warm side first thing you will see with wet cases/chambers is extra force on the bolt head and case head pressure symptoms such as expanded rim, web, extraction groove etc and of course loose primers. Primers look normal as there is no extra presuure it is just pushing the case back harder and affecting the case head.

[Barry Davies]

Getting cases wet ( shooting in the rain ) will cause this.

[phillh]

Thanks guys,

I thought I had culled all my previous cases which I shot in the rain, and I found another 10 last night? That is why I am asking the question of any other reasons.

Cheers,

[Bindi2]

I have just dumped 300 Lap cases 2nd and 3rd firing with all those problems and mine have not been wet. 45.4 to 46gns 2208. First and last venture into Lap brass. A fellow club member has done something similar. No more Lap crap for me.

[Peterla]

Thats interesting
I have lapua 223 cases I am using and they have been great.
I have now just about finished my 308 and purchase 200 small primer lapua cases
Are you using the small primer ones or the normal large primer ones
I am really hopping thay last longer than you guys got.

[phillh]

They are the large primers.

I have bought many in the past with no issues.

Regards,

[shooter mcreid]

Phil, I believe Peterla is talking about Lapua's palma (small primer) version of the 308 case.
With 46.0 of 2208 I start getting some loose primers around 4 or 5 firings.

[Peterla]

Yep that right I have the Lapua palma brass
Hope I get more then 4 out of those as they are neck turned and that did take some time.
Pete

[Bindi2]

Large primers. Had a 3rd fired case primer fall out on case extraction, flame cut bolt face. Ran the mirc over them binning those that failed then realized they were nearly scrap or scrap so scrapped the lot. Even some new ones went in the bin. Not one of my Winchesters range or hunting cases with 10+ loads were close in expansion.
Straight over priced rubbish.

[williada]

I had a problem once with a batch of soft Norma brass but there are other reasons why good brass can fail. As Dave indicated wet brass places pressure on the case head. Likewise anything that does not allow the case to grip the chamber walls sufficiently will do it. Simple things like not removing the sizing lube from the case or the oily cleaning residues left in the chamber or tumbling media that leaves cases with that greasy feel or for that matter a polished chamber. If the problem persisted with other brands, then I would be suspicious an oversized chamber or a chamber that does not give long enough base support and where the bold head distance from the barrel tenon is too great.

[Quick]

4 firings, jeezus. I run 46gr 2208 with 155gr all the time and have zero issues. Have some cases which have some slightly loose pockets but by that I mean they don't feel as tight as brand new. many of my cases would have 10 firings on them and still great. This is small primer brass. I have a lot of Large primer brass that went 16 firings until I stopped using them due to loose pockets and I ran some very hot loads during testing.

[jcinsa]

I use Lapua 308 cases with the large primer pockets and get 15 reloadings before some primer pockets start loosening.

As soon as this happens I retire them

Regards

John

[ned kelly]

G'day all,
all new brass needs at least 1-2 firings with moderate loads to work them before hitting them with "normal' loads otherwise you will find the softer brass flowing like this.
In SR BR we always gave the cases 2 firings before using full match loads.
These cases would then last the life of the barrel, up to 50-100 reloads or more.
Cheerio Ned

[Longranger]

There is something very wrong if cases only last 4 firings. I have never had Lapua cases fail that quickly, even with softer brass batches. This is with the .308. Some Weatherby super magnum cases with hot loads were scrapped after 6 firings but that was expected... They were Norma cases too.

Mostly Lapua is my preference.