I use Lapua, Lake City Match, and some Federal Match. The federal is a bit soft so I use it in a short range gun (300-500M) using 168 Sierras. This rifle has a tight neck (.334) and requires turning. The barrel is a 14 twist so it's not really suitable for long range. I use lake city in it as well and like it better than the Federal. Seems as consistent and I can load it hotter if I want to.
For long range I use Lapua brass and 155 Scenars in a twelve twist barrel and Federal brass with Sierra 190's in a 26cm twist (Swiss barrel). I really like the Scenars. They don't shoot quite as well as the Sierra 168's but they are close and are better in the wind and work well at long range. For me, the 175's have shot OK but not quite as well as the Scenars. I have shot some 178 A-Max and they shoot quite well but not as well as the scenars.
I turn necks in the lathe by pressing the case onto a mandrel. With the Lapua brass, only about five per hundred will wobble much when they are on the mandrel. Both Federal and the Lake city show about fifteen percent wobblers. Some IVI brass I turned had about twenty percent which did NOT wobble. Still, performance on the target was close enough that I can't pick one brass over the other based on scoring.
I found the same thing with my 6.5x55's. Lapua brass was plainly straighter and more concentric. In fact it was measuably better in all respects; except on the target. My best scores were fired using Remington brass. I don't think the brass actually had anything to do with it. At long range, whether or not I am having a good day judging the wind outweighs all other factors! Regards, Bill
