Question for those who have been shooting the new Norma 6PPC brass

B

Boyd Allen

Active member
Have any of you ever had a click with one of these cases? The reason that I ask is that they are a little smaller just above the extractor groove than Lapua, and I would like to know if this makes the Norma brass less subject to developing a click.
 
boyd
I havent ever had any issues with the Norma brass. Like we have talked about though, i never run those real high pressures. I really like the Norma brass other than the short factory Head space. Even that is an easy fix, when chambering a new barrel. I think its good stuff. How much smaller is the Norma compared to Lapua? Lee
 
...about one and a half thousandths at the top (front) of the extractor groove If clicks are caused by the solid head of the case increasing in diameter under the pressure of repeated firings of hot loads, this should delay the onset, because of the additional clearance, if Norma brass is as hard headed as Lapua. Like any theory, this one needs confirmation. That is the reason for this thread.
 
Boyd Allen said:
Have any of you ever had a click with one of these cases? The reason that I ask is that they are a little smaller just above the extractor groove than Lapua, and I would like to know if this makes the Norma brass less subject to developing a click.
Click to expand...

I have consumed about 200 pieces of the Norma brass, and I have never had any click with them which should add up to way above 4000 shots.

What I do not like about them is that they are a bit softer making them grow more when the pressure is high, and I am no fan of cutting brass for length too often. Hence I am back to Lapua which I think grow less and more consistently compared to Norma.

The primer pocket is also slightly smaller and not as deep as Lapua - detail, but I do not like it.

I should add that I have won matches using Norma brass.
 
The problem that I had with the New Norma 6PPC brass, which I eventually gave up on, was that about every fourth round, the brass would not extract. As soon as I returned to Lapua, the problem went away.
 
HopeToBe said:
What I do not like about them is that they are a bit softer making them grow more when the pressure is high, and I am no fan of cutting brass for length too often. Hence I am back to Lapua which I think grow less and more consistently compared to Norma.

The primer pocket is also slightly smaller and not as deep as Lapua - detail, but I do not like it.
Click to expand...

Very good to know. Thanks. I think I'll stick with Lapua too.
My least favorite thing in reloading is trimming. Followed closely by primer pocket uniforming. Just did the pockets on 100, Winchester .243 Win brass the other day and every pocket was .015" to .020" too shallow to hold a primer flush with the head. Man, does that stink! What shoulda been a 25 minute job turned into a 2 hour marathon trying to ream out all that material.
I love Lapua 220 russian brass because they actually know how tall a primer is! Now if American companies could only figure that part out...................
 
Do you have any information about the specified diameter of your reamer .200 from the bolt face? What die are you using, and how much does is size the bases of your cases? Thanks
 
At .200 I am not sure, but at .125'' ahead of the bolt face it is it is .441''. A fired brass would normally be at .438'' at .200'' ahead of the bolt face if that helps.

The die is custom, and the base is sized .001'' or a tiny bit less (but more than 0.0005''). I normally set the should back 0.0015''.
 
I also noticed the growth issues with norma. I am a trim freak anyway, so i didnt find it to be a big deal. Actually i think quite the oposite. Trimming a couple thou fairly often keeps the tips of the brass in good shape and uniform. My .262 necks ding up real easy so a fresh trim every couple firings, takes care of all those little bugers. Lee
 
Good point, but still...

I see your point but I do not agree still. Reason being that I think the main reason for the increased growth is somewhat softer brass. Give them a few firings and your bullet grip will change more rapidly than what I have the feeling for is happening with Lapua, and lack of consitincy as another element. I normally reduce my bushings by 0.001 quicker with Norma and that is no good feeling either.

But as I have stated before, for free I would use Norma any day since they shoot well being fresh and they are easy to prep. Since that is not case, rather the other way around, I stick to Lapua still.
 
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hope to be
Wouldnt the softer brass take a better value of the neck bishing being used. Harder brass will have more spring back resulting in a lesser value of the neck bushing being used. Is that not the case???
example, if i used a .258 neck bushing on a softer case my actual neck size would be approx .2583 were as harder brass would probably spring back close to a .259 maybe i am not thinking this through properly?? Lee
 
I think that you are correct, but there is one more complication. The amount of bullet pull, which is what we are trying to change when we change bushing size, also depends on how hard the brass is, so a smaller difference between sized and loaded neck diameters with hard brass, may not result in a proportional difference in bullet pull, compared to a greater difference with a softer case. It would be interesting to look at whether there is a difference in jam.
 
Boyd Allen said:
It would be interesting to look at whether there is a difference in jam.
Click to expand...

That was my intention to point out, which might have not been too clear. Sorry about that. However, starting with something "soft" being harder does affect the jam more than starting "hard" going harder. My solution to this shooting Norma was to start with a .256 bushing for a .2605 loaded round which to my measurements limited the change of jam over a few firings with the brass. Still I would like to add that this is an issue that constantly bugs me when it comes to measuring jam regardless of the brass being used, but I do find the least variation using Lapua.
 
Hey, just out of curiosity, how thick are the necks on the new Norma brass (6ppc) right out of the box?
 
Norma brass needs to have a chamber of 265 or less. Out of the box 269 could perhaps work, but I would not do it without measuring them properly.
 
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