KEITH MYERS
New member
I see now where guys are thinking the old cardboard box Lapua brass in 6BR is better than the new Blue plastic box. Why?
Whats With This Anti-Blue Box Brass?
- Thread starter KEITH MYERS
- Start date
jackie schmidt
New member
Good Grief, here we go again. The price of "unobtanium" just went through the roof...........jackie
Eddie Harren
Member
What are those experts, over there, measuring their brass with? If it is dial calipers the whole thing is BS!
Y
-Yo-
Guest
The new 6BR brass necks ARE thinner -- by design.
Here is what Kevin Thomas of Lapua posted on the 6mmBR.com Forum. Bottom line, the necks have been thinned about .001 (per side), to increase total tolerance.
Hey guys,
we’ve noted the recent threads on forums and bulletin boards concerning case neck issues with our 6mm BR brass and would like to clarify a few things.
There has been a minor change in the dimensions of the case necks, but there has been no change on the minimum/maximum specifications of the case itself. We had run some previous lots of this brass at the high end of the tolerance range, with neck walls averaging about .013” in thickness. While this has very little effect in the case itself, we found that ammunition run at this dimension would sometimes fail to chamber properly in CIP gauging. This means that it could conceivably have had interference issues in some very tightly chambered rifles; an unacceptable situation. To resolve this, the necks were reduced enough to have the ammunition fall closer to the mid-range of the tolerance called for in both CIP and SAAMI specs. This results in case necks of more recent production runs being closer to .012” and eliminates the potential for clearance problems in the more tightly chambered rifles.
There has been no change whatsoever in the annealing process or brass hardness beyond that found in normal lot to lot variation. While some have suggested a difference between the brass purchased in the new blue plastic boxes and the older cardboard boxes, the boxes they came in is the only difference. The switch to the new plastic boxes did not coincide with any change other than the boxes themselves going from cardboard to plastic.
In opening this thread, Lynn posted a picture of a badly split neck. He explained that he was necking the case up to create a false shoulder before doing a fireforming operation to create a wildcat case. Unfortunately, even with properly drawn and annealed cases, such forming operations will sometimes result in such splits. It happens sometimes during factory production, and it will happen during similar operations conducted by individual handloaders. When starting off with a hundred cases for a given forming process, it’s prudent to assume that you’ll lose a few along the way. The numbers or percentages involved will vary depending on how extreme of a reforming operation is being done and the particulars of the process that's used. Naturally, we stand behind our products, and are more than happy to replace anything which is truly defective or out of spec. In cases such as splits and cracks caused during case forming operations, these need to be evaluated on an individual basis. As always, if there's anything I can do to help, or answer questions concerning our products here, please feel free to let me know.
Kevin Thomas
Lapua USA
Here is what Kevin Thomas of Lapua posted on the 6mmBR.com Forum. Bottom line, the necks have been thinned about .001 (per side), to increase total tolerance.
Hey guys,
we’ve noted the recent threads on forums and bulletin boards concerning case neck issues with our 6mm BR brass and would like to clarify a few things.
There has been a minor change in the dimensions of the case necks, but there has been no change on the minimum/maximum specifications of the case itself. We had run some previous lots of this brass at the high end of the tolerance range, with neck walls averaging about .013” in thickness. While this has very little effect in the case itself, we found that ammunition run at this dimension would sometimes fail to chamber properly in CIP gauging. This means that it could conceivably have had interference issues in some very tightly chambered rifles; an unacceptable situation. To resolve this, the necks were reduced enough to have the ammunition fall closer to the mid-range of the tolerance called for in both CIP and SAAMI specs. This results in case necks of more recent production runs being closer to .012” and eliminates the potential for clearance problems in the more tightly chambered rifles.
There has been no change whatsoever in the annealing process or brass hardness beyond that found in normal lot to lot variation. While some have suggested a difference between the brass purchased in the new blue plastic boxes and the older cardboard boxes, the boxes they came in is the only difference. The switch to the new plastic boxes did not coincide with any change other than the boxes themselves going from cardboard to plastic.
In opening this thread, Lynn posted a picture of a badly split neck. He explained that he was necking the case up to create a false shoulder before doing a fireforming operation to create a wildcat case. Unfortunately, even with properly drawn and annealed cases, such forming operations will sometimes result in such splits. It happens sometimes during factory production, and it will happen during similar operations conducted by individual handloaders. When starting off with a hundred cases for a given forming process, it’s prudent to assume that you’ll lose a few along the way. The numbers or percentages involved will vary depending on how extreme of a reforming operation is being done and the particulars of the process that's used. Naturally, we stand behind our products, and are more than happy to replace anything which is truly defective or out of spec. In cases such as splits and cracks caused during case forming operations, these need to be evaluated on an individual basis. As always, if there's anything I can do to help, or answer questions concerning our products here, please feel free to let me know.
Kevin Thomas
Lapua USA
jackie schmidt
New member
Ho heck, what does this Kevin Thomas guy know. There is much more reliable info on the good ole rumor mill
..............jackie
..............jackie
B
Brad Niese
Guest
Are the thinner necked 6br brass still able to make 30br brass with a 0.01 neck?
Pete Wass
Well-known member
It has never made sense to me to make brass with necks so thick one needs to turn.006 off them to get them down to where the chamber is cut. I often wondered why folks don't have reamers made with .334 or .336 necks. The only reamer I have had made to date was a .332. The brass would have easily stood to be cleaned up with a .336 with allowing .002 clearance.Personally I would prefer a thicker, more robust neck on my cases.
I think Lapua made a smart move going to thinner necks.
For those running the popular 'no turn' .271 or .272 6BR chambers, it gives a bit of a safety margin in case the reamers neck diameter is on the low end of the +/- tolerance. And there's no downside for those cutting the necks for either a tight neck 6BR or a 30BR aplication.
Good shootin'. -Al
For those running the popular 'no turn' .271 or .272 6BR chambers, it gives a bit of a safety margin in case the reamers neck diameter is on the low end of the +/- tolerance. And there's no downside for those cutting the necks for either a tight neck 6BR or a 30BR aplication.
Good shootin'. -Al
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C
caroby
Guest
SGJennings
New member
Hope they do the same to the 220 Russian and 6.5 Grendel that I use, too.
I have about 5 or 6 cardboard boxes of 6BR Lapua brass....$135 a box, mailed anywhere in the UNIVERSE!!!!!
E
eww1350
Guest
Making 30BR brass out of the new thinner wall "blue box" Lapua 6mmBR brass is the real issue...I just fireformed 100 pieces into 30 caliber..none would come close to cleaning up at .010"...all had to be turned to .009" and 10 or so of the 100 left small areas that would not cleanup...It might make it if you expanded the necks instead of fireforming into the 1.560" chamber (Schmidt Texas Longneck ) 30BR...
) 30BR...
T
TedH
Guest
I have several of the early cardboard box's of 6BR I need to get rid of as well. I am told by several people that should know that my lot of brass are even better than Greg's lot.
A
amamnn
Guest
I wonder a couple of things about this new improved Lapua 6BR brass, having stopped using it and gone to the $Norma$ version sometime before this new box came out. I understand the need to be more consistent--which is one reason I switched-- but Norma seems to have accomplished that and kept a consistent and thicker neck wall. Could not Lapua do something similar and still keep prices below $Norma$? Also, I wonder what, if anything, Lapua is doing to correct the odd and inconsistent primer pocket I kept finding in their 6BR brass? Lastly I wonder how "green" the new Lapua blue plastic box is. Is it as recyclable as cardboard--a lot cheaper? Eh? In a country where we will soon be shooting gawdknowswhat (but not lead) cored bullets we might need to know......
R
rcw3
Guest
Whew - lucky I used a set of digital calipers in that photo instead of a set of "dial calipers" or everyone would think "the whole thing is BS".
Some of the postings people make on this forum are hilarious!
Robert Whitley