OCW load development and brass

[Yerman]

Would you say it it better to use brand new never fired Lapua brass for working up a new load, or once fired brass that is formed to your chamber and resized?

[jericho89]

Would you say it it better to use brand new never fired Lapua brass for working up a new load, or once fired brass that is formed to your chamber and resized?

Does not really matter at first you are trying to find the range that is most accurate and then you fine tune to get it really dialed in. In all reality you will end up in the once or twice fired range to find your most accurate load data. So if you have new brass go for it, if not I do not see a need for you to go buy new brass.

[bsumoba]

I would use fired brass in your chamber.

[McGuiver]

Once fired brass from your chamber...


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[baih777]

If you work up a max load and use two or three powders, you will end up with enough once fired brass to do a ladder test. Once you get your load, try some new brass to see if there is a difference.

[Whiterabbit]

you have a choice? 1x. no choice? new is fine too.

[Metal God]

Either or but at the same time I would want them as close to how ever you intend to shoot them every time . If you plan to neck size most of the time then that's how the test should be ran and the same goes for FL sizing or bumping the shoulders back .

But wait what if your new brass is sized down much more then you normally have it when you're just bumping the shoulders back .002 ? So lets say your new brass is sized from datum to head at 1.630 but you've been bumping your shoulders back .002 to 1.636 . Your new brass has a head clearance ( case head space ) that is .008 shorter then your chamber . After that first firing your cases will never be that short again . Do you really want any part of your load development that different the next time you test .

There was a resent thread on here talking about neck only sizing vs FL sizing and what effects that can have on pressure and internal ballistics as a whole . I'm of the thought that most would not detect that difference if comparing neck only sizing to a .002 bump . How ever my opinion changes a bit if that FL sizing or bump is .008 shorter . Now I don't know for sure , I've not done any testing but I'd think with that much space for the case to expand . It very well could effect your internal ballistics enough to show up on the target . Which would likely be more pronounced the longer the distance you are shooting .

So now I'd ask my self . What do I want out of this load and can I and my rifle accomplish that task ? Meaning if you want to shoot 1 moa at 1k but can't shoot 1moa at 100yds . Then don't bother trying to eek out every possible 1/10 moa . You can't shoot well enough to notice if what you're doing is making a difference .

I'm not saying you can't shoot or your rifle is unable . Just pointing out how to look at what you want and know if it's doable .

[BigBronco]

One of the cold hard facts is that even after you finally get your load down, your brass will eventually run out of life. Though annealing will extend the useful life of your brass, you will have to replace it with new from time to time.

It would not be a bad thing to know the most accurate load from virgin brass for those times when you will need to break in a new batch. Look at is as working up a load for new brass.

[Metal God]

I know this is a OCW thread but I'll be the tester anyways doing a ladder test . I just ordered 200 Lapua cases in 308 . The plan is to run a ladder test using the new brass with no prep .

The components will be

175gr TMK
AR-comp
Fed match primer
Lapua brass

I'll then run a duplicate test using the exact same brass in the ladder test but this time only neck sized and I'll see what the difference is if any