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338 Lapua - Best Brass?

300 NMI Preferred Brass

  • Lapua

    Votes: 37 84.1%
  • Peterson

    Votes: 4 9.1%
  • ADG

    Votes: 3 6.8%

  • Total voters
    44
  • Poll closed .
I've only used Lapua brass and have loaded close to 600 rounds(some with 11 firings on it and primer pockets are still tight,etc.)but I don't push it too hard(I only use 88.5 grs. of H1000 behind Berger 300 gr. OTM's for 2735 fps).I also anneal every time with an AMP MK II.
 
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A long long time ago I found a deal on Sellier & Bellot factory loads. That brass has served me very well through 7 firings. Tried that with Nosler and came away unimpressed.

Bought two 'test lots' of Lapua several years back when I saw a price drop on it at Midway. Will likely put one of them into service this year.
 
Good poll.
My first question is are you hunting or shooting ELR matches?

I've loaded probability 3000+ rounds of 338LM one of my favorite carteidges for long range hunting and shooting ELR Light Class. It's also the preferred cartridge when I train students in my Long Range Class each month. So lots of rounds reloaded.

Peterson is a good long lasting cartridge that I use a lot. It's weight is just a bit heavier than then the Lapua brass. I have not loaded the ADG. I have also reused Barnes, Hornady and Nosler 338LM brass. Nosler was the worst to reload but new was good. Barnes is the heaviest of all of them. Solid sturdy brass. Hornady varied the most in weight but was close to some Peterson brass but usually lighter.

What that means. The lighter the brass the more volume you have for powder. However the same charge in heavier brass produced more velocity.make sense? The Lapua brass performs well but ran 30fps slower than Peterson which took me out of my accuracy node. Had to had .3 to .4 grains of H1000 to get back into node. No big deal really.

I voted for Peterson because consistency and value. Lapua is really good brass but in the end I sold it off as it was more economical to standardize on Peterson. I use Barnes for practice ammo, barrel break in and hunting.
 
When I was load .338LM, I tried Hornady factory to get some brass. It shot quite well (250gr) but of the 20 brass, I lost 5 or 6 to initial failure - loose primer pockets and splits, and after the first reload, all of them. I found the brass too soft.

I was able to get 2 x 5gal pails of once fired Lapua brass from the military at no charge (helps to have friends at the ammo dump). At the same time I got 2 x x5gal pails of once fire Norma .308 brass for the same price. My friend and I went for libations.
 
Out of those its Lapua. It's the best out of those 3. Alpha IF available is the best brass PERIOD then Lapua IMHO.
In anything I have I always look for Alpha brass if not available then Lapua 2nd.
 
Lapua for my 338 Allen Xpress (basically an improved 338 LM)Currently running RL26 powder and getting 2.950 fps with 300 gr. bergers in a 28" barrel. Haven't used Peterson or ADJ for the big 338 yet. The Lapua brass is just too good to retire. Currently on my 14th reloading of th brass with tight primer pockets and very little expansion at case head.
 
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