Question about Lapua (Alexander Arms) brass

[achristian8]

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[achristian8]

I also want to thank everyone for your replys. I have been a member here for years and active on the forum off and on. With the pandemic and spending more time at home it really is a blessing to have a resource for questions like these and a small community of people with the same interest.

Adam

[sneaky one]

You can also remove the stem and chuck it up in a drill- sandpaper spin -hone it down . 1000-2000 grit wet or dry, add a drop of water . Go to .002 under sized.

Go to local auto body repair shop- ask for a small piece . It's usually free

I did that for polishing the inside of 2 dies, that imprinted a ring upon bullets being seated. BFT was at my home 5 years ago- we noticed the same ring upon his die .


I still need to fix his die--- Eagle calling Raven ! Hee

Sharp edge from machining that the factory forgot to remove from Forster dies.

[Yondering]

I never knew that Lapua brass had smaller flash holes than every other manufacturer. Since the decapping pin is a lot FATTER than the flash hole and you have a press with a lot force coming down on it things tend to get STUCK! I never had brass with smaller than usual flash holes before never thought there would be brass with flash holes smaller than my decapping pins..no mystery. In fact at first I thought something was wrong with the brass!

I never had decapping problems with over thousands of pieces of brass on 10 or more different calibers being deprimed over 30 years of reloading. I guess you are lucky not having this problem, but it is a real EASY fix once I knew what the problem was and it only cost me 3 pieces of brass no big deal!


BOTH my Lee Universal decapping pin and the Hornady FL resizing pin are too fat for Lapua brass, I never bought Lapua brass or ammo for any other caliber except for my 6.5 Grendel and never thought there would be an issue.

For me it is way easier and cheaper to just file down the Lee decapping pin and unscrewing the replaceable decapping pin on the Hornady FL resizer; since the brass is already decapped there is no reason to keep the decapping pin on the expander ball. I find that easier than to swage flash holes on 100's of pieces of brass. I was literally done in 5 minutes.

[LRRPF52]

[Razorback]

Yeah... I was responding to you. The brass got stuck on BOTH my Lee Universal Decapper pin and The Hornady FL resizing pin and THEY GOT STUCK TIGHT!

Since I decap and clean ALL of my brass on EVERY caliber BEFORE I reload... it takes ME the same amount of "steps", so there would be NO "advantage" for me or anyone else using a universal decapping die. Since I NEVER resize dirty brass or resized once fired brass I bought that has media, gunk, dirt, sand, pebbles, or anything else that can end up in them that can wreck havoc on dies. Universal decappers also great on military crimped primer pockets that chew up decapping pins on FL resizers! I don't even reload once fired brass that I have shot without depriming them first! Again...I clean ALL my brass first before I reload them!

Depriming, via a universal decapping die, has been standard practice for me for decades and will remain standard practice.

The easiest solution for ME and people who DECAP their brass before they reload. Is to simply file down a $1.00 decapping pin to fit through Lapua flash holes and UNSCREW the replaceable decapping pin on my Hornady FL resizers decapping ball and you are done without molesting the flash hole or making it larger. It could not be more simple or cheaper in my application!

[Klem]

RB,

Each to their own but I don't normally decap before tumbling, except for two situations;

1. With fired military brass. The universal de-primer comes out followed by getting rid of the military crimp burr.
2. Fired brass with loose primer pockets. I run a marker pen over the base when seating a primer feels loose. Then after firing it's identified. De-priming clears the pocket for the swaging tool to make it tight again. Then back with the rest to get cleaned together.

Even when the ultrasonic cleaner comes out for really dirty cases the primer stays in.

[achristian8]

[Razorback]

RB,

Each to their own but I don't normally decap before tumbling, except for two situations;

1. With fired military brass. The universal de-primer comes out followed by getting rid of the military crimp burr.
2. Fired brass with loose primer pockets. I run a marker pen over the base when seating a primer feels loose. Then after firing it's identified. De-priming clears the pocket for the swaging tool to make it tight again. Then back with the rest to get cleaned together.

Even when the ultrasonic cleaner comes out for really dirty cases the primer stays in.

AMEN...Klem, you are right to each their own.

In my experience DECAPPING cleans my brass the BEST, hands down. When I wet tumble my brass with pins it even cleans the primer pockets until they are shining like new, in my experience NOT decapping the primers doesn't leave a clean primer pocket. To me it makes more sense to decap the pins. Again, there are many ways to skin a cat, as long as the cat gets skinned. Choose the method that is easiest, most sensible, cost effective and convenient for your application!! That is how I approach things.

[Klem]

RB,

I guess I'm more focussed on what happens down range. I find shiny clean or stained/dirty brass makes no difference to group sizes. Primer pockets can be black and it also makes no difference.

I do tumble my brass however, to get the inside necks the same surface friction and any large dirt or sand off the case for the dies. Brass that hasn't been used in a while is a bit less slippery so that gets tumbled as well.

[Razorback]

RB,

I guess I'm more focussed on what happens down range. I find shiny clean or stained/dirty brass makes no difference to group sizes. Primer pockets can be black and it also makes no difference.

I do tumble my brass however, to get the inside necks the same surface friction and any large dirt or sand off the case for the dies. Brass that hasn't been used in a while is a bit less slippery so that gets tumbled as well.

Klem,
to each their own....I guess...LOL!

[Mad Charlie]

RB,

Each to their own but I don't normally decap before tumbling, except for two situations;

1. With fired military brass. The universal de-primer comes out followed by getting rid of the military crimp burr.
2. Fired brass with loose primer pockets. I run a marker pen over the base when seating a primer feels loose. Then after firing it's identified. De-priming clears the pocket for the swaging tool to make it tight again. Then back with the rest to get cleaned together.

Even when the ultrasonic cleaner comes out for really dirty cases the primer stays in.

Klem, I may have missed/misunderstood something. Do you have a tool to swage primer pockets TIGHTER?

[Klem]

I use an RCBS primer pocket swager with its large primer rod and spud. When the large spud can't fit into the small pocket it splays the brass instead.