Fire Forming Lapua 7.62x39 Brass

[1911man]

So midway has Lapua Brass on sale right now and it has me considering buying some 7.62x39 brass to fire form for the Grendel. I can get 100 pieces for $59 rather than $95 for the actual grendel brass. Does anyone think this idea is just plain crazy? What are my cons in doing this? The pro is price obviously. Do you guys think I will still be able to get the same number of reloads out of this brass as I would actual grendel brass?

Thanks for the input.

Here is a link to the brass I am looking at: http://www.midwayusa.com/product/506...?cm_vc=rotator

[BluntForceTrauma]

I believe the guys who've used 762x39 brass can fit slightly less powder, so your velocities might be a bit lower than what you're used to. Not a big con, but there it is.

If I wasn't stocked up on brass and really wanted Lapua, I'd look into hydro-forming their 762x39 into 65G and make up for the lowered velocity with a lighter bullet. Or, hell, who cares about an 1/8 inch more drop at 300 yards due to reduce powder?

[LRRPF52]

Large Rifle Primer is one thing to consider, plus the time it takes to size and fire-form.

[Bwild97]

I would not buy NEW x39 brass just to have to fire form it and hope to get several reloads out of it. By the time you have it all F' formed you'll be half way to having payed retail for Lapua Grendel brass. You can get new PPU Grendel brass for the same price, as the Lapua x39 brass. And get several reloads out of it.

The best thing to do with x39 brass is to stock pile it, if brass ever becomes super difficult to get again you can load that x39 brass up and shoot it as is, its just as accurate as regular Grendel brass. If you loose a case or two while hunting or plinking, no biggie. Go to gun shows and scoop up all the x39 bras you can, try not to pay more than 5 pennies per piece or $25 for 500pcs.

I have buckets of range x39 brass saving for a rainy day

Oh and if you ever find Remington x39 brass scoop it up asap! Its small primer brass!

[LR1955]

So midway has Lapua Brass on sale right now and it has me considering buying some 7.62x39 brass to fire form for the Grendel. I can get 100 pieces for $59 rather than $95 for the actual grendel brass. Does anyone think this idea is just plain crazy? What are my cons in doing this? The pro is price obviously. Do you guys think I will still be able to get the same number of reloads out of this brass as I would actual grendel brass?

Thanks for the input.

Here is a link to the brass I am looking at: http://www.midwayusa.com/product/506...?cm_vc=rotator

1911man

Buy the real Grendel brass, Lapua, Hornady,or PPU.

The 7.62 X 39 Brass holds significantly less powder, gets three or maybe four shots to a piece of brass due to the large rifle primer and reduced case capacity, and you will need to inside ream after a couple of shots to get rid of the donut that will form from sizing down the neck like you have to do. Not sure about Lapua but the IMI brass was thicker so it paid to have a sizing die that used different size neck collets to get good neck tension without overdoing it.

We used the stuff because at the time the only place making Grendel brass was Lapua and would sell out in the USA in a week or so then take over a year to get more. Also, the IMI 7.62 X 39 brass was under $.20 a piece at the time and Grendel brass was about $.60 a piece if you could find any.

Basically we either used the 7.62 X 39 brass or we didn't shoot.

Buy the Lapua Grendel brass and it will not fail you. It will also last much longer and will save you money over the life of the brass.

LR55

[1911man]

1911man

Buy the real Grendel brass, Lapua, Hornady,or PPU.

The 7.62 X 39 Brass holds significantly less powder, gets three or maybe four shots to a piece of brass due to the large rifle primer and reduced case capacity, and you will need to inside ream after a couple of shots to get rid of the donut that will form from sizing down the neck like you have to do. Not sure about Lapua but the IMI brass was thicker so it paid to have a sizing die that used different size neck collets to get good neck tension without overdoing it.

We used the stuff because at the time the only place making Grendel brass was Lapua and would sell out in the USA in a week or so then take over a year to get more. Also, the IMI 7.62 X 39 brass was under $.20 a piece at the time and Grendel brass was about $.60 a piece if you could find any.

Basically we either used the 7.62 X 39 brass or we didn't shoot.

Buy the Lapua Grendel brass and it will not fail you. It will also last much longer and will save you money over the life of the brass.

LR55

Thanks for the info, I will stick with hornady for now. As far as ppu goes I have several ppu cases with loose primers after just 1 reload

[Roe]

... plus the time it takes to size and fire-form.

Very important point.
To me, putting some overtime in at work would make up for the $40 difference a lot faster than prepping the brass (plus I could spend my free time doing soemthing other than reloading).

[Rust]

I agree with the other guys. It's worth it to just buy 6.5G brass rather than mess with fire forming from 7.62x39. I picked up a bunch of the Lapua x39 brass back in the early days when Grendel brass was hard to impossible to find. (And still have most of it untouched) I found that it shot well even with the fire forming loads so I would hardly consider those shots as wasted or an added expense as some people do.
But it is a fair amount of work to neck turn or ream to remove the doughnut, and get the necks evened out for best accuracy. Compressing the necks down to size frequently left them slightly thicker or thinner on one side than the other, particularly with lower quality x39 brass. And in the end you do loose a little bit of case capacity, and presumably shorter case life expectancy. Also the necks were shorter which may produce a less stable bullet, and hurt peak accuracy potential.
Since many guys are 10+ loading's in with Lapua 6.5g brass, and estimate 5 ish out of the x39, you might as well just pay the extra up front for the better suited brass. I'm at 5 reloadings with no issues with mine and expect it will handle a few more moderate loads, but have switched to 6.5 brass unless I anticipate loosing some.

[am4966]

PF sells grendel lapua brass @ 85.00

[LRRPF52]

There is also Nosler brass available now, made by Norma. It's comparable in quality to Lapua so far. Very nice brass out of the bag, chamfered, ready to load.