I should be receiving my Grendel upper in 3 to 4 weeks. Now it is time to get ammo! I reload all my stuff for the most part and have different 6.5 bullets for my 260. I will buy loaded ammo to start off with. I see Wolf is quite a bit cheaper but is using LR primers. I am yet to read that somebody has reloaded this stuff w/ the LR configuration and hated it. In fact a lot of loads I have seen mention that LR primers are in the recipe which would mean Wolf brass to me. I probably won't be reloading my initial purchase of ammo more than 5 to 8 times. What is the trade off vs. the Lapua, AA or Hornady brass?
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Wolf brass is the softest of the three, and the only one with large primer pockets, and will stand up to the fewest reloadings before the primer pockets loosen. If you push the load at all, or load on the high end of accepted, you will find that you might only get one reload before the pockets loosen signficantly.
Hornady brass is well made, small primer pockets. Some have reported that they get 5-7 reloads on it before they start to see primer pocket issues. I have some brass with 7 reloads on it, but only shooting lighter loads, and it has held up well.
Lapua brass is the best brass readily available. I have 20+ reloads on some of my Lapua brass, and I do not anneal. I tend to lose 1-3 pieces per 100 after 10 -15 reloads, mostly due to cracked necks, but that number has dropped somewhat since I switched to bushing dies which better match my chambers.
You seek escape from pain. We seek the achievement of happiness. You exist for the sake of avoiding punishment. We exist for the sake of earning rewards. Threats will not make us function; fear is not our incentive. It is not death that we wish to avoid, but life that we wish to live. - John Galt
I didn't know primer size and bra size were related! I learn something new every day on this forum! ;-)
+1 on what bwaites posted, I've had the same experience. I haven't put that many shots on my Hornady brass so none of mine has failed yet, although I load it near the max.
The Hornady brass is roughly 60% the cost of Lapua brass. The Hornady brass come in boxes of 50, so you can buy smaller lots if you are pinching pennies. It looks the Lapua brass may be a better long term value by a small margin.
Sometimes you can get a deal on ammo, like Alexander Arms case lots of 200 rounds of the 115 grain Berger hunting bullets.
When you factor all that in the brass gets pretty cheap. The Alex-A store is not working as of this writing, so I don't know if that case lot deal is still available.
Otherwise I'd get the Hoarnady 123 loads. It's very good for factory ammo and seems to shoot well in most Grendels.
RR
They still have the case lot of the 115 berger.
I haven't reloaded my Wolf brass yet, but I may make some plinking loads with it. My Lapua is holding up very well. I haven't loaded Hornady for the Grendel, but I have loaded it for other calibers, and it seems quite hard. I get more life out of it if I go ahead and anneal it sometime early in the reloading process before it splits. It's not hard, a shallow pan of water about half way up the cases and a blow torch. Heat them until they glow red pretty good and knock them over. They last much better that way. You can see the annealing marks on the Lapua brass when it arrives.
I reload my Wolf. They aren't the greatest brass. But, they are worth reloading ..... at least till they crap out.
