Charge Difference between Lapua and Hornady brass.

[SCJim]

If you annealed the brass now, how many more reloads you think the old lapua has left in it (realistically)

Since I began annealing about 12 years ago using a plumbers torch and a drill and socket I have never lost a piece of brass due to neck splits. I have 90 something.308 Lapua Palma brass with close to 30 loadings on them that were always flame annealed still sitting in my case storage. The few that are missing were misplaced through the years, a couple may have developed loose primer pockets. I think that is why I retired them. Not bad for brass that was bought when Obama was President and shot a couple of dozen long range matches. The way annealing works is that it realigns the crystalline structure of the brass regardless of how much work hardening has occurred. You can take brass that has been resized 10 times, mix it with brass that has been resized twice, anneal both and the brass hardness will equal out as long as the time and temperature of the heat was the same or close to the same on all pieces.

EDIT -In regard to the OP, no clue here. All I have ever used in the Grendel is Starline and the highest number of firings is 9 on the stuff I own. Rims and necks tend to get beat to crap on my gas guns. I am still working on the art of reloading and tuning for AR's

[lazyengineer]

For me;

Hornady fired brass holds 36.1 grains of H20 @1.517"
Lupua fired brass holds 36.3 grains of H20 at 1.508 inches
Starline holds 36.3 grains of H20 @ 1.51 inches.
.

Thank you very much for this excellent data. Traditionally Hornady brass tends to be more normal "US Spec" thickness and case capacity in most calibers I've looked at, while Lapua tends to be much more "European spec" of notably heavier brass, and so notably smaller case capacity. This is particuarly true I've seen in 6.5 CM. To see that it's the revers here, in 6.5 Grendel, is unexpected and good to know.

Just MHO, but I personally consider Hornady the base-line benchmark of 6.5 Grendel brass. It runs well, never seems to Kaboom fail, and is also one of the most common. I also tend to view Hornady as the manufactuer who seems to take 6.5Grendel the most seriously.

[LRRPF52]

Since I began annealing about 12 years ago using a plumbers torch and a drill and socket I have never lost a piece of brass due to neck splits. I have 90 something.308 Lapua Palma brass with close to 30 loadings on them that were always flame annealed still sitting in my case storage. The few that are missing were misplaced through the years, a couple may have developed loose primer pockets. I think that is why I retired them. Not bad for brass that was bought when Obama was President and shot a couple of dozen long range matches. The way annealing works is that it realigns the crystalline structure of the brass regardless of how much work hardening has occurred. You can take brass that has been resized 10 times, mix it with brass that has been resized twice, anneal both and the brass hardness will equal out as long as the time and temperature of the heat was the same or close to the same on all pieces.

EDIT -In regard to the OP, no clue here. All I have ever used in the Grendel is Starline and the highest number of firings is 9 on the stuff I own. Rims and necks tend to get beat to crap on my gas guns. I am still working on the art of reloading and tuning for AR's

[SCJim]

I have done none of those but you can bet I will be watching videos and learning how this week

I have very limited experience with gas guns. I have just in the last few months decided to start competing with them. 75% of my experience is with CF bolt , 20% Rimfire, and maybe 5 % with AR's. I do appreciate any and all tips you and others here can provide.

[Dt219]

I would also like to see a video on polishing up the extension teeth. If there is one please post a link

[DHD]

I personally have not seen a video of the process of "smoothing the teeth" but it is something I've done for the last 5 or so uppers I've assembled. I do it before I put the barrel in the upper so I can see and feel what's going on and everything is wide open so to speak. The barrel extention lugs at 3 o'clock are the culprits of the cuts on brass. I've seen it on both 223 and 6.5 Grendel. The sharp edges coupled with a full length ejector spring work together (and with the likelihood of stout loads) in my experience to shorten the life of brass from this issue. I tend to use cratex tips and then polishing tips to smooth the teeth.

Sorry for the hijack....