Would you bother switching brass

I'm getting five firing with Hornady 6.5 Creedmoor brass. Would you bother switching to Lapua small rifle primer brass and would there be an accuracy difference or load development difference going from large primer to small Primer? It can't get any more accurate put it that way. So I don't know if I should bother swapping since Hornady brass is doing extremely well in the accuracy Department. If I can get 10 firings out of the Lapua brass that would be phenomenal...

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Originally Posted by CBIshooter

I'm getting five firing with Hornady 6.5 Creedmoor brass. Would you bother switching to Lapua small rifle primer brass and would there be an accuracy difference or load development difference going from large primer to small Primer? It can't get any more accurate put it that way. So I don't know if I should bother swapping since Hornady brass is doing extremely well in the accuracy Department. If I can get 10 firings out of the Lapua brass that would be phenomenal...

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Yes, you would likely have to change your charge, possibly even powder and I would not waste money on lapua.. if your annealing hornady you should get more than 5 reloads.. i have 7 on my hornady so far.. the reason I say dont waste money on lapua, with a little extra time and effort, you can sort, weigh, prep etc your hornady brass and get match grade consistency. with 200 or so hornady, starlines, I have sorted, prepped and came out with 180 nearly identical cases.. in my opinion, poopua is just not worth $1 + per case

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I do all the above mentioned but the primer Pockets get loose around 4 firings. I run them pretty hot.. 140 grain Eld 2850 muzzle velocity.

I'm of a different thought... I have a .260 Remington and I shoot Lapua brass. I'm on my 10th firing of the same lot of brass (and most likely my last firing) as I'm starting to see the loose primer pockets... the .260 brass uses a LR Primer rather than the small rifle primer (you may get more firings with the small primer pocket).


I used to cringe when I had to drop $100+ on 100 pieces of brass. Now I wonder why I shot anything else.... Just my experience.... And I too am loading them HOT!!!!

One thing to note: Lapua brass is thicker than Hornady & Norma, and when I switched from Hornady, I had to get a new Redding type S bushing sizing die because my Forster die would just crush the necks in... Something to consider perhaps...?

The Hornady brass is pure crap. Lapua cost more because it is worth it in the long run. I have 6.5x47 cases that been fired 35+ times and have out lasted 2 barrels. Never had to prep it or anneal it, and never had a loose primer pocket. If you do the math, that makes the Lapua case 1/3 of the cost of Hornady.

I think it depends on whether you push the velocity of your loads up near Pmax for the 6.5mm CM (63,091 psi) or you stay around 51,000 to 54,000 psi where I find my best accuracy.
At those lighter loads, I am getting 22 to 25 reloads with Lapua brass. The primer pockets wear out before the necks so I don't bother annealing.

If you are wearing brass out in five reloads (I think that was what the five meant in your post), you might have a tight chamber that is increasing the pressure and wearing out your brass.
Have you checked your brass for any telltale signs of pressure?
I had the problem on my 12 LRP when I got it, and recorded pressure signs on the brass (via pictures) at different loads from 57,000 psi down to 38,000 psi and was still getting pressure signs.

I checked with Hornady, who invented the cartridge, and they told me that 6.5mm CM chambers are often bored tight to improve accuracy and that would increase pressure.
The higher pressure from the tight chamber was wearing out the expensive Norma brass primer pockets after 4 reloads.
I sent the pictures to Savage and they had me send the rifle back to them. They bored out the chamber a few thousandths and the pressure signs went away, even at 57,000 psi
The accuracy didn't get any worse, in fact it got better, but I was also really paying attention to my technique and reducing shooter induced variations too so that might have been part of it.

I have had two other 6.5mm Creedmoor Savages since that 12 LRP and have had no chamber issues with either of them at up to 57,000 psi, so

I concluded that the chamber reamer may have been at the end of its useful life when they used it on the12 LRP rifle.

Before you give up on the Hornady brass, I suggest that you check for pressure signs.
If there are, take some pictures and then reduce the loads and see if the reduced loads also show the same high pressure signs. That would indicate to me that you have a tight chamber.
It there are none, and you aren't pushing velocity out of the rifle's accuracy zone, then it might be worth trying different brass.

I believe, Starline also makes 6.5mm CM brass with small rifle primers. That might be a lower cost alternative.
Personally, I use Lapua on almost all of my accurate rifles because I get so many reloads with Lapua compared to what I got with other brass that the price per reload is lower than most other brass I have used.
If I had been able to find Lapua at the time I got my 12 LRP, I never would have bought Norma and Hornady brass with the LRPs to begin with, whether or not Lapua used small rifle primers.

I have recorded some improvement in accuracy since switching to Lapua brass with small rifle primers, but I also made the change from Hornady and Norma to Lapua right after Savage bored out the chambers.

If you do decide to make the change, I found that CCI BR-4 and 400 small rifle primers perform better than Federal 205M small rifle primers in my two 6.5mm Creedmoor Savages.
I have yet to try Remington 7 1/5 Benchrest primers but I probably won't because I just bought another 5,000 CCI BR-4s.

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Originally Posted by CBIshooter

I do all the above mentioned but the primer Pockets get loose around 4 firings. I run them pretty hot.. 140 grain Eld 2850 muzzle velocity.

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Ah, yes sir hot ones will open up pockets:)

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Originally Posted by CFJunkie

I think it depends on whether you push the velocity of your loads up near Pmax for the 6.5mm CM (63,091 psi) or you stay around 51,000 to 54,000 psi where I find my best accuracy.
At those lighter loads, I am getting 22 to 25 reloads with Lapua brass. The primer pockets wear out before the necks so I don't bother annealing.

If you are wearing brass out in five reloads (I think that was what the five meant in your post), you might have a tight chamber that is increasing the pressure and wearing out your brass.
Have you checked your brass for any telltale signs of pressure?
I had the problem on my 12 LRP when I got it, and recorded pressure signs on the brass (via pictures) at different loads from 57,000 psi down to 38,000 psi and was still getting pressure signs.

I checked with Hornady, who invented the cartridge, and they told me that 6.5mm CM chambers are often bored tight to improve accuracy and that would increase pressure.
The higher pressure from the tight chamber was wearing out the expensive Norma brass primer pockets after 4 reloads.
I sent the pictures to Savage and they had me send the rifle back to them. They bored out the chamber a few thousandths and the pressure signs went away, even at 57,000 psi
The accuracy didn't get any worse, in fact it got better, but I was also really paying attention to my technique and reducing shooter induced variations too so that might have been part of it.

I have had two other 6.5mm Creedmoor Savages since that 12 LRP and have had no chamber issues with either of them at up to 57,000 psi, so

I concluded that the chamber reamer may have been at the end of its useful life when they used it on the12 LRP rifle.

Before you give up on the Hornady brass, I suggest that you check for pressure signs.
If there are, take some pictures and then reduce the loads and see if the reduced loads also show the same high pressure signs. That would indicate to me that you have a tight chamber.
It there are none, and you aren't pushing velocity out of the rifle's accuracy zone, then it might be worth trying different brass.

I believe, Starline also makes 6.5mm CM brass with small rifle primers. That might be a lower cost alternative.
Personally, I use Lapua on almost all of my accurate rifles because I get so many reloads with Lapua compared to what I got with other brass that the price per reload is lower than most other brass I have used.
If I had been able to find Lapua at the time I got my 12 LRP, I never would have bought Norma and Hornady brass with the LRPs to begin with, whether or not Lapua used small rifle primers.

I have recorded some improvement in accuracy since switching to Lapua brass with small rifle primers, but I also made the change from Hornady and Norma to Lapua right after Savage bored out the chambers.

If you do decide to make the change, I found that CCI BR-4 and 400 small rifle primers perform better than Federal 205M small rifle primers in my two 6.5mm Creedmoor Savages.
I have yet to try Remington 7 1/5 Benchrest primers but I probably won't because I just bought another 5,000 CCI BR-4s.

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I believe you're right about the tight chamber it's a Criterion match grade bull barrel 28 inch. I also have another Creed with a shilen select match 28 inch bull barrel. And I cannot put the shilen once fired brass in the Criterion will not fit. so yes it is a tight chamber. Thanks for your reply

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Originally Posted by CBIshooter

I believe you're right about the tight chamber it's a Criterion match grade bull barrel 28 inch. I also have another Creed with a shilen select match 28 inch bull barrel. And I cannot put the shilen once fired brass in the Criterion will not fit. so yes it is a tight chamber. Thanks for your reply

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Yep, That's a CBI for you... I love my CBIs...

If your loads are so hot you are blowing the primers after 4 loads I would consider my load first. If you have found that you can't live without running 2850fps with a 140 then go with Lapua or Alpha. Everyone knows the Lapua is good but the Alpha is a cut above most also. Small and large is available. So good they can't keep up with demand.

A good read for you.
http://www.65guys.com/a-look-at-alph...eedmoor-brass/

https://alphamunitions.com/

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Originally Posted by Robinhood

If your loads are so hot you are blowing the primers after 4 loads I would consider my load first. If you have found that you can't live without running 2850fps with a 140 then go with Lapua or Alpha. Everyone knows the Lapua is good but the Alpha is a cut above most also. Small and large is available. So good they can't keep up with demand.

A good read for you.
http://www.65guys.com/a-look-at-alph...eedmoor-brass/

https://alphamunitions.com/

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I ordered some alpha and aside from the ridiculous price it is excellent brass

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I’ve got shilen barrels on my target rifles,260 and 22-250. Last year I tested 50 pieces of lapua vs small rifle primer Peterson brass. The Peterson brass was necked down from 308 Palma brass.
The primer pockets were still good on both brands after 5 firings however the primer pockets started getting noticeably less tight after the 6th firing in some and I was culling after the tenth firing.
The Peterson brass performed excellent in my opinion. I too ran my loads hot in my 260 with 136 grain lapua pills at 2850.
So proceeding forwards I’m going to run Peterson brass.