New Barrel - fire forming req?

[Dangermouse]

As previously mentioned, Mik Mak has re barrelled my Remington 700 with a 32" Border Barrel 5R job.

I believe that I am going to have to re size all my brass, ready to be fire formed in the new chamber.

Before I waste the best part of the day in the freezing attic, do I have to, or will I only know once I try to load a round with the cases as they currently are?

DM

[ovenpaa]

I would say the only way to really tell is by chambering a round fired from your 700 barrel, as the new one is for F/TR it has to be a 'standard' chamber but Mik's reamer could well be to a more precise grind than those used by Remington who may well be middle/upper end of SAAMI specification.

[Dangermouse]

Think I will wait and see, no point waisting time,

DM

[The Gun Pimp]

DM

Firstly, I would strongly recommend starting off with new (Lapua) brass in your new barrel.

But, if you want to run it in with your old 308 brass, full-length size it an see if it chambers OK - if it does - shoot it.

I've found that running a fairly stiff load - as most of us do in F/TR - brass should be binned after about 5 or 6 firngs for best results.

No need to fireform new 308 brass in a 308 chamber - just shoot it - I shot brand new brass in the Europeans.

Cheers
Vince

[Dangermouse]

Is there a good supply of Lapua Brass?

So far John @ HPS has been looking after my re loading needs. As a regular attender at Bisley I find him a good reliable source of Parts and info.
Just had a look at his web site and see that he is not listing .308 Lapua brass,

I will be putting in an order to Sinclair's (I promise), would it be cheaper to get it from over there?

DM

[ovenpaa]

DM have you thought about the new small primer LAP .308's?

[Dangermouse]

I have read about the small primer brass but have also read that it was an idea that the original guys have now dropped and returned to large primers.

I would be interested to hear if Vince or Laurie are using / tried them.

DM

[lapua338]

DM, I don't know what people on this forum are paying for LAPUA brass these days or what is considered a reasonable price? Last time I purchased 0.308 brass I paid 47.00 EUR from http://www.shooting-supplies.eu/index.php. Which at the time was around £41.00 per hundred.

I have also purchased Redding 7.5x55 Swiss dies from their webshop. Shipping is pretty quick (usually around 3-4 days in Europe) and there's free shipping up to 150 EUR.

[ovenpaa]

Going price around our parts seems to be GBP50, give or take, I have not looked at http://www.shooting-supplies.eu in ages so thank you for posting the link and reminding me. It looks like you have to spend over 200€ to get the free shipping to the UK though.

Christel was talking to one dealer about a 10% discount for forum members however they are not the cheapest and I am not sure if they will post.

Christel?

[The Gun Pimp]

I think Lapua 308 is about £50 a 100 box. Hannam's Reloading always have it in stock. Foxy had a ton of it at Bisley for the Europeans.

The small primer puts a bit more 'meat' in the head area which helps to stop the pockets expanding and thus makes your brass last a bit longer. It's significantly dearer though - so 'swings & roundabouts'.

I've not tried the Lapua version but I tried some of the Remington stuff way back in the mid-nineties.

Remember - nothing shoots like new brass - change it as often as you can afford to.

Cheers
Vince