Suitable brass

Watermain

Active Member
A good day for me, all round. The Sako 75 6.5X55 Swede collected from the excellent Northampton Gun Company. The rifle is excellent. Now I have to get the T12 re-threaded to 14M - dammitt!

I've started myself off with 100 rounds of Federal Classic in 140gr. Gosh they look tiny-wee after a quarter of a century using .308 ammo.

The question....... is Federal brass as good as any for reloading? should I go down that route.
 
I'm glad to hear you have collected your rifle, I hope you have a long and happy life together.

For the brass, this is one of those situations where people have their own preference for a certain brand of product. If I were you I would just keep the Federal brass and give it a go. It is considered by many to be one of the premier makes. Next you will want to know whether to neck size only, or full length, then there is the question of primers mmm.........

Welcome to the dark side.

John
 
Oh dear God. Really? I mustn't get too bound up with this. You simply wouldn't believe how much I have going on in my life: competitive yachting; semi-pro angling around the world; genealogy; vintage rod restoration; family; trying to stay married in spite of all the diversions, etc, etc. It may be a world too far.

I collected the rifle this morning, and the does that were eyeing me up flirtingly this morning have disappeared as if they have sprinkled themselves with flue powder (Harry Potter).

Oh! I've just remembered gralloching. Urgh! About 150 beasties behind me, and still it makes me shudder. I need a Gentleman's practical gentle-man in tow. Maybe that's a subject for another thread, but it's such a dreadful thing to admit. I HATE gralloching, and I'm nae so good at it either. A sheltered townie upbringing has its downsides.
 
I have just got into the reloading thing Watermain, from what you say I am about a month ahead of you - so still plenty to learn

I shot Federals in my 6.5 and kept all the brass, even though I was never sure if I would get into reloading or not. Federal brass is very good for reloading.

I have just re-sized 200 cartridges and then chucked in my mates tumbler, they are now all primed and ready to be filled. Just waiting for scales to arrive from the States and I can start the trial and error phase!

The little I have leart so far is keep it simple, and try and get an experienced mentor.
 
Watermain

Slightly off topic.... you might be interested to have a look at http://www.csvenator.com/ They have a CD that demonstrates the cleanest method of gralloching that I ve ever seen. I use that method for Roe and Fallow in SE England , and it is the best way to go, IMHO

T260
 
Federal Brass will be fine for reloading. I have tried most types of brass, from Winchester (yuk) to Lapua (expensive)... all have proven adequate. The only brass I would avoid is the nickle plated stuff; it seems to crack much easier; I am guessing it is more brittle?

Chops
 
Gralloching, practice makes perfect, the fact you dislike it makes the job harder. Stick with it it gets a lot easier, soon you dont even think about. It just becomes part of the job to hand. :confused:

Find a pal to assist you with the gralloch, or someone in the know who can talk you through the process. I dont mean the actual task but rather the anatomy. This will help you understand the job and may help put your mind at rest.

Fed brass is ok, but you only get out what you put in. Lap brass whilst not cheap will give more reloads per cartridge than any other. I get 5-7 reloads from my brass (Lapua) so the cost isnt a factor. The main factor here is good consistant brass, which is easy to work with little effort.
 
I use to use Federal brass but it's soft and doesn't last to long conpared to the Lapua stuff. Have reloaded using the winchester cases and didn't think much of them as all.

One thing though, I would recomend looking at getting a case tumbler as it makes the handelng of the cases easier and less messy also give them a nice shine.
 
Watermain/ Chops,
I once bought some Nikel plated cases for my .243 and found that they are more brittle. Also, if you didn't chamfer the necks, you sometimes had a ring of bullet casing that had been peeled off by the sharp edge pf the case.
I found that Winchester cases were ok and did 8-10 reloadings before the neck became too thin, but now use Lapua. Yes, they are expensive but one batch I have are on their 15th reloads.
Good luck with the re-loading I'm sure you will enjoy it.
 
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