The most hotly-anticipated cartridge brass, the new-for-2017 6.5 Creedmoor cases from Lapua, arrived late last week at Graf & Sons. With the strength and uniformity for which Lapua brass is famous, this new brass should definitely “raise the bar” for 6.5 Creedmoor and 6mm Creedmoor shooters. Note — the new Lapua 6.5 Creedmoor brass features a small flash hole and small primer pocket. As of 9:00 am Monday morning this brass is in stock at Grafs.com priced at $119.99 per 100-ct box, with a max order of five (5) boxes.
UPDATE: The 6.5 Creedmoor brass sold out after we posted this story. But there will be more coming. You can ask Graf’s to be notified as soon as the next shipment arrives.
TECH TIP: For those who have been loading Hornady or other-brand 6.5 Creedmoor brass with large primer pockets and large flash holes, you may need to reconfigure your reloading tools. Check your sizing die — you may need to change to a smaller-diameter decapping rod. In addition you’ll need to use a small primer size “pusher” on your priming tool.
Creedmoor Sports will be producing high-quality loaded ammunition very soon. This will be crafted with top-quality bullets, and premium-grade Lapua brass. General Manager Dennis DeMille tells us: “We received four pallets of brass today and we have 13,005 pounds of powder waiting for production.”
Here’s a preview of what will be on the market very soon:
Oh, the beauty of it — all that Lapua brass. From Finland with love….
What does 13,005 pounds (6.5 tons) of powder look like? That would last most reloaders a few seasons. Hoarders, eat your hearts out….
Since 2010, Lapua has shipped its quality cartridge brass in sturdy blue plastic boxes. Here’s a handy tip for you — don’t toss the plastic boxes when you load up your brass! These are double-duty containers. If you’re not familiar with “Blue Box” Lapua brass, you may not realize that the boxes are designed to serve as 50-round carriers for your loaded ammo and fired cases. (Yes we know some folks who’ve been tossing out their blue boxes without knowing how the boxes work as caddies.)
Snapped in place under the box lid is a rectangular plastic grid that fits in the bottom of the box. Pop the grid loose and slide it into the box with the smooth side facing up. Side supports molded into the lower section hold the grid in place.
Voilà, instant Ammo Box! Each grid contains holes for fifty (50) loaded rounds or empty cases. The convertible plastic container/ammo box is a great idea that Lapua executed very nicely. Now you have even more motivation to purchase your cartridge brass from Lapua.
We all know that reloading components have been in short supply in recent months. If you’ve been searching for quality brass, your wait may be over.
A boatload of Lapua cartridge brass has crossed the Atlantic, cleared customs, and is now in warehouses. Many large vendors report that they have ample supplies of Lapua brass in stock now. So if you need some cartridge cases, place your orders today.
Here is a summary of the cartridge types in stock, vendor by vendor. Sorry, no 6mmBR brass on hand at these outfits, but you’ll find most other types of Lapua rifle brass:
Lapua Rifle Cartridge Brass in Stock as of 6/12/2013
To celebrate its 90th Anniversary, Lapua has developed a special new web site with many cool features including contests, product videos, and an interactive shooting game. You’ll find an interesting historical timeline recounting the history of Lapua starting in 1923. The timeline covers development of the factory, important product releases, competition successes, and other important milestones.
Submit your “Best Shot” and Win Prizes
On the site, Lapua invites readers to submit a short description of their “best shot” made with Lapua ammo or components: “Sometimes things just click. When did you have your moment of absolute precision? Share it with us…” Prizes will be awarded each month for the most impressive “best shot” stories submitted by readers. CLICK HERE for more info.
Play Interactive Biathlon Game
Site visitors can play an interactive shooting game featuring Biathon rifles and Lapua Polar Biathlon .22LR Ammo (other rifles and shooting disciplines will be added in the future). You’ll want to visit the Biathlon Game Page to see all the features, but we’ve embedded a sample here so you can see how it works. NOTE: you may have to use the scroll bars at the bottom and right sides. (This is because the game format is larger that our Bulletin “real estate”).
Our friend Robert Whitley of 6mmAR.com has come up with a new, accurate 6mm wildcat based on the new Lapua 22-250 brass that has just started arriving. Robert provides this report:
“I just received a box of the new Lapua 22/250 cases — beautiful brass! My real desire with it was to make it into a 6mm version, preferably something that was ‘no neck-turn’ with a .308 Win-type body taper that would work well in bolt gun and semi-auto magazines and would have a capacity to allow superior velocities. I considered the 6XC, but since you have to bring a whole lot of the shoulder of the brass up into the neck (when you re-form the brass from 22-250 to 6XC) that would necessitate neck-turning it because with Lapua brass the shoulder metal is thicker than neck metal of the brass.
I wanted a simple ‘neck it up and shoot it’ approach so I made up a 6mm-250 Improved 30 cartridge (i.e. 6mm-250 Improved with a 30 degree shoulder) and this thing works great — just neck up the brass, load it and shoot it! The case is like a 6XC with a .030″ longer body and a .030″ shorter neck, which works out fine if you are going to be shooting mainly the 105-108 gr bullets (which it will do very well shooting 2950 – 3000 fps). If you want to hot-rod things, which I do not, I am certain the case can push the 105-108 gr bullets a fair amount faster.
I set it up and throated the reamer for the Sierra 107s and the Berger or JLK 105 VLDs (i.e. a .090″ free bore on the reamer) and it works great with them. If I was going to use it with the Lapua 105s or the Berger 108s I would add about .025″ – .030″ to the freebore of the reamer (i.e. make the freebore around .115″ to .120″).
The great thing is you can use a 6XC die set for it without modification, and all you need to do is keep the dies about .030″ up off the shell holder from their normal position and use them as is. You can make a spacer washer about .030″ thick that you can put on and take off the 6XC dies and use the dies for both cartridges (i.e. 6XC and 6mm-250 Imp 30).
6mm-250 Imp 30 Shows Great Accuracy
Fire-forming loads are real accurate. Here is a 10-shot group I shot prone at 100 yards shooting fire-forming loads with it — the group is the size of a dime. For fire-forming I use a milder, but still very accurate load: 32.0 grains of N140 with a Sierra 107 and a BR2 primer. For fire-formed cases you can jump up to N160 (around 38-40 grains — depending on lot) and it will push the 105-108 gr bullets real accurately in the 2950-3000 fps range, with low ES and SD. This cartridge has a neck length of .268″ which is plenty long for a 6mm shooting bullets with varying bearing surface lengths. The reamer diagram (link below) leaves about a .003″ neck clearance over a loaded round, which seems to work out very well for a ‘no-turn neck’ set-up.
So there you have it … the 6mm-250 Imp 30 is simple, easy to make, accurate as all get out, there are available factory die sets you can use, and it uses great new Lapua brass — what’s not to like!”
If you’re looking for hard to find reloading components, Darrell Holland reports that Holland Shooters Supplies has just received large shipments of powder, bullets, brass, and yes, primers.
Primer inventories now include: Remington, Winchester, and Wolf (small and large rifle; small and large pistol; plus Win shotgun primers). Popular powders in stock include: Hodgdon Varget (plenty), H335, H4895, H4350, H4831sc, H-1000, Retumbo; and Alliant Reloder 22
Holland’s has received substantial supplies of Lapua cartridge brass including: 223 Rem, 6mmBR, 6.5×47, 6.5-284, 308 Win, and 338 Lapua. In addition Hollands has Winchester brass for 223 Rem, 22-250, 243 Win, 6mm Rem, 308 Win, and 30-06. Nosler brass is available in 280 Rem, 280 Ackly, and 7mm STW
Darrell says he’s also got good supplies of Berger, Nosler, and Sierra Bullets: “lots of 308 caliber 168s, 175s, and 210s, plus 50-80gr 224s.” Holland’s also has 70-107gr 6mms in stock, plus 6.5mm and 7mm bullets.
For these reloading components at Holland’s, there is no limit on quantity — first come, first served. A $25.00 Hazmat will cover up to 50 lbs of powder and primers. To order, call Holland’s, (541) 439-5155, 9am to 3:00 pm Pacific Time.
While you’re visiting Holland’s website, check out the new $30 Tactical Shooter’s Pouch on the products page. This unique, ballistic nylon bag holds ammo in elastic loops, plus it’s big enough to carry range cards, a mildot master, spare parts, or even a PDA with a ballistics program.
6mmBR, 220 Russian, .308 IN STOCK MidwayUSA just received supplies of Lapua brass for the hard-to-find cartridges: 220 Russian, 6mmBR, .243, 6.5 Grendel, and .308. If you need Lapua brass in a hurry, you might want to jump on this, as Midway’s inventory will probably sell out quickly.
220 Russian, item 1270320316, $94.99 per 100-ct box 6mmBR, item 1270323515, $80.89 per 100-ct box .243 Win, item 1270235456, $82.34 per 100-ct box 6.5 Gredel, item 1270213283, $104.99 per 100-ct box .308 Win, item 1270187523, $70.99 per 100-ct box
Other Sources Bruno Shooters Supply expects to have more Lapua brass within two weeks. Grafs.com expects another large shipment to arrive fairly soon as well.
Lapua cartridge brass has been in short supply recently. The good news is that a large shipment (of various cartridge types) recently arrived, and both MidwayUSA and Grafs.com are now again showing quantities in stock. Yes, MidwayUSA has 6mmBR, 220 Russian, and .308 Win brass now. You may still have to check multiple sources, and if you wait a week or so, the brass should get to other discount vendors such as Powder Valley. Cabela’s has Lapua brass in stock also… but no 6mmBR or .308 Win.
MidwayUSA now has Lapua 6mmBR brass at $82.99 per 100 (item 1270323515), 220 Russian brass at $97.99 per 100 (item 1270320316), and .308 Win brass at $72.99 per 100 (item 1270187523). MidwayUSA is also showing Lapua brass availability for: 20 Tactical, 222 Rem, 223 Rem, 7.62×39, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5×47, and 6.5-284, 6.5×55, and 30-06. Everything is pretty expensive — for example the 6.5×47 brass is $110.99 per 100 (ouch!).
Grafs.com hasn’t posted all the new Lapua brass it has received yet, but today Graf’s is showing availability of Lapua brass for: 222 Rem ($49.99/100), .243 Winchester ($72.99/100), 6.5×47 ($91.99/100), 7.62×39 ($46.59/100), 30-06 ($89.59/100). We don’t believe Grafs.com received 6mmBR brass in this shipment, but they should get some by early April.
If you still can’t find what you need, Cabela’s has the following types of Lapua rifle brass in stock: .243 Win ($69.99), 6.5×47 ($89.99/100), 6.5-284 ($99.99/100), 30-06 ($85.99/100), and .338 Lapua Magnum ($214.99/100).
We all know that reloading components have been in short supply in recent months. If you’ve been searching for quality brass, your wait may be over.
Our friend Robert Whitley of 
6mm-250 Imp 30 Shows Great Accuracy
For these reloading components at Holland’s, there is no limit on quantity — first come, first served. A $25.00 Hazmat will cover up to 50 lbs of powder and primers. To order, call Holland’s, (541) 439-5155, 9am to 3:00 pm Pacific Time.
220 Russian, item 1270320316, $94.99 per 100-ct box
Lapua cartridge brass has been in short supply recently. The good news is that a large shipment (of various cartridge types) recently arrived, and both MidwayUSA and Grafs.com are now again showing quantities in stock. Yes, MidwayUSA has 6mmBR, 220 Russian, and .308 Win brass now. You may still have to check multiple sources, and if you wait a week or so, the brass should get to other discount vendors such as Powder Valley. Cabela’s has Lapua brass in stock also… but no 6mmBR or .308 Win.
