January 16th, 2009
For precision rifle shooters, Lapua brass is about as good as it gets. It is definitely the preferred cartridge brass for short-range benchrest, 600-yard benchrest, and F-Class competition. Jason visited the Lapua booth to find out what new products the Finnish manufacturer will offer in 2009. In the video below, Sales Manager Adam Braverman reviews Lapua’s new offerings.
Lapua Revives .222 Remington Line
The big news is the re-introduction of .222 Remington brass. In late 2008 we revealed that Lapua would resume production of .222 Rem brass, and now we’ve learned that Lapua will be producing .222 Rem loaded ammo as well. Notably, this new .222 Rem brass (and ammo) will be produced “in-house” by Lapua. We expect it will meet the same exacting standards as other Lapua match brass. The .222 brass will be available immediately, and you should soon find it in stock at Grafs.com.
NEW 300gr, .338 Scenar Bullet
Big bore shooters will be pleased to know that Lapua has introduced a new 300gr, .338-caliber Scenar match bullet. When launched from the .338 Lapua Magnum cartridge, the new GB528 300-grainer will stay supersonic past 1500 meters. And even at 1700 meters it still carries over 1000 Joules of energy. You won’t find the 300gr Scenar in a silver cardboard box, however. From now on, Lapua match bullets will arrive in durable blue plastic containers. That’s progress we guess.
New BC Data Available for QuickTARGET
The ballistic coefficient of the new 300-grainers, as well as most other Lapua bullets, can now be inputed directly into the QuickTARGET ballistics program. BC values for Lapua bullets were confirmed with actual “real world” testing using Doppler radar.
No luck this year for .260 Rem and Short Mag Shooters
Despite persistent rumors, we won’t be seeing .260 brass or Short Mag brass from Lapua this season — though Lapua hasn’t ruled this out for some time in the future. Lapua does invite input from shooters, particular on the Short Magnum question. If Lapua feels there is adequate demand, it might (we stress might) consider production of a short mag. The question is “which short magnum?” The WSM family certainly has been more widely adopted thus far, but for match shooters, particularly 7mm shooters, the Remington SAUM may be a more efficient (and potentially more accurate) case. Right now, Lapua is leaning to the WSM, according to our sources.
Grafs.com has loaded Lapua 6mmBR ammo in stock. This ammo is expensive (about $36 per box of 20 rounds) but the 6mmBR loaded ammo is really good stuff. We’ve tried it in a half-dozen custom 6BRs. In calm conditions, it has shot between 1/4 and 1/2 MOA. In the USA, this ammo is offered with two bullet weights — 90gr Scenar or 105gr Scenar. Both types of ammo shoot great.
