6ARC brass

[KMW1954]

I have been shooting my 6ARC Savage bolt for 2+ years now and have loaded with Hornady ARC brass, Starline brass and reformed Hornady 6.5 Grendel brass.

I couple of friends that also shoot 6ARC but don't reload save me their brass. One of them just purchased a new Howa Mini in 6ARC and was out breaking it in the other day. He was trying 3 different factory loads. One was loaded with Starline brass, woo-hoo, and the other two were in Hornady brass. Which I didn't pay much attention to until I got it home and started punching out primers. Some felt like they were swaged they were that tight. So, I started looking closer.

What I found was 2 separate and distinct head stamps. Never seen this before. The new head stamp type also showed some very peculiar markings, around the rim and around the primer pocket. Though it is not swaged. Wish I had a camera that would focus that closely to get a clear picture.

Being curious, this morning I took that brass, some other Hornady brass and the Starline brass and started weighing them out on my electronic scale.

This new head stamp brass weighed from 113.32gr to 118.82gr., The old stamp Hornady weighed 110.94 to114.56gr., the Starline was 108.34gr to 109.54gr.. The old Hornady there were just 2 pcs that were very light but the rest were all within 113.5gr to the 114.5gr.

Now I am almost afraid to use this od Hornady head stamp.

 

[ONE-TEN]

Why are you afraid to use it?

 

[KMW1954]

Mostly because of the shiny marks around the primer pockets, next because of the weight discrepancy, lastly, because of the effort it took to remove the primers. There is also a very sharp angle into the pockets.

Also because I have an abundance of good 6ARC brass and really wouldn't miss these 50pcs. Maybe afraid was the wrong word.

 

[ONE-TEN]

Were the primers crimped in? I’ve prepped & resized & reloaded a bunch of NATO brass, and they all use crimped primers. I use an RCBS Primer Pocket Swaging die that takes the crimp out and forms the pocket perfectly. RCBS Swager : https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0063IDAX2

I gotchya though. You’re thinking about consistency, right? Well, the RCBS tool will take care of the primer pockets. And as far as weight, just sort the brass. Keep pieces together within a grain of each other. That can help standard deviance quite a bit.

 

[ONE-TEN]

Or… get this and forget ALL those problems! SO worth it!

https://www.alphamunitions.com/product/6mm-arc-190927

 

[CFJunkie]

If you think that batch is inconsistent or questionable, dump it.
You are paying a lot more for bullets (around 25 to 50 cents a round) and powder (around 19 to 25 cents a round) that you can only use one time, than you are for one piece of brass (around 4 or 5 cents a shot depending on what brass you use and how many reloads you can get with it).
It's not worth using bad brass to waste 44 to 75 cents per shot.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

You could save the odd brass for fouling shots. Load it at the lower end of the data.

 

[ONE-TEN]

I went through loading up on fired 308 Brass to then resize to 260Rem. And now, it’s 260AI. I thought it was the most economical & best means. That is, until I first actually looked at the new Brass we have now. The Latest Lapua, Alpha & ADG Brass is like nothing that ever been available. It just lasts & lasts & lasts! I’ve heard reports of 35 reloadings in some cartridges! But 20, seems to be an agreed upon number. And the brass is so good! The consistency, the strength! Well, I do still have the resized 308 brass. But I look to my Lapua for serious work.

 

[KMW1954]

Thanks guys, for now I am really set for brass. 200pcs of Starline and probably 600pcs of Hornady and another 100+pcs of 6.5 Grendel that has already been resized to 6ARC.

I just keep accepting my friend's brass out of curtesy, I know what it came out off and he has been gracious enough to save it for me.

This original post was more a heads-up to others that might want to watch for it. I have had fairly good results with the Hornady brass in the past. To this point it has been consistent and reliable. Some of the Hornady ARC brass I am using already has 7 or 8 reloads thru it. But this new stuff leaves me weary.

CFJ, I'm with ya on the cost of components. After shooting local matches the last 5 years I am finding even barrels are consumables!

 

[ONE-TEN]

Weary of what new stuff? Do you mean the Brass? Well, I’d hardly call Lapua Brass “NEW”. And Alpha Munitions started in 2015. But there isn’t anything new tech about it. They both are simply very consistent, incredibly strong and super high precision Brass. There really is no comparison.

Use it once and you’ll be hooked.

 

[KMW1954]

Some of the Hornady ARC brass I am using already has 7 or 8 reloads thru it. But this new stuff leaves me weary.

New stuff, referring to this new Hornady head stamp.

As far as I am aware, Lapua isn't producing 6ARC brass.

 

[ONE-TEN]

New stuff, referring to this new Hornady head stamp.

As far as I am aware, Lapua isn't producing 6ARC brass.

No, they aren’t. But Alpha is. And from what I’ve sourced, Alpha is every bit as good as the Lapua.

But I know it ain’t your first R.O.D.E.O. KMW. And yes, an experienced reloader can take virtually any Brass, do some prep and end up with very precision Brass that can deliver LOW SD. I mean, I took some NATO head stamped, Lake City 7.62x51 cases & resized for 260Rem. And it’s pretty durn good Brass.

Also, if you already have a good supply of the Hornady you already prepped, yeah, there’s no reason to get any more.