- Banned
- #1
WesternHntr
Lil-Rokslider
I had the opportunity to test some 6.5 SAUM Bertram brass recently, here's my review.
Case Weight- I weighed all 100 cases and came up with an average weight of 213.4 grains, SD was 1.5 grains, and the spread was 6.7 grains.
Case Length- I measured the length of the cases and they were very consistent at 2.025"
Neck thickness- I measured the neck thickness on 25 cases and found quite a bit of variation, thickness ranged from .015-.020, these cases need neck turned for consistency.
Case Volume- I compared case volume with 12 randomly selected cases by zeroing on my scale and filling with H20, case volume ranged from 74.3 grains to 76. volume from case to case was very inconsistent and varied by up to .7 grains or more.
I checked volume on my necked down Norma 7 SAUM cases for comparison, and with 12 cases volume varied from 72-72.5 grains with most cases varying by .1 grain or less.
Flash Holes- I checked flash holes and many were partially blocked by jagged pieces of brass, flash holes definitely need a lot of prep. See picture below for example of flash hole blockage.
I loaded up some rounds with H1000 and wasn't able to get good ES or SD like I do with Norma brass.
I tried Retumbo and was able to get an SD of 4, and an ES of 11, velocity with the first 6 cases averaged 3055 FPS, the next 6 cases also had low SD and ES but velocity averaged 3025 FPS. I attribute the velocity difference to variation in case volume; the first 6 cases averaged 74.4 grains while the other 6 cases had an average volume of 75.2 grains.
In summary the brass seemed tough, and after 4 max loads primer pockets were still very tight.
The downside is that cases need lots of prep, and case volume is inconsistent.
It's great to see head stamped 6.5 SAUM brass, but I found Norma 7 SAUM brass to be a lot higher quality.
Case Weight- I weighed all 100 cases and came up with an average weight of 213.4 grains, SD was 1.5 grains, and the spread was 6.7 grains.
Case Length- I measured the length of the cases and they were very consistent at 2.025"
Neck thickness- I measured the neck thickness on 25 cases and found quite a bit of variation, thickness ranged from .015-.020, these cases need neck turned for consistency.
Case Volume- I compared case volume with 12 randomly selected cases by zeroing on my scale and filling with H20, case volume ranged from 74.3 grains to 76. volume from case to case was very inconsistent and varied by up to .7 grains or more.
I checked volume on my necked down Norma 7 SAUM cases for comparison, and with 12 cases volume varied from 72-72.5 grains with most cases varying by .1 grain or less.
Flash Holes- I checked flash holes and many were partially blocked by jagged pieces of brass, flash holes definitely need a lot of prep. See picture below for example of flash hole blockage.
I loaded up some rounds with H1000 and wasn't able to get good ES or SD like I do with Norma brass.
I tried Retumbo and was able to get an SD of 4, and an ES of 11, velocity with the first 6 cases averaged 3055 FPS, the next 6 cases also had low SD and ES but velocity averaged 3025 FPS. I attribute the velocity difference to variation in case volume; the first 6 cases averaged 74.4 grains while the other 6 cases had an average volume of 75.2 grains.
In summary the brass seemed tough, and after 4 max loads primer pockets were still very tight.
The downside is that cases need lots of prep, and case volume is inconsistent.
It's great to see head stamped 6.5 SAUM brass, but I found Norma 7 SAUM brass to be a lot higher quality.
