Is this Lapua ammo anything special?

[Nevadadvx]

I recently picked up a sweet 66-1 K frame that came with about 1000 rounds of different types of ammo. One box is Lapua .38 +P. The previous owner was saying this stuff was good stuff and doubt's you can buy it anymore.

I did a google search and did not come up with much about it. It is 150 grain though. Just curious about it more than anything else. Here is a pic of it....

 

[Steve C]

Its undoubtedly police surplus rounds, thus the tag on the box. Like most police surplus ammo it comes on the market when there are contract over runs or cancellations. Supplies appear and then disappear when sold out. There may never be another batch available for general public purchase.

 

[Harrison]

Lapua makes the best brass and some of the most accurate bullets in the world, barring none. Their 22 RF match ammo is some of the most accurate you can buy. I would suspect their loaded ammo is also pretty good.

 

[TSQUARED]

Lapua ammo, brass and bullets enjoy an enviable reputation for quality in the bullseye pistol as well as rifle shooting circles.
When I shot bullseye pistol the 22 LR ammo was too expensive unless you were a master class shooter and the difference of 885 or 890 was a critical measure of one's performance. At my level, ca 830's, I found that Aguilla SE SV, CCI SV, Wolf MatcH Target and SKJagd PM were much more accurate that my hold.
I never used Lapua 32 cal LWC's but did have some Lapua brass - I could not see any difference in accuracy from a bench rest using Lapua or R-P/WW brass in 32 S&W Long.
Champions Choice stocks Lapua ammo in several calibers.

 

[Tony C.]

Lapua made excellent brass; bullets and reloading components, also a lot of Eurpean shooter use thier match ammo for target shooting, back when I was a serious smallbore rifle shooter, I often use thier product.

A while ago, IIRC one of the shooting magazine, either Rifle or Handloader; did a comparesion of various make of rifle brass in terms of thier quality and longivity, the Lapua brass come out on top in almost every catergory.

I'm still using several hundred of thier .32 S&W long brass in my center fire target pistol, I find them last much longer then my Winchester and Rem. brass.

 

[CTG_COLLECTOR]

Lapua centerfire ammo is not very common here in the U.S. since it is rather expensive to import.

When the Lapua 9mm CEPP (Controlled Effect Police Projectile) is found for sale, it'll often command a high price around $40-50 a box of 50. And that for the common 9mm caliber. In 38Spl, I'd expect the price to go up around $3-5 more a box.

Currently Lapua is a member of Nammo AS, a conglomerate of Nordic defense companies from countries including Norway, Sweden and Finland.

 

[Nevadadvx]

Thanks for the info guys. I think I will just stash these in the safe since I'm a relative noob to these guns and am not yet able to tell a good round from an average round.

 

[Luomu]

I remember buying a box of these allmost 20 years ago. Accurate load, clocked around 270 m/s from a 6" barrel if memory serves. They were supposed to be somewhat less prone to ricochets than normal ammo in service applications. As for the hollow points opening up in a self defence scenario, I have no idea.

 

[CTG_COLLECTOR]

Lapua from Finland is quality ammo. This ammo has not been imported for a good many years. When you can find the 9mm & 38Spl ammo loaded with the CEPP bullet, a box of 50 can go for $50 or more.

The CEPP bullet doesn't expand, as basically it's a FMJ with a little dimple at it's meplat. I'm sure it's Lapua's way of trying to market an "expanding" bullet since many of the European countries forbid even their police from using hollow point bullets.

If you decide to sell it, $25-30 would be a fair market price to ammo collectors. It would be a shame to shoot it us as target fodder and fairly useless for SD use as U.S. SD ammo is light-years ahead in bullet design.