.223 Sorting Headstamps.......Wow!

[Palladan44]

My brass guy who I get in touch with on maybe an annual basis had 2,500 pcs of all .223 Brass for me for a great price, so I couldn't say no to the deal. He deals only in brass, and has an industrial size wet tumbler and SS rod tumbles and has a drier on a pool table sized area......
Anyways...... I'm newer to loading .223, and I'm used to sorting out pistol caliber headstamps in which I'm used to sorting a few different headstamps, maybe up to 10 different types Maximum....

In the interest of making the best loads I can, I sort headstamps. If for no other reason than OCD, it is what it is. If anything having batches with similar primer pocket crimps, etc. can help streamline the processes of case prep, not to mention similar brass thicknesses and internal volume, etc. (I believe lot to lot variance among same headstamp cases CAN vary more than among different headstamps.....anyways)

So far in sorting out this 4 gallon bucket of brass, I've come across 22 different headstamps and probably a few others that i missed..
They are going from MOST to Least in the following list.....again, mostly all 223 and very few 5.56.

PMC- 25%
LC - 20%
FC- 15%
GFL- 10%
Agulia- <5%
A-USA- <5%
Norma- <5%
PPU- <5%
WIN- <5%
R-P- Trace amounts
Star Line- T.A.
Creedmoor- T.A.
Hornady- T.A.
Ammo Inc.- T.A.
GGG- T.A.
IMI- T. A.
IK- 21 - T. A.
IVI- T. A.
PSD - T. A.
CBC- T. A.
Wolf (brass) T.A.
Fiocchi (spelled out)- T.A.

The top 12 are getting sorted out, and the bottom 9 types are getting mixed together.
I think America has enough options for .223 ammo What is a bit troubling is how much our big names here in America are getting drowned out, such as your classic RP. FC, LC and WIN are getting drowned out by importation of stuff from overseas. I'd like to see that turn back around, and the stuff made here in the USA ramp back up in production and be competitive in price and keep up with demands with some of this stuff made in places including, but not limited to: Phillipines, Canada, Israel, Turkey, Bulgaria, Russia, and probably China, among others. Not complaining though, this stuff was available during the droughts where the US stuff was either unavailable or a buck a round.

I'm thankful for the most being PMC. Love this brass in all calibers it's always cleaned up nice, no crimped primers. Good stuff!

 

[Charlie98]

I'm thankful for the most being PMC. Love this brass in all calibers it's always cleaned up nice, no crimped primers. Good stuff!

Reading your list... before I saw this comment on the bottom... I was going to say exactly that. Love me some PMC.

Just FYI.... that PSD is actually PMC for military contract... also good brass. PMC NATO headstamp brass will have crimped primers, BTW.

If you think about, and how the market is currently working, the most prolific 'made in America' ammos for the .223/5.56mm is going to be whoever is working the Lake City plant. The sheer volume they produce is enough to drown out everyone else domestically... for cheap blasting ammos. Hunting or specialty ammos are a different story, however.

 

[AJC1]

I sure gather and sort piles of 223 looking for rp. I share the wealth with others in my quest.

 

[243winxb]

Great to have lots of brass available.

After sorting by headstamp, prep the brass, of all the same headstamp, & sort by weight. This mixed date LC did ok.

When a different brand of brass is heavier, may need to reduce load.

 

[W.E.G.]

The flash-holes on the IK will be significantly smaller than what we are used to seeing.

The small flash-hole may wreck your de-capper.

If the small flash-hole doesn't wreck your de-capper, the bottom of the pocket will probably be convex (pushed outward), and will cause the primer to seat high.

I've encountered a couple hundred pieces of IK in my scrounging at my gun club. We've got some guys at my gun club that are flush enough that they'd just as likely police spent shotgun wads and re-use them, versus collect their spent .223 brass. After every one of their run/gun matches, about a gallon of once-fired .223 left behind. Several guys on the KD range do the same. As a consequence, I've got enough .223 brass to last me until I'm 100 years old. So I just chuck the IK headstamp stuff straight into my scrap-bucket. Not worth my time to deal with those tiny flash holes, and all the hassle that comes with it.

My wife says she's gonna whup me if I drag any more cartridge brass into the house. I can't help myself!

 

[txtaxman]

There are a couple other things to be concerned about: Off-Center Flash Holes and Unusually Heavy Cases.

In my experience, GFL, Aguila, and A-USA cases have many Off-Center Flash Holes.

They are not the list above, but PMP cases are the heaviest I've seen. When I first started loading .223 for an AR-15, I blew some primers in PMP cases with loads that had worked fine in other miscellaneous range pick-up cases.

 

[Dudedog]

Watch the flash holes in the GFL stuff, I had issues with GFL 223 brass flash holes being WAY off center.

 

[kcofohio]

Watch the flash holes in the GFL stuff, I had issues with GFL 223 brass flash holes being WAY off center.

My experience also. Them, Perfecta, and PSD?, or PS?

 

[sfl_gunner]

Just reading about that much brass sorting is giving me a headache.

That's some serious OCD. Lol

Let us know if it makes a difference in the loads.

 

[Charlie98]

Just reading about that much brass sorting is giving me a headache.

What gives me a headache, particularly on 9mm and 5.56mm, is the tiny, often obfuscated stamping used these days... LC in particular, which usually looks like someone took a meat tenderizer to it.

 

[lightman]

When I sort range brass I deprime and tumble it first. Its easier to read clean headstamps than dirty ones. Then I sort by FC, RP, Winchester, all years LC, all other odd commercial and all other odd military. After that, when or if I get enough of one kind I'll pull out 100 or 500 or whatever amount that I plan to load and prep them, culling some more along the way. Most of my shooting is with the more main stream headstamps and the other gets loaded when I know brass recovery will be difficult or impossible. But, to each his own. Everybody has their method.

 

[jebova2301]

There are a couple other things to be concerned about: Off-Center Flash Holes and Unusually Heavy Cases.

In my experience, GFL, Aguila, and A-USA cases have many Off-Center Flash Holes.

GFL: Good *word I can't say on this forum* Luck

Well known for having off center flash holes. I think igman(IK headstamp) is also notorious for severely undersized flash holes.

 

[jmorris]

I'd like to see that turn back around, and the stuff made here in the USA ramp back up in production and be competitive in price and keep up with demands with some of this stuff made in places including, but not limited to: Phillipines, Canada, Israel, Turkey, Bulgaria, Russia, and probably China, among others.

You probably need a time machine. We have spent decades sending our production over seas and piling on regulations and increasing taxes/minimum wages here, to the point it’s a fairly large handicap.

 

[Palladan44]

You probably need a time machine. We have spent decades sending our production over seas and piling on regulations and increasing taxes/minimum wages here, to the point it’s a fairly large handicap.

I still have hope...

 

[FROGO207]

You probably need a time machine. We have spent decades sending our production over seas and piling on regulations and increasing taxes/minimum wages here, to the point it’s a fairly large handicap.

Sad but true!

 

[EricBu]

My brass guy who I get in touch with on maybe an annual basis had 2,500 pcs of all .223 Brass for me for a great price, so I couldn't say no to the deal. He deals only in brass, and has an industrial size wet tumbler and SS rod tumbles and has a drier on a pool table sized area......
Anyways...... I'm newer to loading .223, and I'm used to sorting out pistol caliber headstamps in which I'm used to sorting a few different headstamps, maybe up to 10 different types Maximum....

In the interest of making the best loads I can, I sort headstamps. If for no other reason than OCD, it is what it is. If anything having batches with similar primer pocket crimps, etc. can help streamline the processes of case prep, not to mention similar brass thicknesses and internal volume, etc. (I believe lot to lot variance among same headstamp cases CAN vary more than among different headstamps.....anyways)

So far in sorting out this 4 gallon bucket of brass, I've come across 22 different headstamps and probably a few others that i missed..
They are going from MOST to Least in the following list.....again, mostly all 223 and very few 5.56.

PMC- 25%
LC - 20%
FC- 15%
GFL- 10%
Agulia- <5%
A-USA- <5%
Norma- <5%
PPU- <5%
WIN- <5%
R-P- Trace amounts
Star Line- T.A.
Creedmoor- T.A.
Hornady- T.A.
Ammo Inc.- T.A.
GGG- T.A.
IMI- T. A.
IK- 21 - T. A.
IVI- T. A.
PSD - T. A.
CBC- T. A.
Wolf (brass) T.A.
Fiocchi (spelled out)- T.A.

The top 12 are getting sorted out, and the bottom 9 types are getting mixed together.
I think America has enough options for .223 ammo What is a bit troubling is how much our big names here in America are getting drowned out, such as your classic RP. FC, LC and WIN are getting drowned out by importation of stuff from overseas. I'd like to see that turn back around, and the stuff made here in the USA ramp back up in production and be competitive in price and keep up with demands with some of this stuff made in places including, but not limited to: Phillipines, Canada, Israel, Turkey, Bulgaria, Russia, and probably China, among others. Not complaining though, this stuff was available during the droughts where the US stuff was either unavailable or a buck a round.

I'm thankful for the most being PMC. Love this brass in all calibers it's always cleaned up nice, no crimped primers. Good stuff!

You're a better man than me for sure. I process about 10k at a time. Gets tumbled, into the roll sizer, lubed, dumped in the hopper on a automated press where it gets decapped, trimmed, swaged and sized....then into the tumbler again, then into the press for loading. This bulk ammo shoots about 1.5 moa out of a half dozen ARs, all mixed head stamp, mixed mil/civilian. <shrug> If I want .5 moa, I buy lapua, petersen, or norma, and load it 4 or 5 times... then it goes into the range brass barrel with everything else. Life's to short to sort bulk .223 by headstamp. Though I do know a guy working on an optical sorter that takes a picture, and uses image recognition software to sort by headstamp, kind of neat.

 

[jmorris]

I still have hope...

Well, I hope I don’t die but I understand the plan fact that some day that’s going to happen.

I haven’t seen any evidence, we had “make America great again” , that was probably closer than Obama’s “Hope and change” but I haven’t seen anyone make moves that have reversed previous “sellouts” to China and others. Really important ones too, like Clinton allowing China to purchase the magnetics division of Delhi, that was a big one.

General Motors wanted access to the domestic Chinese auto market, while China wanted to get its hands on militarily significant technology. The new owners were originally required to keep magnet production and technology in the United States for five years after the deal closed, but shortly after the term expired, the U.S. facilities were closed. Now China has an effective monopoly…

https://www.salon.com/2010/08/31/china_neodymium_domination/

And all the facts make the authors conclusion kind of obvious, even if I wish it were different.

its hard to avoid the conclusion that the Chinese are playing the game of capitalism a lot more adroitly than the U.S.

I do think it could be but we would have to come up with a way that politicians on both sides can get as wealthy as they do, so fast, selling American people out. There is so much money being thrown around, I am not sure even term limits would work but it would probably be better than having people there that have spent decades selling us out…

Now we have open borders and allow China to buy land here. Has anyone wondered what would happen to America when they decide to send a billion or so Chinese over our open borders? That would cause a larger change than the millions they let come over every year currently.