30-06 lake city brass?

[JEB]

my BIL recently baught out a feller's reloading stash (passed away and wife wanted to get rid of it) and apparently the guy was REALLY into hi 30-06 as he had a LOT of brass & bullets for it. my BIL was after all the equipment to get started, and since he didnt need all the '06 stuff (he dosent own one) he just sent it to me. this brings me to my question. there is only a few winchester cases and a lot of lake city stuff. i am assuming this is all military surplus? they have already been seperated out by headstamp and was wondering what all the headstamp numbers mean. i have a bunch of "LC 69" "LC 72" "LC 68" "LC 68 MATCH" and maybe a few others im forgetting. is there any real difference in the different headstamps? and can it be loaded just like regular winchester brass?

P.S. i am aware that military brass will likely have crimped primer pockets and will need to be swaged. i have acces to a swaging tool and will worry about that as i come across it.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

The 2 numbers are the year they were made.

Also, the LC Match brass does not have a crimp. You can load the LC 30-06 brass just like any other brass when it comes to powder charges, they are no different than commercial brass...

 

[ReloaderFred]

Lake City .30-06 brass is some very good brass. It will be a little heavier in construction than commercial brass, so loads in it should be reduced by about 10% to start, since it has a little less volume. It will likely have crimped primer pockets, but the crimp only has to be removed once.

The headstamps are LC for Lake City, and the numbers are the years it was made. For example, "LC 72" was made in 1972. The LC Match brass won't be crimped, and is desirable brass, especially for those shooting M1 Garands.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[fguffey]

JEB, LC brass:

Weight and volume, the weight of the LC case is heavier than commercial brass but not for the reasons most believe it is.

LC brass has a case head thickness of .200" when measured from the case head to the bottom of the cup, the same measurement for R-P 30/06 brass is .260", meaning the old belief military brass is thicker can only be half truth because the R-P case head is thicker by .060”. The LC case with a thinner case head is heavier than the R-P case because the case body of the LC case is thicker/heavier than the R-P case body.

Then it comes down to deciding the DIFFERENCE, the difference is in volume and powder column, the LC powder column is longer and smaller in diameter than the powder column of the R-P case. the 308 W case is shorter and slightly larger in diameter than the 30/06 case, the powder column of the 308 W is shorter and larger in diameter than the powder column of the 30/06. The 308 W can almost keep up with the 30/08 when 150 grain bullets are used.

Safety? I have test fired receivers with HA loads, not necessary to look for signs of excessive pressure, primers are found when the rifle is turned over and then shook, the case head has expanded .035"+, the case head stamp is difficult to read, the flash hole can no longer be read with a flash hole gage etc., etc..

Back to the case head thickness of .200’ and .260”, the .260 case head thickness is the better of the two choices when testing. Crushing the case head increases unsupported case head, I prefer the .260” over the .200” for test purpose. There is no shortage of LC 30/06 cases around here, I form 308 W, 8mm 57, 7mm 57, 257 Roberts, etc., from 30/06 LC brass, most is pull down never fired, when forming it does not get better than when starting with a new unfired case and there is no case chamber head stamp.

F. Guffey

 

[JEB]

The 2 numbers are the year they were made.

thats kinda what i figured.

The LC Match brass won't be crimped, and is desirable brass, especially for those shooting M1 Garands.

that is VERY good news since the lion's share of it is LC 68 match. also makes sense since the guy all of this came from was a big garand fan.

thanks a bunch guys!

 

[Slamfire]

You were given a bunch of LC68 Match 30-06 brass, why can't I get in on these deals !

Lake City brass 30-06 brass was very high quality brass, the match brass even more so. Weight differences per year are small.

There will be weight differences between commercial brass and LC, sometimes commercial is heavier, sometimes LC is heavier.

Don't load maximum loads and you won't have to worry about the weight differences.

Load maximum loads and everything makes a difference.

This is the box it came in, duplicate these velocities with IMR 4895, IMR 4064 or IMR 4350, and you won't have a pressure problem.

 

[Captaingyro]

I bought a 5-gallon bucket of Lake City .30-06 brass from a widow in almost identical circumstances. When I sat down to sort it, it turned out to be almost all '63 and '67 LC Match, about 1100 cases in all. It's beautiful, high quality brass. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

@SlamFire1: Thanks for posting that picture. You can read all the web "recipes" you want, but it's good to get the dope straight from the box.

 

[coyotemoon]

I shoot IHMSA, my unlimited pistol is a XP100 full length308. Went into a gun shop one day and asked if they had any 308 brass. The guy took me into the back and showed me cases of LC Match 308 brass. All the same lot number. Bout peed my pants. Got it for for $20 a hundered.

Best brass ever made.