.308 Military Brass WRA 68 Question

[amlevin]

I was given approximately 500 pieces of the above brass, once fired. Have been cleaning it up and deciding what load to use with it. It is pretty much a given that Military brass such as this has thicker walls and head so it is not uncommon to find the case capacity greatly reduced.

Funny thing though with this brass. When I check it for capacity by weighing pieces filled with water then subtracting empty weights, I see results that are within .1 grain of my Winchester "civilian" brass. This would lead me to believe that the case capacity is, for all practical purposes, the same as the Winchester brass I have been using and could use similar loads.

Just wondering if anyone else has had similar results with brass like this? Just trying to save some powder if I can.

FWIW, the planned load is 44 gr of Varget under a 165 gr Nos B-Tip. With the Winchester Brass this is an extremely accurate load that travels 2640 fps from a 24" Rem 5-R Milspec.

Any input on this brass is greatly appreciated.

 

[W.E.G.]

What kind of gun are you shooting this brass in?

Has the brass been re-sized before you did the water test?

If not, what gun was it fired in?

 

[medalguy]

The old story about mil brass being much thicker walled is a myth that's pretty much been debunked. You discovered what I found also-- the brass weighs about the same as commercial brass and the volume is about the same as commercial. I don't change my loads at all when reloading milsurp brass from the listed loads. By the way that WRA 68 brass is excellent brass. It is one of my favorites.

 

[USSR]

The old story about mil brass being much thicker walled is a myth that's pretty much been debunked.

And, I'd really like to know where and by whom it has been debunked? Milsurp 7.62x51 brass is heavier and has less case capacity than most commercial .308 brass. However, the one exception I have found is Winchester brass produced for the gov't in both 7.62x51 and .30-06. They are both light in weight just as their commercial .308 and .30-06 brass is.

Don

 

[rcmodel]

debunked.

Well, we need to debunk the debunker that said that.

USSR has given you the scoop on Winchester brass.

However, I have a bunch of recent Rem commercial .223 that is several grains heavier then my 1968 LC GI brass.

And I have old 30-06 GI brass from several different arsenals that is way heavier then anything being made by anybody today.

Before anyone can debunk anything, you need to do as the OP, amlevin wisely did.

Get out your water & scales and do some measuring & comparing.

rc

 

[Walkalong]

.223 is a mixed bag. Some GI is heavier, but some commercial is too. Gotta check each headstamp to be sure.

Dunno much about .308, with limited experience with different cases.

 

[amlevin]

Not sure I agree with the "debunking" either. The other half of the brass I received at the same time I got the WRA was some DA headstamped brass with a couple of different dates. It DEFINITELY is heavier and has thicker walls. Not only did I do the "water test" but also cut some pieces lengthwise for comparison.

W. E. G.---

The Brass was resized before I checked the capacities.

 

[medalguy]

WRA = Winchester, right??

The WRA brass I have reloaded weighs in almost exactly the same as commercial .308 brass.

 

[W.E.G.]

I ran the water test last night on some Remington .223 brass and some LC90 5.56 brass.

I got matching water-weight numbers for both.

Remember too, to uniform your case lengths when doing the water test.
Should be obvious that cases of identical manufacture, one trimmed, the other not trimmed, will give you different water weights. Also pay attention to the amount of surface tension once the case is filled.

 

[amlevin]

Well, today I gave these cases the ultimated test. Loaded them up exactly the same as I do for my Winchester Commercial Brass. 44 grains of Varget with a 175 gr. Nosler BTHP Custom Comp bullet. Absolutely no sign of pressure and accuracy was fantastic. 10 rounds into a 3/4" hole at 100 yards.

Could have been a little warmer though. Temperature was 37 degrees when I started and every breath hung in front of my face like a cloud.

W. E. G.

All this WRA brass was cleaned, full length sized, trimmed, flash hole chamfered, neck sized just enough to "knock down the bumps", and primer pocket uniformed. For the water capacity measurements I plug the flash hole with a round cocktail "tooth pick".

Going forward I will be neck sizing only using a LEE Collet Die and after 5 loadings I will anneal. I use this basic formula for all my brass and get close to 20 loadings before I see necks splitting.

This brass, based on what I see, should last every bit as long.

From now on I will merely neck size using