Brass thickness

[AJC1]

Just pondering why military brass on average is thicker than commercial? Is it because the case itself is more rugged and less likely to be damaged. There are a ton of reasons why I could see why making it thinner would make sense from cost, to weight, and reuse is not really a military thing. Any ideas.

 

[FROGO207]

You know--------when it just has to work without fail and not come apart in a firearm that you are staking your life on. Any firearm that it is used in it has to function without fail. A case of things being overbuilt. Thicker case walls, crimped in primers etc.

 

[AJC1]

You know--------when it just has to work without fail and not come apart in a firearm that you are staking your life on. Any firearm that it is used in it has to function without fail. A case of things being overbuilt. Thicker case walls, crimped in primers etc.

That reasoning does not escape my experience but calls into serious question the new plastic cases currently being developed. Seems exactly the opposite, with the additional downside of us not being able to recover and reload them later. I understand sealant completely and staking may serve a purpose in full auto that I have not researched. The reloading literature covers facts well like its thicker but not the why so much.

 

[Ru4real]

Marines and Army people are stronger and can carry more weight.

 

[Walkalong]

.308 military brass is heavier.

5.56/.223 varies, the military stuff isn’t all heavier

 

[Charlie98]

I would think .308 (&.62mm) brass was thicker because of the weapons it was used in... the M14, which has a violent extraction cycle, and the plethora of machine guns it is used in. It's also why they stake the primers in place... so a primer won't back out and jam the gun.

Walk is also correct... .223/5.56mm varies just by production differences... but the primers are staked for the same reason.

 

[CajunRX8]

How abusive are you with your ammo? The military can and will break anything! So brass is better able to withstand the harsh moments they get into.

 

[AJC1]

How abusive are you with your ammo? The military can and will break anything! So brass is better able to withstand the harsh moments they get into.

I'm very kind to mine because I demand high accuracy. My military experience says that ammo is more likely to be dropped over the side of the ship or in a bilge and lost but there are so many variables to contend with.

 

[MOP.GBB]

I echo the folks above, my understanding is that most of that military brass is getting thrown by fully automatic weapons. Those have a tendency to be really rough on cases. Lot's of banging around going on.

 

[Average Joe]

.223 and 5.56 brass are the same....... .308 and 7.62x51 are not. The 7.62 x51 (which is Nato ammo ) is thicker than commercial .308.

 

[jmorris]

Not sure if the answer to you question is in here but will give you more stuff to ponder, if it’s not.

https://ndiastorage.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/ndia/2019/armament/SiewertTutorial5.pdf

 

[AJC1]

Not sure if the answer to you question is in here but will give you more stuff to ponder, if it’s not.

https://ndiastorage.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/ndia/2019/armament/SiewertTutorial5.pdf

So my takeaway from that would be that military cases are thicker due to stress strain requirements that are a lot higher in select fire weapons, an issue that is not encountered in civilian weapons... I think...