Evalutate .223Rem. Brass

[charliemopic]

For the past 5 years or so I've been shooting commercial .223 Rem. ammo from my Wylde chambered AR15 and saving the brass. Now I'm loading my own and have tried some of my once fired Remington-UMC and Winchester brass with no trimming and no problem.
I'm useing a Dillon RL550B press in single stage mode.

I would appreciate a quick evaluation or comments on any or all of the following brands of .223 Rem. brass...
-Winchester from WWB,

-Remington-UMC from the green & white box,

-S&B from their 55gr. FMJ,

-Prvi Partisan .223 (not headstamps marked 5.56),

-Lake City from Blackhills RED box,

-Lake City from Blackhills BLUE box
(LC from Blackhills has had the primer crimp removed.)

-Federal from American Eagle ammo

Thanks Much
Charlie M.

 

[Ridgerunner665]

AR 15's are really hard on brass during feeding...Winchester and Remington will work...but be sure to inspect them for cuts to the shoulder....I'm not sure about the others...never used them.

 

[R.W.Dale]

http://www.6mmbr.com/223Rem.html


scroll partway down this page and you'll find a quite detailed chart and writeup on the quality and constancy of various headstamps

 

[RugerOldArmy]

I'd rate it this way:

Best
- Winchester Commercial Brass (Consistent stuff, no primer crimp to swage.)
- LC Red Box (Higher than Blue Box because it was new brass).
- LC 'Federal AE with LC Headstamp' (Same as LC)
- LC Blue Box (Reloaded at least once, and BH does not trim to length.)
- LC (M193/M855 that requires the extra work to swage the crimp.)
- S&B (S&B is uniform but a little softer.)
- Rem UMC (I've not liked RP brass. Loose primer pockets.)
- FC Headstamped 'Fed American Eagle'. (I toss it. Some folks reload a LIGHT load ONCE and toss it. It's soft crappy brass with a thin web and thick walls, prone to loose primer pockets.)

Worst

(I Haven't used Privi Brass, so I can't comment on it.)

YMMV...

 

[redneck2]

There was an article in Handloader Magazine that compared brands of brass. Remington was very, very close to Norma and Lapua in terms of consistency and tolerances, and about 1/3rd and 1/2 the price. Winchester was the worst.

I have a friend that shoots NRA Highpower and wouldn't use Remington brass if it were free. Says Remington has a bad habit of tearing the heads off the case.

I use Winchester and my AR shoots exceptional groups.

I have no idea what all that means, other than everybody has their favorites and there's probably nothing more than personal opinion involved.

 

[CBS220]

My least favorite brand of rifle brass is Winchester. Cheap crap, largely, and it seems like you can't buy a bag of it without one or two cases already being ruined in the bag!

Remington is fine- I hear gripes about consistency in weight, but quite frankly unless you shoot BR matches I don't think you'll ever notice the difference.

I also like Federal okay. But Remington is easier to come by.

Lapua brass you can tell is much harder, and it does last longer... it's a major pain to trim with a hand tool!

However, there are many variables that are much more important than the brass, given no great problems are present.

 

[coloradokevin]

I'm new, but I think Winchester is crap thus far.

My first bag of it gave me two cases with split necks. Others in that bag were somewhat tarnished right out of the bag. I know these weren't stored in the store for a long time either, as the store had been out of that caliber of brass right up until the time I purchased my bag.

I wrote to Winchester, and got a letter a couple of days ago that requested I send them the brass...

Still need to do that, and I'll keep you posted on what they say!