Is LC brass with the effort?
- Thread starter Bfh_auto
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It's all 18 stamped.
I'm stubborn enough I won't stop in this batch, but may go a different route next time.
brasscollector
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I find for 308, yes it's worth the effort. For 223 I am less inclined to go through all the hassle to use LC brass but I still save it. It does seem to hold up better than a lot of other 223 brass.
Charlie98
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This is my experience as well. I don't consider LC the top of the heap, but it's serviceable.
Bwana John
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Not if it got shot through a MG first!
cheygriz
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LC brass is top of the line. My first choice.
LRDGCO
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I use milsurp contract cleanup 7.62x51 exclusively for my PTR91 needs. I find the brass to be great quality, but, at least in 7.62 NATO, it has all been fired in machine guns and stretched. It gets washed in Dawn and citric acid, dried, tumbled in crushed walnut media, sized with small base dies, primer pocket expanded with a CH4D die, and trimmed. It's a lot of work to get it to spec. That's ok with me. But, if the monetary value of your time is factored in, brass that has not been stretched, coated in carbon, and put away dirty would probably be more cost effective.
These brass have been run through my AR15.
I was contemplating buying starline or Winchester brass.
bullseye308
Member
If you are buying, star line is great brass, as is Lapua. Lake City is real good brass and lasts quite a while. Federal has been known to have loose primer pockets earlier than most other brands.
FROGO207
Member
I have no complaints with any 223 LC brass so far and it is worth the effort to process it IMHO. Still I have not had any dated 18 yet so can't give the input for you on that. You only need to process primer pockets one time and I prefer to swage mine. I anneal every three loadings, partial full length size for function, and mine last at least 10-12 loadings with the primer pockets getting loose as the reason I get rid of them usually. They work as well as other brands of brass I get for free so I use them up.
I have had a bad experience with Federal in 22-250. I got that batch of LC done. It wasn't too bad.
someguy2800
Member
In my experience it’s just as good as any other brass. I had about 500 rounds of ‘08 headstamp LC brass I segregated and prepped for my varmint gun that shot sub 1/2”
This might be interesting. I had a bud who worked gage inspection at one Army Ammunition plant. Army Ammunition plants are Government Owned, Contractor Operated. The real situation is now, Government funded, Contractor dominated. Anyway, once the Contractor reaches the Government quota, the Contractor is free to run the plant for itself. So that is why you occasionally see new, primed, LC cases, and fully charged ammunition with LC headstamps. The Contractor gets to keep and sell the stuff. It is made to the same standards as the military issue. And it is good stuff.
I have not shot every year, nor every caliber, but I have shot lots of once fired LC 223, 308, and 30-06 brass. As long as it is not machine gun brass, it is good stuff. Brass fired in a machine gun is swelled so much that even a small base die can't reduce it. That is when you buy a case roll sizer. Here is one, the Case Pro 100. Yours for $893, extra die sets at additional cost.
http://www.casepro100.com/desc.ydev?prod_id=33744
Lake City was the best stuff to use in an AR, and the best stuff to use in a Garand or M1a. I used to pick up big handfuls of once fired Federal Gold Medal brass from the military teams. They shot that stuff out to 300 yards, sometimes 600 yards. The case heads in Federal brass would expand and drop a primer around reload three to four. It was free so I should not complain. But LC, that stuff would last, and last.
Brass quality varies, some years better than others, but when I was shooting match AR's, IMI match was good, W/W was good, never picked or used much R-P, but LC was my primary brass. I got lots of medals at Camp Perry shooting LC out to 300 yards, my 600 yard loads had W/W.
I have not shot every year, nor every caliber, but I have shot lots of once fired LC 223, 308, and 30-06 brass. As long as it is not machine gun brass, it is good stuff. Brass fired in a machine gun is swelled so much that even a small base die can't reduce it. That is when you buy a case roll sizer. Here is one, the Case Pro 100. Yours for $893, extra die sets at additional cost.
http://www.casepro100.com/desc.ydev?prod_id=33744
Lake City was the best stuff to use in an AR, and the best stuff to use in a Garand or M1a. I used to pick up big handfuls of once fired Federal Gold Medal brass from the military teams. They shot that stuff out to 300 yards, sometimes 600 yards. The case heads in Federal brass would expand and drop a primer around reload three to four. It was free so I should not complain. But LC, that stuff would last, and last.
Brass quality varies, some years better than others, but when I was shooting match AR's, IMI match was good, W/W was good, never picked or used much R-P, but LC was my primary brass. I got lots of medals at Camp Perry shooting LC out to 300 yards, my 600 yard loads had W/W.
greyling22
Member
life is too short for crimped primer pockets. lake city gets and F minus minus as far as I am concerned. I've gotten very good accuracy from winchester and remington. Don't know how good the cases are, but 223 out of an ar is very forgiving. And who cares how long the cases last. The ranges are drowning in 223 brass.
Toprudder
Member
I use LC in 223 and have had good luck with it. I have done a few (not extensive) load work ups with PMC and Starline. I have had some loads with PMC that was as good or better than anything else I tried. I did not think Starline was any better than the best loads I had with LC. The main reason I use the LC is because it is so plentiful. I admit that I am a bit of a tightwad, though. If money were no object, I would probably be buying Lapua brass and Berger bullets. But I can get 1 moa or better with LC brass and Hornady bullets, and that is good enough for me.
I shoot on my own property. I'll take the solitude in exchange for buying brass. Winchester was all I cared to use until I got some Sellier&Bellot 308 brass. It's primer pockets are extremely tight.
It's the extra information that is offered here that makes it nice. I appreciate the time that people take to help others. That machine is unnecessary unless you are trying to feed a machine gun.
Charlie98
Member
Ok, now we're on to something. There are differences in military vs commercial brass. LC is military, Starline and Winchester is commercial. I don't really know if it makes that big of a difference in 5.56mm, but it does in 7.62mm... the case capacity on military brass is less than the equivalent of commercial brass, so the same load would have higher pressure in military brass, all else being equal. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong on that. I do know that I get higher velocity on factory loaded LC M193 (55grn FMJ) vs 'Federal' M193... by 200fps.
My research says 556/223 brass doesn't follow the same lines that 7.62x51 Vs 308 does.
My pmc and LC are filled to the bottom of the case neck by the same powder charge. I heard starline runs low on capacity. I will be using different head stamp for different bullet weights.
Charlie98
Member
As long as you work up each load in it's own brass, you should be fine.
Although I have bought new LC brass, I would not specifically buy new brass for .223/5.56 unless it was for something like benchrest... there is too much once-fired out there for cheap.
Although I have bought new LC brass, I would not specifically buy new brass for .223/5.56 unless it was for something like benchrest... there is too much once-fired out there for cheap.
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