No love for the FC brass
- Thread starter hdwhit
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papajoe222
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- Sep 25, 2017
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The only knock I have against FC brass in .223 is that they are short in the neck. The majority of my once fired brass (not purchased or range pick up) measured out at 1.745 or less. On the plus side, weights were consistent and the shorter necks (less tension) actually improved accuracy a little over the factory Winchester brass I had been using. I'm on my eighth reload and have annealed and trimmed them back to 1.745 twice. I suspect those that are experiencing troubles with the primer pockets are loading at, or close to max. Unless the shorter FC brass affects the accuracy enough to make a difference for your style of shooting, I wouldn't concern myself. Trim them all to the same length and load 'em up.
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Toprudder
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That has consistently been my observation. I have my cutter set to about 1.750. Whenever the cutter does not trim anything off, it is almost always a FC case.
I'm not sure that it is from the brass stretching on some (LC) and not others (FC). I just think the FC was short to begin with. The only way to really know would be to pull some factory rounds and measure the cases before firing.
GSPKurt
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I avoid FC brass whenever possible, regardless of caliber.
ray15
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I've noticed this, and recently learned that it's a different production process (extrusion) that is used on a lot of the Vista conglomerate brass. Most Blazer brass is the heavier style and is equivalent to the .FC. I've been using Blazer and .FC. as my mainstream 9mm brass with excellent results.
And that is quite anathema to me. Ever since I was a teenager, I have shot my own reloads almost exclusively. At first, this was because I couldn't buy pistol caliber rounds, but I could buy the components. Later, it was a question of economics since I could load for less than I could shoot. Now, it is just a matter of stubborn pride, so someone else will have to conduct the test you suggest.
Well, it sounds like once-fired Federal brass (assumed to be genuinely once-fired since the primers are still crimped in place) can be counted on to be good for at least four or five loadings in most cases. That works well for me since I have lost most of my 223 cases to the weeds by that time anyway. And the fact Federal brass does not have a good reputation means some of the brass merchants segregate it and sell it for less than other, more desirable, headstamps. And that's all good news for me.
Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences with me on this.
Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences with me on this.
Well, I just dove into some FC headstamp brass that I have had languishing in the garage since before Thanksgiving. This came from the seller looking like it had already been tumbled, so I just knocked the primers out. After inspecting the cases, I went ahead and began reaming the primer pocket crimp.
Just before Thanksgiving, I had processed 300 LC brass cases and when I reamed the primer pocket crimp, I would have to raise the brass to the cutter and then rotate it nearly a full turn to get the crimp removed. With the FC brass, I just raised the case to the cutter and in a third to a half of a turn, the crimp was gone. The brass noticeably easier to machine than the LC brass I had worked on two weeks before.
Just before Thanksgiving, I had processed 300 LC brass cases and when I reamed the primer pocket crimp, I would have to raise the brass to the cutter and then rotate it nearly a full turn to get the crimp removed. With the FC brass, I just raised the case to the cutter and in a third to a half of a turn, the crimp was gone. The brass noticeably easier to machine than the LC brass I had worked on two weeks before.
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