No love for the FC brass

[hdwhit]

For years I have read posts critical of FC headstamp brass. There are many criticisms, but suffice it to say that just listening to the cacophony, FC is less desirable than brass bearing other headstamps, like LC.

I do most of my shooting in the field and so recover only a small percentage of my cases. Statistically, by the time I would reach the fifth reloading, none of my cases are still around. This means I am buying a fairly constant stream of previously fired brass to replace my losses.

I'm working through a thousand pieces of .223 Remington/5.56x45 brass. It was advertised as mixed range brass with military head-stamps predominating. And true to that claim, I have about 500 LC cases, 300 FC cases and a little less than 200 cases from all other headstamps. The LC and FC cases were crimped so I'm relatively certain they are truly once-fired cases.

After sizing them, I trimmed them. I trim to 1.753 inches. The unusual length is due to the fact I don't want to waste any more work trimming than I have to and I know from past experience if I trim to 1.753, the cases will not lengthen to the point of needing another trim until they have been lost in the weeds.

What surprised me was that for the vast majority of the FC cases (about 250 out of roughly 300) the cutter never reached the case mouth. The cases were 1.753 or less. On the other hand, virtually all of the LC brass required trimming, some generating abundant brass shavings in front of the trimmer. Anyone else had this happen; where one once-fired case stretches hardly at all on firing while another once-fired cases seems to stretch dramatically?

 

[someguy2800]

They were probably trimmed short to begin with. The only thing I have noticed about federal brass is that the case heads are soft and the primer pockets go loose really fast. I have several hundred 270 federal once fired cases from factory ammo and many of them go in the trash because they will not hold a primer the first time they are reloaded. I've noticed the same with federal 25-06, and 30-30 cases as well. My 25-06 federal cases are junk after 3 or 4 firings whereas winchester's just keep going and going. Besides that I have no complaints and the accuracy and all is just fine. I would take any federal brass given to me with a smile but I wouldn't pay as much for it as Winchester or RP or Hornady.

 

[Walkalong]

I get around 8 to 12 plus firings on .223 brass when testing things out and shooting one batch over and over. They fail from the primer pockets getting loose usually, and sometimes a split neck. FC tends to loosen up sooner than some, but I'll take 7 or 8 firings on once fired brass.

Statistically, by the time I would reach the fifth reloading, none of my cases are still around.

You shooting a Mini 14 in tall grass?

 

[thomas15]

I handload a lot of 9mm pistol for use in my 9mm revolver that uses moon clips. Because moon clips come in different thicknesses and finishes they tend to be headstamp specific. So for that reason I separate all of my brass and load for my revolvers 3 headstamps: Federal, Blazer and Winchester, every other headstamp gets used for my Glocks and I have so much of it I usually don't pick that brass up.

I agree with the headstamp being soft but I have some Federal 9mm brass that I have reloaded 10+ times still going strong. About 95% of the approx. 10,000 rounds of 9mm I shot this year were federal brass.

 

[LiveLife]

For 9mm brass, there's definite difference between "FC" and ".FC." with dots.

I have read somewhere that newer .FC. brass were made in the Speer plant where Speer/Blazer/CCI headstamp cases are made. I was like 'meh" with older FC brass but really like the newer .FC. brass along with Blazer brass which are now my favorite brass to reload.

Don't worry Winchester fans, I still like WIN headstamp brass which remains my reference brass.

 

[Reeferman]

Found my first couple of split .357 cases yesterday and they were both Winchester. I have both Winchester and Federal brass at 12 reloads and none of the Federal have split but I notice the primers are getting easier to seat in the Federals.

 

[Walkalong]

I have read somewhere that newer .FC. brass were made in the Speer plant where Speer/Blazer/CCI headstamp cases are made

I have some newer FC 9MM brass that has the same indented/rounded/concave head like the Speer stuff does, so that makes sense.

 

[joneb]

It's hard to say these days, I recall seeing some 5.56x 45 that was stamped F C and had the circle with a plus inside. So does this mean it's L-C alloy or Federal?

 

[joneb]

For 9mm brass, there's definite difference between "FC" and ".FC." with dots.

I have read somewhere that newer .FC. brass were made in the Speer plant where Speer/Blazer/CCI headstamp cases are made. I was like 'meh" with older FC brass but really like the newer .FC. brass along with Blazer brass which are now my favorite brass to reload.

Don't worry Winchester fans, I still like WIN headstamp brass which remains my reference brass.

I loaded 9x19 a mix of F-C and Blazer once fired brass with a 135 gr xtreme plated hp, cci 500, col 1.095" and 5.4 gr of True Blue. The average velocity was 1013 fps the es was 6 and the sd was 2, this was a 8 rnd string. They didn't shoot very well but the velocity was very consistent.

 

[LiveLife]

I recall seeing some 5.56x 45 that was stamped F C and had the circle with a plus inside. So does this mean it's L-C alloy or Federal?

Circle with a cross inside means it's loaded to NATO specs. Lake City is one of many plants Federal operates, which was owned by ATK (Alliant Techsystems) but now owned by Vista Outdoor which owns a host of companies - https://vistaoutdoor.com/brands/

Lake City Army Ammunition Plant is US government owned and contractor operated facility run by ATK since 2001 (ATK changed to Vista Outdoor in 2015) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_City_Army_Ammunition_Plant

So more than likely FC headstamp NATO cartridges use Federal brass.

 

[LiveLife]

I loaded 9x19 a mix of F-C and Blazer once fired brass with a 135 gr xtreme plated hp, cci 500, col 1.095" and 5.4 gr of True Blue. The average velocity was 1013 fps the es was 6 and the sd was 2, this was a 8 rnd string. They didn't shoot very well but the velocity was very consistent.

Wow, SD of 2?

As many posted, low SD number doesn't always translate to smaller shot groups.

When I started loading for 9mm carbines, I compared once-fired .FC. and BLAZER brass with mixed range brass reloaded several times by me (115 gr FMJ with 4.8 gr W231/HP-38 with 1.130" OAL). I was expecting smaller shot groups from once-fired rounds but the range test results were inconclusive as mixed range brass rounds (mostly WIN, FC, RP, BLAZER, etc.) produced slightly smaller shot groups.

I plan to repeat once-fired vs mixed range brass testing.

 

[Walkalong]

5.4 gr of True Blue. The average velocity was 1013 fps the es was 6 and the sd was 2, this was a 8 rnd string. They didn't shoot very well but the velocity was very consistent.

True Blue tends to do that. Not always, but I have seen some tiny numbers with it.

 

[bbqreloader]

So far working on the 6th reloading of 223 FC brass and all seems good. Looking for the ring and running a feeler inside the cases with no issues as of yet.

 

[JohnhenrySTL]

My federal brass has given my excellent results when loading .308s. I’ve had it last over ten loadings. I save it in a special pile, when I sort through range brass.

 

[FROGO207]

The only FED brass that I have had undue problems with was some 30-30 and some older 9MM. Both had poor neck tension and going to a different die that sized it down more was a huge help. Thinner necks were the problem for me.

 

[joneb]

On a third loading of F-C 30-30 brass F 210 were seating way easy, on the next loading I tried CCI 200 and those felt good. I may need to retire this batch of F-C soon.
I should add, I have no idea how old the above mentioned F-C brass is

 

[hdwhit]

Walkalong wrote:
You shooting a Mini 14 in tall grass?

How'd you guess?

 

[LoonWulf]

I really like federal ammo, hate federal cases. Ive had more issues with them than all the other head stamps combined. From being soft to having necks split faster than others.

 

[Galil5.56]

All of my experience with Fed brass is pre-ATK/Speer acquisition. I never much cared for the stuff over many years of use in rifle and handgun. Brass seemed brittle, didn't like its feel while trimmed or run through the press, and seemed to crack more rapidly than other brands... Color even looked off, to what I consider normal. Maybe this new impact extruded SpeerFed pistol brass is worth another try.

 

[rbernie]

The only thing I have noticed about federal brass is that the case heads are soft and the primer pockets go loose really fast.

This.

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

My experience with federal brass has been that the primer pockets get loose before I can work up to a good load.

 

[Nature Boy]

I’d take federal brass over Winchester

 

[kwg020]

I get around 8 to 12 plus firings on .223 brass when testing things out and shooting one batch over and over. They fail from the primer pockets getting loose usually, and sometimes a split neck. FC tends to loosen up sooner than some, but I'll take 7 or 8 firings on once fired brass.
You shooting a Mini 14 in tall grass?

I have noticed on reloading mixed brass that FC brass fails to hold the primer more than any other in 3rd or 4th fired. They don't go 5.
kwg

 

[Walkalong]

Perhaps you load a little hotter. They won't last as long on max loads.

 

[TheDomFather]

I just prepped a bunch of brass over the past two days, I had bought 1000 new FC cases a while back and this is likely only the 3rd loading on them and I noticed a few of the primer pockets are pretty loose. I think I can get one more firing out of them but thats it. I have 1000 LC cases ready after these FC cases go in the recycle bin.