odd 223 brass

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I came across a lot of perfecta, A USA on the head and FC but the FC heads all look different than each other. some says FC in large cut letters and some FC that is scratched in the head and some made by Speer when cleaning out some stuff and a few TA with years and WCC with years.

I know federal is shorter than normal cases, never heard of the perfecta or A-USA or TA. anything to be worried about when loading these or just pitch them? I've got about 200 of these cases but a little afraid to mess with them. a couple of the primer pockets look odd too with 3 little cuts like something was pushed in the case head.
 
Federal shorter than "normal" cases? Never heard of that.
The three little cuts are crimps, they hold the primer in place, you'll need to remove them before you can seat new primers.
 
I buy mixed range brass all the time. For a while, it was all I could get so it became a sort of habit. I sort the cases based on the headstamp and year (if applicable) and load it according to loads I have developed over the years that work fine regardless of the components.

I am not a "five shot, one hole" shooter. I want to be able to hit targets at 100 and 200 yards and take game at 200 yards or less, so my accuracy needs are little more utilitarian and I have not found any .223 brass that affected the kind of accuracy I am attempting to achieve.

...the primer pockets look odd too with 3 little cuts like something was pushed in the case head.
Click to expand...

Sounds like what you are describing are "staked" primers. It is a similar process to primers that have been crimped in place, but intead of the brass being displaced around the circumfrence of the primer, it is displaced at three or four points. Such cases should be treated just like crimped primer pockets that are removed by either being reamed or swaged.
 
I've not run across a TA that I remember, but the perfecta is good (mine was) but apparently you should look for off-center flash holes with those.
The A USA I'm pretty sure is magtech (I wouldn't swear to it, I haven't looked it up specifically) which is fine. Oops, it's armscor
The WCC is good brass, for sure.
So, don't pitch em!

Scrutinize them like any other, and load away.
 
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I've run perfecta in the .243 for awhile now, first time I came across any form of "crimped" primer in that caliber, several rounds of hot loads through it and still going strong. Some of my fc is short some ain't just trim to length and continue. My A USA came from Armscor that I pulled myself, found over .7 difference in charge weights after they blew shrapnel into my firing pin, so if you can, check the primers for cratering and check the case head too, that's something you'd want to do anyway because you probably can't KNOW if any of this brass was "hot" or not. Check the others as you go and you'll be fine. Or if you're too worried, pitch it. Peace of mind is priceless but I'd give it a go personally.
 
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In .223 Rem I don't bother with Perfecta. It is a decapping pin destroyer. Most of them have a off center flash hole as shown here:

21221532625_d4f2e14bda_c.jpg
 
all this brass has come from me in the last 8-9yrs of shooting factory ammo. I don't pickup range 223. I have no clue where the WCC and TA came from though the only thing I can think of is when I ordered LC from brass bombers their website shows those brands. Ill pitch the perfecta.
 
Perfecta brass -- I have found a lot of it, some batches of it have 80% off center flash holes
so off center that die's primer pin bent --- scrap bucket

FC brass -- yes, after sizing the cases were shorter than most, I trim to recommended length 1.750
( once fired ) 60% of the FC brass is shorter than 1.750 most between 1.750 and 1.740
and sinse FC brass is notorious for loose primer pockets, again -- the scrap bucket

TA brass -- another foreign manufacturer only seen a few, processed it and went into the
odd ball brass to be traded

WCC -- Western Cartage Corp.( one of Winchester's military head stamps ) good stuff

WMA -- You will start seeing a lot of it Winchester's newer Ammo plant ( Winchester military ) good stuff
 
macgrumpy said:
Federal shorter than "normal" cases? Never heard of that.
The three little cuts are crimps, they hold the primer in place, you'll need to remove them before you can seat new primers.
Click to expand...
I sure have. Rarely are they over 1.74, once fired...

Russellc
 
Recently picked up some F&S brass. Flash holes undersized(.060) and some a little off center. Pulled the pin out of my Lee 223 de-capper rod and broke my universal de-capper pin.
 
As you can see in Load Master's picture in Post #7 above, be aware of Perfecta (or any other) with off center flash holes.
(Rather than throw brass away, save it and sell it to a recycling center, they pay cash money.)
If in doubt about flash holes, use an inspection light and look inside. You'll see the bad ones.
The good ones look ordinary, the bad ones look weird because they are. Same for Berdan with two holes.

Armscor moved a good portion of its ammunition manufacturing to the United States.
A USA is American made Armscor. Excellent brass.

Over the years, Federal has used dozens of different brass plants (not all is made in-house by Federal).
The headstamps are different, but all FC is Federal. For range and plinking, slightly short necks are no problem.

TA is Israeli military, same manufacturer as IMI. Generally excellent brass.

Of course, WCC is Western Cartridge Company. A division of Winchester. Excellent brass.

The three 'cuts' are staked primer pockets, as mentioned by several fellows above.
Treat them like any other crimped primer pocket, whatever method you choose.
Note: Some staked pockets can take primers just the way they are. Might be worth a try.
There are several ways to ream or swage primer pockets, you choose the method you want.
The choice is like Ford vs Chevy vs Dodge. People get emotional about it, but all are valid. You choose.

For match grade reloads, it is more important to match brass by weight, volume, headstamp, and number of times fired.
For practice and plinking and ordinary range ammo, it is much less critical. I simply inspect them, clean & prep, load & shoot.
The 'inspection' part is important, don't skip that step.

Most of your stash is good. Just identify/recycle the off center flash holes, and inspect the rest. You'll do just fine, Ohio.
 
Another silly argument people, since the SAAMI specs for the .223 case is 1.760" - .030" which means that the cases can be from 1.730" to 1.760" and still be within SAAMI spec and my actual point was that Federal .223 brass isn't shorter than "normal". Even 1.730" is still within spec, it's not shorter than normal.
 
That FC brass is good for load once and lose in the grass type situations. Primer pockets never last more than 2-3 reloads and generally aren't worth the trouble.

The WCC is good brass.

I like to stick with LC brass for consistent, quality brass.
 
I measure now after sizing but when I first started reloading and asked on here i was at like 1.730. (I cant remember if they were sized then checked) and must have threw them in the huge bag of mixed stuff i accumulated over the last 8 years. I will go home and run some through the sizer and see what they measure but i remember i was a little worried about loading them and that's why instead of loading the 300 i have i went with 500 LC. If i size and they hit 1.740 i guess I'm good then. I actually found them in the scrap bag so not sure.
 
ohihunter2014 said:
I measure now after sizing but when I first started reloading and asked on here i was at like 1.730. (I cant remember if they were sized then checked) and must have threw them in the huge bag of mixed stuff i accumulated over the last 8 years. I will go home and run some through the sizer and see what they measure but i remember i was a little worried about loading them and that's why instead of loading the 300 i have i went with 500 LC. If i size and they hit 1.740 i guess I'm good then. I actually found them in the scrap bag so not sure.
Click to expand...
When I first started loading .223Rem I thought a number of pieces of brass were undersized. Once they are ran though the full length sizing die they came back to 1.750. I prefer this, no need to trim. Just chamfer the opening as I'm ready to load. The primer pocket might need attention, but that's about it.
 
ohihunter2014 said:
just use a set of calipers and measure them. all of mine are shorter than what they are supposed to be.
Click to expand...
Same. Not like it takes a rocket scientist to work calipers. Everyone I have ever measured was 1.74 or just above.

Russellc
 
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