question on Mil Surp .223

[solman]

I picked up a case of 500 Federal XM193f from Glensoutdoors.com at a good price for plinking and general shooting. The boxes say Federal xm193f.......m193 ball.
Last line reads 55 grain metal case boat-tail bullet. These appear to be brass case (may have a laquer coating) and copper jacketed to me. Am I missing something? I see its crimped primer headstamp of LC -11 looks like. I was planning on reloading these cases after I shoot em up. I put a magnet to it and it doesn't stick at all.

 

[beatledog7]

...55 grain metal case boat-tail bullet.

Sounds like "metal case" is referring to the bullet itself and has nothing to do with the actual case. LC 11 indicates Lake City made in 2011. It is brass, not steel.

 

[FROGO207]

Yes the casings are currently made of brass and are reloadable. I don't have any that new yet but the LC brass is good stuff. You did the correct thing by trying the magnet, that will show you any steel content real quick. I found a small widget at a yard sale that had a small magnet attached to the end and put it on my key ring. Really handy.

 

[solman]

Ok thats what I thought. Bullet seems to be regular jacketed as well....

 

[mtrmn]

"metal case" is talking about the bullet itself, not the cartridge case. Full Metal Jacket----copper and brass are metals as well as steel. All it means is the lead core of the bullet is fully encased in another metal-in this case gilding-metal jacket material.
Some of the newer-style FMJ's (62 gr SS109 etc) have the same jacket material covering a steel penetrator tip over a lead rear portion of the bullet. A magnet will tell you if the bullet has a steel insert as well as if there is a steel cartridge case.

 

[solman]

That explains it. Thanks Mtrmn
is the steel penetrator tip for armor?

 

[kingmt]

Yes. Light armor & light body armor but not true armor. It can penatrat mild steel.

 

[PigButtons]

OK so I'm a nerd that sees things literally

If it is mil-surp it is 5.56, not .223. Thought you might want to know so you can look up the differences.

If the primers are crimped you'll need some way of sizing the primer pocket before you can reload. Reaming and swaging are your two options. I prefer swaging because it is more repeatable for me. Dillon makes a great swaging press that comes with both large and small rifle primer dies.

Be safe and have fun.