223 brass choice
- Thread starter Cory porter
- Start date
On the short Nosler brass. If it is uniform or can be trimmed to uniform, it is not a problem at all even if it is 5/1000" off what SAAMI says. I would be very attentive to long cases and OAL in an AR-15.
For competition I use Lapua brass mainly due to it's uniform neck wall thickness. I have a no neck turn chamber and uniform neck wall thickness is critical in such a chamber. 6.5 X 284, .308 and .223.
One of my biggest peeves with other brands of brass are the primer flash holes with big chunks of flash left from punching the primer pockets. That can end up down the barrel and get seriously ironed into the rifling. Had that happen once as proved with a bore scope. Fortunately it was just a plinking rifle and not something with a new match barrel. For general use loading I like Winchester but now deburr all flash holes lightly.
One of my biggest peeves with other brands of brass are the primer flash holes with big chunks of flash left from punching the primer pockets. That can end up down the barrel and get seriously ironed into the rifling. Had that happen once as proved with a bore scope. Fortunately it was just a plinking rifle and not something with a new match barrel. For general use loading I like Winchester but now deburr all flash holes lightly.
Lake City once fired brass is very cheap but requires prep work. Lapua is the costliest and requires no prep work. So it boils down to spending time or spending far more money.
223 Rem + 223 AI Cartridge Guide
http://www.accurateshooter.com/cartridge-guides/223rem/
How Hard is Your Brass? 5.56 and .223 Rem Base Hardness Tests
http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com...r-brass-5-56-and-223-rem-base-hardness-tests/
223 Rem + 223 AI Cartridge Guide
http://www.accurateshooter.com/cartridge-guides/223rem/
How Hard is Your Brass? 5.56 and .223 Rem Base Hardness Tests
http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com...r-brass-5-56-and-223-rem-base-hardness-tests/
Last edited:
Brians356
Silver $$ Contributor
Yep, especially since the 223 Rem has a relatively short neck to begin with. To seat certain lightweight bullets anywhere near the lands can leave less than .010" of neck engagement.
Likely use of brass in an AR doesn't justify cutting their cases shorter than SAAMI minimum case length. I want new cases to be (and they typically are) no shorter than "trim-to" length, which would would be a full .015" longer for the Nosler 223 cases.
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Brians356
Silver $$ Contributor
What seems like a "mere" .005" short is actually a full .015" shorter than SAAMI "trim-to length", and in my Rem 700 that makes it impossible to seat lightweight varmint bullets anywhere near the lands and still enjoy reasonable neck engagement.
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Still gotta uniform the primer pockets
Yes and the flash holes also, separate by head stamps, by weight or internal capacity, sort by neck thickness, etc.
I'm retired and have nothing to do and all day to do it and all the cases that fail sorting can be used as blasting ammo in my AR15s.
Did I say I'm a cheap bastard and would never think of using Lapua brass in a AR15 rifle and chew up the case.
So it boils down to time or money...........and I'm so cheap when I break wind in sounds like a silent dog whistle. (a real tight ass)
So Lake City brass is a mix of different headstamps?
I see. Same manufacturer, different years.
I originally did that with .45 ACP brass, Armscorp stamps the year, and I carefully separated "AP 98" from "AP 02" or "AP 03".
In my log, in .45 ACP, the different years didn't make any difference that showed up on the target, although different manufacturers did make a difference. So I stopped sorting by year in .45 ACP, but I can see how it could make a difference in rifle, because eventually the range gets long enough that the intestinal difficulties of the nearest butterfly makes a difference. When I read your comment, I thought you meant different manufacturers. My mistake.
I originally did that with .45 ACP brass, Armscorp stamps the year, and I carefully separated "AP 98" from "AP 02" or "AP 03".
In my log, in .45 ACP, the different years didn't make any difference that showed up on the target, although different manufacturers did make a difference. So I stopped sorting by year in .45 ACP, but I can see how it could make a difference in rifle, because eventually the range gets long enough that the intestinal difficulties of the nearest butterfly makes a difference. When I read your comment, I thought you meant different manufacturers. My mistake.
Actually, my comment was pointed towards the Lapua brass really..
I've also found the very occasional 'tight' (ie undersize) flash-hole on Lapua 223 brass. 2 or 3% of cases and only in the occasional production lot. As a matter of course, I run a Sinclair 0.081" reamer through all new cases - a smaller diameter opening is the sort of thing that will seriously ruin your ES values.
Wideners just put the 250ct bags of new unprimed LC on sale for $38.50. 15 cents per.
https://www.wideners.com/reloading-supplies/brass-casings/556-brass-casings
https://www.wideners.com/reloading-supplies/brass-casings/556-brass-casings
Lake City always has required a lot of prep and a high reject rate.
Even worse recently.
Seeing lots of necks splitting early.
Getting 10+ firings from Lapua.
Even worse recently.
Seeing lots of necks splitting early.
Getting 10+ firings from Lapua.
What do you guys consider "good" for a number of firings?
I've never worn .45 ACP, 9 or .38 Super out. I always lose it before I wear it out.
100 Lapua .223 from Midway, as I type, is 56.99. That's 57¢ each. If you get ten firings, that's 5.7¢ per shot.
I've never worn .45 ACP, 9 or .38 Super out. I always lose it before I wear it out.
100 Lapua .223 from Midway, as I type, is 56.99. That's 57¢ each. If you get ten firings, that's 5.7¢ per shot.
Federal is selling 5.56 ammo with cases that failed inspection at Lake City and I agree some of it is not as good as "real' Lake City brass.
That being said I buy bulk brass from Brass Bombers that is bought from the military and not from civilian ranges.
223/5.56 - Cleaned, Deprimed & Swaged - LC Only - 500 Pieces $59.00 free shipping
http://brassbombers.com/223-556-Cleaned-Deprimed-Swaged-LC-Only-500-Pieces-2LC-S0050.htm
11:20pm eastern time after clicking on your link
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I hope all your brass turns green and the necks all crack.
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