AR Platforms and Brass

[OnlyDans94]

Hey Guys,

I'm pretty new to reloading, been doing it for almost a year and have gone down the rabbit hole. My components and gear out paces my ability, I've fallen for a lot of marketing schemes by accident but also I just like nice stuff in general. I shoot a bergara B14 HMR in 6.5cm (if you have a premier bolt lemme buy it btw) but also shoot a ton of AR. I love ARs and am passionate about precision when it comes to my ARs. My precision oriented ARs are a DD MK12 (18in), a 6mm ARC build I made based on a craddock precision, and an LMT MARS-H with a craddock barrel that D. Wilson converted.

My question is, what is the optimal brass to use? I know Lapua, Alpha, Peterson, and the likes are the gold standard, but is the AR platform too rough on the brass that it makes using this brass stupid? I know if i take care of my brass i can load it many times, but does using a Lapua in an AR platform make it so that the gains are obsolete and wasteful? Like will i only get 3-4 firings when shooting high quality brass out of my ARs?

If this is the case, what do you guys recommend for a solid balance between precision and reasonable quality when loading to optimize an AR platform. Thanks in advance for the knowledge.

Sincerely,

OnlyDans94

 

[Jerry Snyder]

Lake City is also a good brass for the AR platform. For price, I like Starline brass.

 

[vegas]

I am on my 4th firing of Lake City brass, so 5th total. Everything seems fine so far.

 

[Herzo]

Probably the biggest issue with brass life in AR's is the headspace. You should ensure that you only push the shoulder back 0.002" to 0.003" when resizing. Excessive headspace risks a head separation. An appropriate set of Redding shellholders [0.000" to 0.010"] is the easiest answer.
I have a couple of Grendels the barrels from reputable manufacturers, which came with excessive headspace. I had to go to a type 1 bolt in order to bring them into spec.

 

[Walt Krafft]

I use Starline, Sig, and IMI in my ARs. Lapua never gained me much. Federal and some Hornady brass has been known to be soft. I like to buy brass in quantities of 500 to 1000 pieces so they are all the same manufacturing lot. LC is good to use, but removing the crimp is a pita.

 

[SKWERLZ]

My preferred case in AR is lake city.
Durable
Cheap
Decent if sorted by year.

 

[AWS]

Starline 5.56 brass, works well for me even making 20P from it.

 

[Mark611]

I run a lot of Starline brass in my autoloaders, 6.5GRR 223/5.56 AR's 308win M1A, FAL, M77PAP rifles, I went this route because removing crimps from the primer pockets is far too time consuming for me, I also buy enough brass to try and get all the same case lot, I size my brass with Redding SB body dies, and neck size them with a Lee collet die and use a factory crimp die, this works well for me, YMMV.

 

[LVLAaron]

Starline 5.56 (they have 223 and 5.56 variants, get the 5.56) if you want a reliable way to buy new bagged brass.

LC (Lake City) is great.

The list goes on... If you want to reload several times I'd say run whatever you can find, except Federal.

 

[MBuechle]

I run Lapua .22-250 in my AR10. It works good, some on 6th loading. A lot at thermonuclear levels, which I didn't know until I got Gorden's Tool! I de-horn the inside corners of my barrel extension lugs at 2 & 3 o'clock and I get no damage of brass.

 

[markm87]

Depends entirely on the gun, its gas system, and its port size. A properly gassed AR won't chew up brass. An AR with an over reamed port will thrash brass much more.

 

[ebb]

I also like Lake City for my 5.56 and .308. But that doesn't work in an ARC. I run a large frame AR in 260 Remington, and cringe when I lose brass. Maybe a brass catcher and Starline, I am hearing it is excellent and cheaper than Lapua.

 

[joshb]

I use Lake City, Federal, PMC and a couple others in my ARs. I would never use Lapua.

 

[Bottom Fodder]

1st ? Are you using any kind of brass catcher I would hate to know I was spraying anything other than LC brass all over the firing line.I’m not a AR guy but I’ve seen firing lines covered with brass on the ground

 

[Kracken McGraw]

I use Lake City, Federal, PMC and a couple others in my ARs. I would never use Lapua.

I get along with the used Federal brass also in the gas gun.

 

[Spacegunr]

I've shot a 6mmAR Turbo 40 in NRA Highpower XTC for years. It's basically the Ackley Improved version of your 6mm ARC. I've always used Lapua Grendel brass. The action doesn't chew it up at all. I start losing cases after 6 or 7 firings due to primer pockets opening up. Most of them are at 9 to 10 firings and are still going though.

 

[jpjulian]

I competed in Highpower for a long time, 20+ years, with most of that time behind an AR. In .223 I really do not think brand of brass matters. Winchester, Remington, Hornady, LC, IMI, Lapua.......It doesn't matter. I shot Lapua instead of my usual Winchester brass and there was zero difference on target. No statistical difference in X-count or total score. In Highpower all that matters is reliability and results on target. I learned there were things that just do not matter loading an AR for Highpower. Winchester brass primed with a Rem 7 1/2 charged with 24.0 of RL15 and stuffed with a Sierra 77 for short line or Sierra 80 for 600 worked. Same load with any other brass worked the same. Lapua brass and BR4 primer didn't work any better..... on target. Scores are all that count. Most everything else except the jerk pulling the trigger really doesn't matter.

 

[Bojo]

Seeing as how you are fairly new to reloading , I will go out on a very long limb and state that you debt to income ratio along with your value on what your fun money is worth will forever dictate this bottomless pit of a hobby.


The things that you may get talked into now will not make sense for probably 3 to 5 years. In which time you will have more than likely sold that tool off at a loss and will buy another again when you half ass understand just how to put it to good use.

Enjoy the ride , way too many a high and low , followed by an “oh yeah I got it now !!!”


Then the next match it is a big ole WTF !!!!

I started 20 some years ago on 357 and 22 hornet…

 

[Steel Mover]

I use commercial brass for all of my match brass and 100% prepared LC brass for shooting where the brass may get lost. If you use LC suggest you buy processed brass but still check the LC to make sure the primer flash hole is centered in the primer pocket.
Most of my match AR guns, that are based on 223 cases, I use sorted nickel plated match brass in. Been building ARs for a few decades, since the 101st sent me to the 3rd Army school in 1964.
If you run across one, the 6mm Mongoose is an interesting AR-15 rifle cartridge. Is designed to use LC brass, trimmed .050 shorter, fire formed, body blown out with a 40 degree shoulder to use 80-95 grain 6mm bullets at 3,000 fps. A guy from FL designed it to have 32 grains of water capacity and to use 223 mags.

 

[mic2377]

LC brass is always a solid choice for either 223 or 308 in an AR platform.

I have gotten better life with LC cases in 308 compared to 223. I would say I average 4-5 firings in the 223. In 308 I have fired cases up to 9 times in 308. There were fairly beat up but I think I could have fired them 2-3 more times if they were annealed. They had seriously work hardened at that point.

I have not noticed any difference in case life or accuracy with LC vs more expensive brass in AR's.

The most important point for good case life in semi autos is DON'T LOAD HOT. That will lead to loose pockets and case stretching much more rapidly than in a bolt gun. For example, the 308 LC brass that lasted forever was primarily shot with a moderate load of 41.5 gr IMR 4064 under a 168 SMK.

I would highly recommend looking up specific semi auto load data. Good sources are Hodgdon's service rifle, Sierra's AR manual, and Hornady's AR-specific 6 ARC data.

I also shoot an MWS and MK12 clone. You will be likely be able to achieve excellent accuracy from both of these.