223 brass choice

[Cory porter]

I picked up a savage f/tr 223 and plan to load 80g Berger or something in that category. I'll be shooting for fun and a few matches here and there.

My question is with 223 rounds how important do you feel brass choice is. I have always bought fully processed LC brass and it shoots really well. I still look over the brass and fine tune it. Such as uniform primer pockets, chamfer and check for issues.

I'm going to either stay with that because I've never had issues and it's cheap. Or go with blue box lapua, what do you guys think.

 

[GrocMax]

No need for milsurp these days, Fed American Eagle 250 ct bags of either FC ('223 Rem') or LC ('5.56x45 NATO') 40 bucks per on sale 45 local. I don't see any difference between the two.

For me Lapua ain't worth it, primer pockets loosen up quicker than either of the above.

 

[Ned Ludd]

I've always used Lapua, but am working up some virgin LC .223 Rem brass for the first time right now. It may work out just fine in the end, but I can tell you this brass is not Lapua. Many of the flash holes have significant brass flashing junk left over on the inside of the case that needs to be removed and generally have the appearance of not having gone through a very rigorous QC process. Given the price differential, I really can't complain, especially once I see how it performs in the rifle/loads. Is Lapua worth the extra $$$? Can't really compare until I've tested some loads in the LC brass. If the LC loads shoot comparably to my Lapua loads, I'd say it is a great bargain. If it does not shoot as consistently, I'll go back to using Lapua without a second thought.

 

[dickn52]

I use Lapua for bolt actions and LC for semi's

 

[SheepDog]

As long as you weigh the brass and prep it the same you can put it into lots and use it accordingly. While I have my "favorites" I use once fired brass that has been fired on the range. If it doesn't meet my goals it is still good for trigger practice and breathing control.

 

[Cory porter]

As long as you weigh the brass and prep it the same you can put it into lots and use it accordingly. While I have my "favorites" I use once fired brass that has been fired on the range. If it doesn't meet my goals it is still good for trigger practice and breathing control.

Seems like a good way to look at it. Potentially use lapua for matches and devolpment and LC for practice/steel maybe

 

[Rsadams]

In .223 , use whatever you like, just do the prep work..

 

[Jammer Six]

What I do when I start loading a new caliber is go to the manuals and pick the bullet I want. Then I simply use the manual's recipe, and match the brands for the case, primer and powder to the manual's recipe. That method has always served me well for starting points.

 

[pete1955]

I buy bulk once fired lake City brass and the first check is with a Redding neck thickness gauge. The most uniform necks are for my .223 bolt action and the rest are for my AR15. The uniform case neck cases are then prepped and uniformed and the once fired Lake City brass is a fraction the cost of Lapua. So it boils down to how much time or money you want to spend.

 

[Liven The Dream]

Well you say for Palma Shooting ? The Brass is very important .....
#1 Case Capacity ( Winchester may be the Best ) or Remington.
#2 cases should be Completely Prepped and weight sorted .
#3 Primers will be Very Important ( Wolf SRM . Fed.205M CCI 450 ??
#5 Bullets People have good luck with 80 gr. A-Max and Berger 80.5 Full Bore
90 gr. Bullets are very popular , but you need a 6.5 or 7 twist Barrel
.223 is a little harder for Palma Matches than .308 !!!

" At a Palma Match the longest walk is from 900 yards to 1000 yards "
Best of Luck

 

[joshb]

I'm just now getting my first 7 twist spun up for the 80s.I plan on preping LC. From all that I've read here, pushing them hard loosens your pockets fairly quickly. Not something I want to do with Lapua brass when LC is so cheap. Mind you, I don't compete. Josh

 

[Jason Boersma]

If you can find it try PMP brass, I've found it to be the strongest 223 brass out there.

 

[TheOtherZilla]

Son has a Savage 12 bolt gun in 223. We don't shoot competition but do like accuracy.. His is super accurate for a factory rifle, shoots almost 1 hole.. I have a 5 gallon bucket full of range brass. We pick out a bunch of the same brand and process it, usually LC..

I recently bought some blue box Lapua for my 222, as it was only a few dollars more than the Winchester or anything else. So far I see no difference in accuracy than the Winchester brass I normally use.

 

[Fotheringill]

I have found more uniformity with Lapua, RWS and, believe it or not, General Dynamics. If you are neck sizing, be aware that Lapua might need larger diamter bushings.

One word of caution with the .80 grain rounds. I would beg a few from others or at lease buy one box of 100 for testing. They MAY be too long for an F/TR, depending on how your chamber is cut. I have gone down in weight to 73 gr. Bergers, which fit best.

 

[Barrel Nut]

I have found more uniformity with Lapua, RWS and, believe it or not, General Dynamics. If you are neck sizing, be aware that Lapua might need larger diamter bushings.

One word of caution with the .80 grain rounds. I would beg a few from others or at lease buy one box of 100 for testing. They MAY be too long for an F/TR, depending on how your chamber is cut. I have gone down in weight to 73 gr. Bergers, which fit best.

If that situation bothers you and you really want to shoot longer bullets, it's a simple matter to buy a PT&G "throater" reamer. You can easily lengthen the throat to accommodate longer bullets. The throater comes with a bushing at each end and two stop nuts to adjust the depth of cut, so you don't need a lathe or any particular skill except the skill of not doing something stupid.

Measure, measure, measure, and then cut a LITTLE bit with the stop nuts set short of your target depth to begin with. Then measure, measure, measure, re-adjust the stop nuts, and finish the job. We're talking about two or three turns by hand here with not much pressure. Remember, you're essentially just cutting off part of the lands, so there isn't much material to be removed and a new throater is VERY sharp.

You can't go back, so use care. But if you use good sense you can do this job yourself while pretending to be a gunsmith.

 

[Fotheringill]

That has been suggested to me by a few people. I will wait until the barrel needs replacement then give specific instructions to the maker/gunsmith as to what I want. I do not feel confident enough to do the job myself.

 

[GrocMax]

I'm just now getting my first 7 twist spun up for the 80s.I plan on preping LC. From all that I've read here, pushing them hard loosens your pockets fairly quickly. Not something I want to do with Lapua brass when LC is so cheap. Mind you, I don't compete. Josh

Just got done testing LC vs FC vs Lapua, and Lapua loosens up much quicker.

 

[joshb]

Well, there ya go. Thanks, Grocmax!

 

[Brians356]

Don't buy Nosler 223 Rem brass, unless you won't mind your raw cases being a full .005" shorter than SAAMI minimum case length (not trim-to length.)
-

 

[Brians356]

I have found more uniformity with Lapua, RWS and, believe it or not, General Dynamics.

I have fifty RWS 223 cases, obtained when a friend gave me a box of Black Hills loaded ammo. The neck walls all have considerably less than .001" thickness variance. I've since opened many a box of B.H. ammo in stores, but have never again found any RWS brass inside.
-