308 vs 762

[Texas Solo]

I have plenty of LC 7.62 brass, but I'm thinking some 308 brass would be better for target use. Am I wrong?

Is the thicker military 762 a bad choice if properly trimmed & sized?

I just can't afford 500rds of new 308 brass.

 

[Rsadams]

Load development is your friend here.... Do all the work to the brass and like any other pick the best of the lot and go for it... Save the not so great for sighting in etc... During these crazy times you simply adapt... Many great breakthroughs have come from trying new things.... Plus I wouldn't be scared at all to use any LC brass...

 

[beemanjohn]

308 Brass will not make your gun shoot any better. Use what you got and love it. With the price of components now days, we make do with what we have. BTW, you do not need 500 pieces of new brass unless you shoot a whole lot!

 

[joshb]

Military brass is fine to use. You can refine it’s use by separating it into lots by year, manufacturer , internal volume or weight.

 

[Walt Krafft]

Your brass is fine as long as it wasn't fired in a machine gun for its first outing. Machine guns generally stretch the brass leading to early head seperations. If it needs a bunch of trimming, I would take it to the recyclers and buy some new brass.

 

[Gargoyle]

I just reduce the powder charge 1.5gr for LC brass due to less case volume. The most volume of 308 brass I tested was Winchester at 56gr H20. LC came in 54gr H20. IIRC

 

[762plinker]

mil brass is not good for small target work.
massive weight/volume spread.
plinking and blasting is fine
hat type of shooting ??

 

[markm87]

Agree with just matching it up by make and maybe year

 

[RoDog]

I just reduce the powder charge 1.5gr for LC brass due to less case volume. The most volume of 308 brass I tested was Winchester at 56gr H20. LC came in 54gr H20. IIRC

Im wondering if its the same for 30-06 brass.

 

[Gargoyle]

Im wondering if its the same for 30-06 brass.

Although I have LC 30-06 brass I've never had commercial brass to test.

 

[Doom]

I use Lapua and LC for 308 and if there's a significant difference in performance I haven't seen it. If you prep the LC and weight and year sort it you should not have a problem. I've shot lots of LC 04, 05 and 07 over the last 10 years.

Right before I retired I bought 200 pieces of Lapua LRP and was also gifted 125+ from a cast bullet shooting friend that I have been using. Both shoot 0.5MOA or better.

That said, I did prefer the LC over Winchester for performance. The Winchester had wide variations in weight. Trying to get Lapua type weight consistancy required buying a whole lot more brass to do it.

 

[D-4297]

I got roped into prepping a bunch of LC Brass for a Bud for awhile . Once we went through it a couple of cycles and got it annealed and fit to his chamber , it shot fairly good . Do have to be just a little careful about trying to load those heavier F-class loads , though .

 

[Doug Casner]

I dont think there would be that much difference in different lot numbers of brass. As long as it was in govt. spec . Now lot numbers on loaded ammo, I can see where some shot better than others. Brass is gonna be pretty much the same unless its screwed up in the annealing process. The old timers up at LC used to talk about a french machinegun that was really tough on the head of 7.62. The more you hit brass the harder it gets. We had to hit the head twice on 7.62 for that French machinegun. Doug

 

[Full Chisel]

I bought 500 mixed year, once-fired LC 7.62 brass for my 308. I measured all the years against each other and case volume (and weight, if it matters to you) is consistent across years with no discernable pattern from one year to another. Consistent enough that I don't even think about it anymore. Removing the crimp is a PITA. Be prepared to toss a few cases because the crimp removal didn't go well. Otherwise I've gotten some consistent sub moa 600 yard loads using it, and one that is 2/3 moa. I have not tried to get any more accurate than that. Just be thorough with prep.

 

[JB10]

I have used alot of LC 308 cases in a bolt gun. Im no competitor shooter, just against myself. I did upgrade to Lapua and it shot about the same. Now this was just a basic R700 with stock update. I dont shoot it much anymore so load most of the LC for brother in laws AR10. I use the heck out of 223 LC brass for my bolt guns and my 6x45 bolt.