Another "What's the best Brand of Brass" for 223AI

[DHD]

Out of curiosity, what is your preferred case to fireform to 223AI or even 6×45AI?

I don't have the 6, but do have a new 223AI with 1-7 26.5" Bartlien. So far I've been blowing brass and it shoots very well doing so. I've done limited work up with fireformed cases and it shoots as well as I hoped with 75 VLD's, 75 Amax, and 82BT at 600 yards. As of right now, Varget may be best but it shoots very good fireforming using 8208, however it doesn't seem to shoot as well with 8208 after fireforming. The only time I ran it over the chronograph was using 80.5 Fullbore's and Re15 out of Winchester cases (2975 fps and a sd of 10).

I don't want to leave anything on the table, so to speak, and wonder if using Lapua brass will be anymore accurate. So far I have Winchester, WCC14, BLH11 (the preceding 3 are all Winchester of some sort I believe) and some LC10 fireformed. The Winchester and BLH11 were new cases and the WCC14 and LC10 were once fired.

I do have the best load to date loaded in all 4 brands of brass to try at 600 yards this weekend assuming the weather cooperates. Mirage has been terrible until later in the afternoon.

FWIW, this is the only rifle I've ever shot that I can watch my bullet trace with. It does have a LongRiflesInc muzzle brake attached (he built the rifle). Fun stuff.

 

[Geno C]

I would say go with which ever brass the chamber neck was cut for. There is a big difference in the few brands I measured before ordering a reamer

 

[DHD]

True enough. It doesn't have a generous chamber/neck, but Lapua will give me .003/.004 by my best measurement with a Berger 73BT (the bullet into have used most fireforming).

My fired brass measures .251" +/-. Here is what the sized brass measures using a Berger 73BT and a decent caliper:

Lapua - .249"
BLH11 - .248"
Winchester - .248"
WCC14 - .248"
LC10- .247"

There's not a lot of difference in the brass as far as the neck is concerned. I've read that some have better luck with Lapua than other brands of brass. I'm guilty of tinkering with different brass, bullets, primers, powders, etc.....

I do have some Lapua Match 223 to try, but it has been fired a few times in an AR. I have a Benchsource annealer and use it often.

 

[Phil]

F.W.I.W..............I use Lapua brass.........


Phil.

 

[TAJ45]

Since you have your brass segregated, fine tuning may be needed for ea group b/c of the different case volumes. You may also utilize a method I've read of where you shoot a rd from ea group on separate tgts which helps nullify effects of bbl heat, conditions etc. When the last in the sequence has been shot, beginning w/ last tgt shot, shoot in reverse order, repeat till you get whatever you think is enough info.

I would be very interested to hear your results.

 

[MrMajestic]

I prefer WCC(I have 08) for case capacity and case wall consistency. I have checked them with the Neco gage and they are better than any others I have checked. I do also run some Lapua which is my second choice in my 5X45AI, .223AI and 6X45AI.

 

[Damon555]

I'm almost done fire forming 200 pieces of LC mixed head stamp once fired brass. I've had 2 or 3 split the neck or shoulder but other than that they've worked well. The reason I chose the 223 AI was because I already had all the components on hand including a bunch of LC brass I bought a few years back. Could the rifle be better shooting Lapua brass? Probably, but it's shooting good enough for me at the moment.

 

[DHD]

I appreciate the info. I have all brands segregated and FWIW, the straight Winchester and LC10 were also segregated by weight (I have ammo cans of them). The WCC14 is being tried due to they being LONG. My chamber has a max case length of 1.775" and after fireforming they ended up being 1.765 +/-.

Anyway, they all shoot good and I suspect they'll last a decent amount of reloads. I can always make more.

I just need to shut up and shoot......

 

[stacy]

DHD JUST FINISHED MY 223 ACKLEY FEW WEEKS BACK MINE IS A 12 TWIST 8208 SHOT VERY WELL BUT N-133 IS UNREAL I MEAN UNREAL AT 100YDS IT BUG HOLES 8208 IS CLOSE W/52 GR BERGER AND 53 GR V MAX'S I LIKE THIS LITTLE RAT!!!!!!!! I FORMED NOSLER BRASS FOR MINE SO FAR IT'S FINE

 

[Phil]

Stacy,

What kind of speed are you seeing with the 53 Vmax????

How long is your barrel?

Phil.

 

[GSRswapandslow]

i used lapua...until i ran into some cheap winchester brass that was brand new...then i ran the winchester. never really had an issue with any brand, but it was a farm rifle that only had to shoot 1/2moa at best

 

[stacy]

PHIL
I'M GETTING 3500 FPS W/53GR V-MAX W/27.5 GRS OF 8208 OUT OF A 26'' SM SHILEN SHOT THEM FASTER BUT THE NODE WAS NOT RITE

 

[Phil]

PHIL
I'M GETTING 3500 FPS W/53GR V-MAX W/27.5 GRS OF 8208 OUT OF A 26'' SM SHILEN SHOT THEM FASTER BUT THE NODE WAS NOT RITE

Stacy,

Have you given N-133 a whirl?????

I was told that there is big speed to be had there......


Phil.

 

[stacy]

PHIL
I SURE HAVE I JUST SWITCHED TO N-133 WITH 52 GR BERGERS SHOT 3 SHOTS .087 AND .1 SOMETHING AT JUST A TIC UNDER 3700FPS

 

[Phil]

I was told that 3700-3800 was doable with the 53 and N-133.

I`ll see what it ends up at when I`m all finished, until then it`s just a dream.......


Phil.

 

[GrocMax]

I was told that 3700-3800 was doable with the 53 and N-133.

Phil.

I done done it with 2200 and WC844 (H335) and the 53vmax but at 3800 I'm only going to get 4-5 firings including fireform before the LC case is junk. 3650-3700 they'll last a lot longer for me, I'm also limited to AR mag OAL's so a few of the extruded powders won't get to 3700+ and be able to load on a progressive w/o spillage or a highly compressed load. A crunchy load of benchmark is 3600 in mine.

 

[Phil]

Yeah,

I have to admit I love velocity, BUT it never trumps accuracy, and velocity always comes at a cost.

When I get mine finished we`ll see where it wants to shoot and that will be that, irregardless of the velocity.

Like I said, that`s what I was told.....


Phil.

 

[stacy]

THAT N-133 SURE TURN MY LITTLE RAT IN THE RITE DIRECTION HAVEN'T TRIED IT W/ THE 53GR VMAX'S YET ITS DRILLS HOLES W/52GR BERGERS !!!!!

 

[Phil]

Stacy,

That`s definitely encouraging to hear........getting anxious.....

Phil.