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Can't believe I am asking this in public

snert

Silver $$ Contributor
First, after years of being an ardent anti-223 guy who shoots a 222 or a K-Hornet just because I don't wanna be like everyone else (goes with my curmudgeon esoteric worldview) I finally stopped selling off spare 223 range brass and kept a 5 gallon tub. Of course that led to "needing" a gun...:oops:

I bought a TC Contender barrel for PD's. Now I am depriming, decrimping sizing, prepping etc.

The brass is mixed once fired from AR brass. Some is LC with dates, other is Federal XM19 somesuch with crimps, and a very few are commercial Federal. I will be trimming all to "legal limit, but some is "short already".

I will develop a medium 50 grain bullet load, likely with Benchmark since I have a bunch, and a standard WSR primer.

So here is the question for you 223 guru's

Would you, for the purposes above , in the gun listed, sort brass and keep separate by "Style", and if so, what catagories, how careful must I be? I KNOW the commercial is different from LC, but what about that LC vs Fed XM whatever stuff? I can sort it by headstamp (I have 4K) or does it matter? My old eyes can hardly read the dang headstamp anymore.

I AM NOT going to weigh brass etc, as this is minute of PD in a TC in the wind, being shot by an old fart who can miss, smile, reload..

Thanks

Snert
 
I have my R700 204 Ruger tuned so well with the load I am using that it maintains same POI with 1/4 MOA accuracy using 3 different types of brass. Remington, Winchester, and Hornady. If you were to inspect the boxes containing the 600 rounds I recently loaded for upcoming spring gopher season, you would find all 3 brands randomly scattered throughout. Don't know if your rifle will allow for similar tunability, but I think it's worth the time to test it. Worked out well for me and saves me time by not having to sort :)

Now to make this a little more possible, I did trim all the necks to the same length and turn the walls to a uniform thickness, and uniform the primer pockets/flash holes prior to testing. But the internal volumes still vary a good bit and I can see the difference in how high the powder comes up to the necks when charging the cases. Fortunately, it doesn't seem to matter.
 
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I use LC brass in my factory TC. The slightly heavier LC brass has worked better for me in these generous chambers.
I would sort by year just for some type of consistency.
Jeff
 
I have a 5 gallon pail of range brass. I have a ton more brass in a box. When my kids come and I know they wanna shoot I pay no attention to the brass make.. In fact I rarely sort my brass. I do prefer Lake City stuff, so if I get particular that's what I use. But for the most part I just load and shoot.. I do have a pet load that seems to work well no matter what the brass.. And I always keep 2-300 rounds loaded and on hand..
 
Snert, welcome to the other side ! :D

Yep, brand sort it for sure, basic brass prep and add some Nosler 50gr BT's.
I'm running 23.7gr ADI 2207 for ~3250 in a Rem Model 7 (18" with a can)

Doesn't shoot amazingly well like my sons old L56 heavy barreled Sako 222 but not far behind.
 
I used LC brass for a few years and still do for plinking and "guests". I never sorted it. I like Federal more than LC. I use 22 or 22.2 grains H335 behind a 55 grain bullet. I used BL-C2 for a long time but switched when some one touted H335 as being better. It was. He mentioned Benchmark, too, but I tried the H first. A while back, I bought a bunch of Lapua brass off Gunbroker. I'll send you a box cause a guy like you deserves it. It's Gold box, by the way.;) In return for that favor you did for me.:cool: Josh
 
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I'd just sort out commercial from the military. I have mixed military together of various head stamps for my "close in" work (up to 225 yards or so). They all shoot inside "minute of ground squirrel" with very little prep. I don't get picky unless it is my longer range stuff - then I sort, turn necks, etc., etc.. Unless you are shooting past a few hundred yards more often than not, the differences in brass won't be enough to prevent consistent hits. I retired my Contender .223 pistol decades ago as I found it sucked to never see your hits. If you are the kind of guy that wants to see the action - I'd start with a small batch to see how you like it - maybe also drop down to a 40 grain bullet and a fast powder like LT32. Makes for lower recoil and less blast
 
For my 223FTR I shoot Lapua brass in matches. But my practice LC brass, which has substantially higher water capacity, shoots exactly the same at 300yd. In fact shot my best score using LC unsorted brass. I would pick 10 each of the different brass, load them, and shoot to determine if the point of impact and groups are different enough to worry about.
 
I shot the same mix in a 223 several years.
I sorted by headstamp and culled the military stuff because it was too hard to size in a progressive.
Short trim is no problem.
 
My mentor loaded all head stamps as one, trimmed to same length, same amount of powder and same bullet. He shot them the same way. but let some one run at the mouth about how good his 223 shot, my friend would sort through the bucket and find a bunch with the same headstamp and tune that sucker up.
 
for those that think brass /brass sorting/ brass prep means nothing, please pass on by.
my small 223 group ,5 at 100, is under 0.2...multiple times. with 50 vmax much bigger
0.204.
i did forget to mention this is a custom ar15 with a 1/14 twist bbl.
but do not tell me that brass/brass sorting/brass prep do not count if you just can't shoot.
 
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I have seen those "damn pistols" make some rifle guys very upset. Done it myself a time or two..........
A custom barrel on a TC more times than not will turn it in too a whole other animal.
Be aware you more than likely will not come close to the throat in a factory barrel, but give it a chance. You may be suprised.
 
I only shoot and reload for bolt rifles so my comments are restricted to those rifles. I'm not a bench rest shooter but I do load for precision varmint and predator hunting. Been shooting the 223 for about 30 years now; it's one of my favorite cartridges.

There are a bunch of powders that work well with the 223. Ones I have tried with success are H335, Varget, H/IMR 4895, and Benchmark.

The 50 and 55 grain Nosler BT's work great in my 12" twist 223s. My 8" twist Tikka prefers heavier bullets, namely the 60 grain Vmax.

I have a set of cases (same brand) dedicated to each 223 I own (now up to eight) to help assure uniform sizing and consistency. I custom full size for each rifle using a slight shoulder set back (approx .001 to .002"). I haven't seen much difference between Remington, Winchester, or Hornady brass, they all shoot well for me. I don't weight brass.

I haven't used field pickup brass in many years but I know several shooters / reloaders who do with acceptable results but they segregate by brand for precision bolt rifle shooting. If you are going to use field salvage brass inspect carefully and pay attention to size properly.
 
Thanks guys. This is a factory TC carbine barrel. So I take it that the LC and the Fed XM stuff is in fact different? I swear it says FC and LC on it...but my eyes suck.

I plan to set up the die to FL size to get me into proper Contender headspace (an art, BTW) and other than sorting it into batches, that is as far as this goes. I will do a samll composite batch to develop load, then it is off to the races. I will size on my single stage, then load on my progressive from that point on. No need to worrry this too much, if it shoots under an inch, I will be very pleased. My K-hornet shot minute of cat, and it worked out ok for a PD hunt. That barrel was good one minute,sucked the next. tis why I bought the 223 in its place.

I intend to use the TNT 50 grain because I am cheap and got some cheap.
 
I used LC brass for a few years and still do for plinking and "guests". I never sorted it. I like Federal more than LC. I use 22 or 22.2 grains H335 behind a 55 grain bullet. I used BL-C2 for a long time but switched when some one touted H335 as being better. It was. He mentioned Benchmark, too, but I tried the H first. A while back, I bought a bunch of Lapua brass off Gunbroker. I'll send you a box cause a guy like you deserves it. It's Gold box, by the way.;) In return for that favor you did for me.:cool: Josh

Hold off on that...we can talk stocks someday buddy.

I have 335 too...lots of it.
 
i would sell it all and buy 100 pc of lapua and never look back maybe 200 pcs

Sell thousands of useable brass for 100 pieces of Lapua when all he wants to shoot is PD's...
Thanks guys. This is a factory TC carbine barrel. So I take it that the LC and the Fed XM stuff is in fact different? I swear it says FC and LC on it...but my eyes suck.

I plan to set up the die to FL size to get me into proper Contender headspace (an art, BTW) and other than sorting it into batches, that is as far as this goes. I will do a samll composite batch to develop load, then it is off to the races. I will size on my single stage, then load on my progressive from that point on. No need to worrry this too much, if it shoots under an inch, I will be very pleased. My K-hornet shot minute of cat, and it worked out ok for a PD hunt. That barrel was good one minute,sucked the next. tis why I bought the 223 in its place.

I intend to use the TNT 50 grain because I am cheap and got some cheap.

50gr TNT might be cheap in price, but not cheap in quality. Those bullets have been amazingly accurate in all the 22 cal rifles I've loaded for (loaded for friends rifles, I only shoot 20 and 6mm cal varmint rounds)

If you're happy with an inch group at 100, then I would sort out about 20 good pieces for load testing, find a good load, then just load the rest up and shoot. No big deal if you get a little bit of a flier on a PD

Me on the other hand, I would turn a barrel into a damn tent stake if all it would shoot is an inch at 100 yards. Might even be so mad I wouldn't even let it serve any purpose and just throw it in the lake! Lol. But I'm sure your TC will shoot much better than that ;)
 
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