lake city .308 brass worth buying???

[BAT man]

was wondering what your thoughts were on lake city .308 brass was. Looking to buy some for the fact i hate leaving pieces of lapua brass behind at the precision rifle matches i attend.

 

[DRNewcomb]

I'll be interested in other responses to this question. When I got back into shooting, after being out for several years, I decided I'd "shoot what I got," before going out and buying a bunch of new stuff. What I had included only about 40 Federal commercial brass and several hundred virgin LC-77 Match hulls my club bought from the DCM many years ago. I've been loading and shooting this brass. One thing about military brass is that it tends to be heavier and has a smaller volume than the commercial. So, less powder volume for any given loading. This means you can't get quite the same max MV using the military brass as the commercial.

Basically, I don't hear of anyone shooting record scores with military brass.

 

[TonyR]

It probably depends on when it was made and how you plan to use them. I shot F-Class and I have had excellent results with some Lake City 72 Match brass in my 308 but be prepared for more sorting and culling than is needed with Lapua for F-Class levels of accuracy. The requirements for "precision" matches may be different. Also, mine is once-fired range brass which I had to thoroughly clean and run through a small base resizing die before I could use it in my BAT; but that could just be my chamber.

Something like the case measuring device discussed in this thread might also be helpful with the sorting:

http://forum.accurateshooter.com/index.php?topic=3817969.msg36245567#msg36245567

I turn my necks and some of the cases showed the thin spots down near the neck shoulder junction which suggests that the case walls are not concentric with the case axis. I threw those cases away. The Audette type device would probably find those cases very quickly; but the extra work and cases lost to culling may offset some of the cost per case difference versus Lapua.

So far, I like the results I have had because the sorted cases seem to be very strong. On average, they weigh 5-6 grains more than the Lapua and RWS cases I have used and the extra weight appears to be in the case head. I have been able to push the Berger 185LRBT up over 2750 fps without any difficulties. I have a friend who has set numerous records with his 308 and LC brass.

 

[jonbearman]

I have had excellent results with all the lc brass with proper prep of course.

 

[280nosler]

I have found that LC brass to be a bit hit and miss (excuse the pun). I bought some pre-primed brass ('12 head stamp) and tried it and got fairly decent grouping with 155 grain scenars, but not jack with 168 SMK, a favorite of my gun. I have found that primed brass, fired through your rifle (as practice rounds) then neck bumped back with a bushing on the neck would give me good results on the second round of firings (through a variety of bullets and weights), but initial firing was extremely spotty (to the tune of 2x regular MOA). I have found a better use for my LC brass - my autoloader. The variance in brass weights was rather extreme, which meant a non consistent internal volume, leading to inconsistent velocities, killing accuracy. All my LC brass gets put aside for loading 147-155 grain FMJ-BT rounds to be spit from my SCAR, which gets a fair accuracy (1.5 MOA, 3.8 inch groups) out to 250 yards. Not great, but it is better than beating the living hell out of match IVI or Lapua brass.

 

[LWolken]

I don't have any complaints with it. Its not Lapua but I prefer it over run of the mill headstamps. It will need to be sorted and prepped but once that work is done it fairly good brass. As others have mentioned its a bit thicker which means reduced capacity and a bit more effort full length sizing. Might not be the answer for those seeking max velocities but for average speeds its fine. Lapua, Norma, LC, Nosler then all others is how I rank them.