LC brass vs others

[Pyscodog]

I bought a rifle from a friend. He gave me 50 pieces of LC long range brass that he had been using in this rifle. I can only assume it was a sort of match ammo as I don't usually shoot LC and know very little about it. I have a bunch of Black Hills Match brass and am considering buying Lapua. I just wonder if going to a better/different quality of brass if it will change my loads much if any? I'd even buy more LC if I could find it.

 

[SSL]

I assume the 'LC' you refer to is Lake City (should be a two digit number also, such as 89) to designate the year of manufacture. LC is mostly military brass and very durable if care is taken to not get silly with pressures. In its 'native' form the primers will likely have been crimped. I use mostly properly prepped LC 5.56 mm brass (annealed, primer pockets swagged, trimmed for length and necks skim turned) in my .223 rifles and it lasts seemingly forever.
Is Lapua better? Probably, but the expense only makes sense (to me at least) when used in competition, and that's still a maybe.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

Your scale is a friend when comparing brass for casual, hunting, load development. Some 223/556 brass is nearly 10% heavier. The heavier brass will require its own load workup.

 

[searcher]

I've not heard of LC "Long Range" brass. As SSL noted, it is likely military Lake City brass. As to whether it is as good as any other brass - it depends on what you are going to use it for. Changing brass often requires a minor tweak in your powder to assume the same velocity you had with a given load - often 2/10 to 3/10 of a grain in .556 cases, as an example. The Lake City is not universally recognized as "match" brass in bolt rifle circles, yet it does excel quite well in bolt guns and in semi-autos like A/R's in particular. Personally, if I was shooting in a bolt gun and was weighing as to whether to buy more Lake City - or just use the Black Hills brass you already have - I'd give your Black Hills a go first. I use a LOT of LC brass in my A/R's (and even a few .223 bolt guns) for serious varmint work. I get about six or seven loadings using the load I use - which is about what I get using Lapua or other brands. If I was wanting great brass for a target rifle (bolt), I'd want nothing more than the Lapua, as it will last a very long time when the brass is properly sized. That is what I use in my target rifles. Lake City is certainly capable of producing great groups of under 1/2" MOA with ease (assuming your rifle and load are up to it), yet can do even better if you do a lot of careful brass prep like turning necks, reaming flash holes, levelling the primer pockets, etc. These are things you don't really need to do to Lapua to get very good uniformity. Again - depends on what you plan to shoot and what your expectations are.

 

[jsn]

LC Match brass-vs- the LR brass

Is it the same brass, w/ the LR noting use, or is the brass notably better quality in the LR version??

forum.accurateshooter.com

 

[Bill K]

From what I have heard, the only difference in LC Match brass and standard 5.56 is that the military takes more time and sorts/weighs the, what they call Match, as a added step in the reloading of it.

 

[Pyscodog]

This is 308 Win. Like I was saying, I am pretty uneducated (dumb) when it comes to Lake City other than some like it and it works good. The case is stamped LR 10 and of course LC. I read that it wasn't military brass and was Match. Don't shoot the messenger please. I'd just like to use quality brass that's relatively easy to find.

 

[XTR]

Lake City (LC) 308 brass is typically very thick, and holds up a long time, but be aware it typically has a fair bit less volume than commercial brass, and it usually has crimped primers. I do seem to recall that some of the match or the long range versions were made w/o the crimps.

 

[Hays25]

The “LR” means the cases were built for M118 Long Range cartridges. The other cartridges use a different case process. The head stamps are different so they’re not mixed. M118 is considered “match” grade against the M80 ball and other cartridges made at LC.

 

[Pyscodog]

So should I try to find more of the LC or just go with Lapua? I've always had pretty good luck with Lapua brass.

 

[SeabeeKen]

If youre looking to squeeze every bit of accuracy out of it then go with lapua

 

[6fatrat]

LC brass is holding up better than my favorite Lapua 223 brass in my 1000yd loads.
Steve Bair

 

[CJ6]

I like IMI brass better than LC.

 

[SSL]

I like IMI brass better than LC.

Got a bit of that too. very good brass, but I got away from it when I lost my original source. Fellow gave me a 5-gallon bucket of LC brass, processed it, liked it and haven't really tried to find more IMI.

 

[Dgd6mm]

Prepped out IMI is good stuff. My buddy shoots it.