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LC brass?

Anyone loading Lake City brass in .308? Opinions and information request for 150 grain Partitions. MTG
I'm loading .308 for two of my sons for their Sig 716s. One uses Peterson, the other is using Starline. The Starline is loaded for 150 Hornady SST and the Peterson is loaded for 168 SMK. So far for the 150 SST we've tried Varget, N140, N150, N540 and it like N540 the best, so far. Not too deep into it yet, but dialing it in.
 

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IMHO - Lake City is fine if you aren't looking for the best possible groups. I use it in hunting loads where I may not recover the brass, nor do I want to worry about it.
If you're trying to shoot the smallest possible groups, do yourself a favor and buy some better brass. I could say the same about any reloaded factory brass, not just Lake City.
Some will disagree, that's fine. It's my opinion based on my experience.

Edit to add - I should have qualified my post. If you are trying to consistently break under 3/4 MOA at 100 yards, you should consider better brass. *Most* hunters can be successful with that limitation.
Again, just my experience and opinion.
 
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I have and will continue to use Lake City brass in my 308s. It works fine. The walls may be a little thicker than some other brands and reduce internal volume, there by raising internal pressure. Pick a powder/bullet combo in your manual and test it in your gun. I usually start powder weights in the middle of the chart and move up in .3 grain increments but not going over book max. While shooting, watch for over pressure signs. Hard bolt lift, flattened primers, etc. Stop shooting if you experience them and record that data. Check your targets for the load that gives you the best group.
If you buy the LC brass in bulk, you may get brass that was fired in a machine gun. That brass will be harder to resize but it works fine after you bring it back in “spec”.
 
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I load Lapua, LC and Federal in 308. Have also loaded a lot of Blue Bag Winchester. The LC is once fired and probably mixed lots sorted by year. The Lapua is new. On its third firing. Federal is from FGMM and shoots fine but don't know about how many firings it might last. Not a fan of Winchester as it has the greatest weight variation and it seems that one lot may come off of separate machines or the machine is inconsistent.

I can't say with any certainty that Lapua is superior to LC. They seem to shoot about the same. My LC was mixed and some is definately MG fired. I resized all of it in a SB die.

For hunting I'd would load LC in a heartbeat.
 
Anyone loading Lake City brass in .308? Opinions and information request for 150 grain Partitions. MTG
I've been loading it for over 45 years. We used to get Lake City Match brass, brand new from the Department of Civilian Marksmanship for $10 per 100 in the 1980's.

Most published starting loads are at, or very near, maximum when using Lake City 7.62x51mm brass. A good rule of thumb is to use 2.0 full grains less powder than whatever you have been using in commercial .308 cases.
 
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I've been loading it for over 45 years. We used to get Lake City Match brass, brand new from the Department of Civilian Marksmanship for $10 per 100 in the 1980's.

Most published starting loads are at, or very near, maximum when using Lake City 7.62x51mm brass. A good rule of thumb is to use 2.0 full grains less powder than whatever you have been using in commercial .308 cases.
I am going to disagree with this a little. LC. FC and Lapua are all very similar in case capacity and published loads based on those cases don't very that much. HOWEVER, loads based on some of the lighter cases such as Winchester, Hornady, and some Black Hills will vary significantly and the 2gn suggestion does come into play. Screenshot 2025-10-17 at 11.04.52 PM.pngScreenshot 2025-10-17 at 11.04.13 PM.png
 
I have a few hundred '93-'94 LC Match cases I obtained in that time frame that had been fired initially in military 7.62 sniper rifles. I sat on those cases for 30 years until I scoped my old M1A last year. They are heavier than the Federal and Winchester cases I used back then but the weights are very consistent. I have had to reduce powder charges 2-3 grains to get to my target velocity and I am getting decent accuracy. Nothing earth shaking but decent. Also, the brass is rather hard and sizing takes noticeably more pressure. I had to toss commercial brass after 3-4 loadings back in the day. This brass is tough enough I'd say I may be able to double the number of loadings. We'll see.
 
The only LC Brass I'm very familiar with is 30-06 LC 62 Match.
The advantage I have is I shot the ammo in the first place. My loads are generally for the M1 using either the 147, 150 FMJ or the 168 Hornady bullets because I'm mainly interested in ammo to shoot.

I do load for the 7.62 x 51 but have not used LC brass. Again, I'm only loading to shoot, so I'm not using anything but target type bullets.
 
I have a few hundred '93-'94 LC Match cases I obtained in that time frame that had been fired initially in military 7.62 sniper rifles. I sat on those cases for 30 years until I scoped my old M1A last year. They are heavier than the Federal and Winchester cases I used back then but the weights are very consistent. I have had to reduce powder charges 2-3 grains to get to my target velocity and I am getting decent accuracy. Nothing earth shaking but decent. Also, the brass is rather hard and sizing takes noticeably more pressure. I had to toss commercial brass after 3-4 loadings back in the day. This brass is tough enough I'd say I may be able to double the number of loadings. We'll see.
The same here, I have some LC 308 Match brass that shot lots better than the run of the mill military brass but when I tried some Peterson Palma type with the small primer/small flash hole that was definitely a step up…
As several have remarked, if used for hunting then it will be the LC all the way and if I loose a case or two not such an issue…. Compared to loosing a Peterson case $$
The LC Match will still deliver sub minute of angle at 100 with the Sierra 165 Game Kings and anything shot will not be complaining that it was only in the 9 or 10 ring instead of the X ring…. ;)
 
I can't remember exactly how many years ago it was (it's easy to lose track) but I made up a 308 specifically to win a 300 meter "F" class match. I used some 1968 Lake City match brass, on which I turned the necks. I hit 750/750 with around 60 X's. This on the ISSF target. I shot some groups the other day with the same rifle and same brass. The biggest group was still under an inch at 300m. I think the brass is OK.
 
You can do a lot if you're willing to 'pay the admission fee'.
Many are not. I'd rather buy better brass to begin with. But that's me.
 
The same here, I have some LC 308 Match brass that shot lots better than the run of the mill military brass but when I tried some Peterson Palma type with the small primer/small flash hole that was definitely a step up…
As several have remarked, if used for hunting then it will be the LC all the way and if I loose a case or two not such an issue…. Compared to loosing a Peterson case $$
The LC Match will still deliver sub minute of angle at 100 with the Sierra 165 Game Kings and anything shot will not be complaining that it was only in the 9 or 10 ring instead of the X ring…. ;)
No way I'd pony up for Palma brass to shoot through an M1A. This ain't a precision bolt gun. Plenty accurate it is, but a bolt gun it isn't.......
 
I can get well under 1/2 MOA out of my M1A using Lake City (Reloader 15 and SMK 168's). I give the necks a quick turn to even them out to at least 80% clean metal. This is done to get the overly thick ones and catch the overly thin ones. I turn the necks on Lapua and other brands of brass too brass too - but the Lake City gets a bit more benefit from it. Takes me about 1/2 hour per hundred. I also ream the flash holes - another - so another 12 minutes or so. I only do this once - so when averaging over the number of firings (I do about 6 out of my M1A), it isn't that much time - which I have a lot of these days. If I were to use it in a bolt gun, I'd likely opt for Lapua, as it would last a LONG time, properly sized. But again, I would be turning that brass too - but not have to mess with the flash holes. If I was happy to get 6-10 firings out of the brass or wanting to use it in a semi-auto, I stick to the Lake City or other less expensive brass that has been dialed in. The Lapua won't last long enough in a semi-auto to make it worth that much more from my own experience and the accuracy difference really isn't very much once the Lake City brass has been tweaked. I can also get similar accuracy using (gad!) Federal brass AFTER the same case prep is performed. The flash holes on the Federal can be of many sizes and the necks vary too much to get good accuracy unless some help is given, but they shoot pretty darned good afterward - though short case life if using hot loads - even for a semi-auto. Believe me, I shoot a lot of Lapua brass and I love it - but it really depends on what you expect out of it, your budget and your use in mind. The Lake City is underrated in a lot of circles....

I had a pretty good stash of LC 308 Match brass that I was allowed to take from the military range when shooting the M40-A1 sniper rifle back in the "old days". It lasted me a long time and I was truly sad when it was all shot out. If you ever come across any of that, I'd buy it if reasonable. As others noted, if you get the machine gun brass - which a lot of it is - some of that can be difficult to get to shoot well. Starting with a small base die and annealing it is almost mandatory.
 

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