Looking for the best .223 Brass for reloading from a bulk ammo purchase.

[Linko]

I want to buy basic target shooting ammo. 1000 rounds. I want to reload the brass. So the purchase is two fold quick way to have some fun ammo to shoot in the AR's and then use the brass for more of the same and a little 200 yd target shooting in a basic bolt action.

THE THING I DONT WANT TO DO IS SWAGE CRIMPED PRIMER POCKETS !

I am looking for Nice Quality Brass.

PMC
WOLF GOLD
AMERICAN EAGLE
FIOCCHI
FEDERAL
PRVI PARTISAN
REMINGTON UMC
BLACK HILLS BLUE
NORMA
ULTRAMAX

Did I mention low price also!! So what suggestions can someone offer?

 

[bigedp51]

Lake City brass is the best because it was specifically designed to be fired in larger diameter military chambers. Also it is harder brass than any commercially made case and will stand up better in rifles that throw perfectly good brass away and make you go looking for it.

Now get this crimp "reamer"below made for the RCBS case prep station and "ream" the primer crimp for a lot cheaper than swaging.

Or you can save work and buy preprocessed brass.

223/5.56 Cleaned, Deprimed & Swaged Lake City
http://brassbombers.com/223-556-Cleaned-Deprimed-Swaged-Lake-City_c48.htm

Lake City and any commercial contract ammunition made for the military be harder and have higher quality standards then off the shelf "American" made cartridge cases.

If I were to buy commercial .223 cases I would go with Winchester because they are the hardest made commercial case.

Example below, on the right and left are Lake City 5.56 cases and in the middle is a Federal case which is also the softest brass. The Lake City cases will last longer, take more abuse and primer pockets stay tighter longer.

Below using a two inch rod and measuring web thickness for sorting cases for use in my AR15s. Meaning the thinner cases are not worth prepping because of loose primer pockets after just a few firings in the larger diameter AR15 chamber..

So if you want brass built Ford Truck Tough then get Lake City.

Anything else is made by Chevy.

You can buy Lapua brass because it is the second hardest "BUT" then you will be driving a Lexus and your car payments and insurance will go up.

 

[Danattherock]

Kind of had same thoughts when buying brass for my plinking load I make on Dillon 550. I had loaded about 700 rounds in once fired PMC brass, which I was very happy with. Found once fired PMC at Leobrass.com for about $6/100. No crimps to mess with, good brass.

I got 1500 pieces for about $100 shipped as I recall. Great folks to deal with. Good brass. Mine came packaged 500 cases per bag. Great for plinking ammo, as with my H335 and 55 BT Hornady ($450/6,000 at Midsouth shooters).


Dan

 

[22DASHER]

Just buy some UltraMax remanufactured ammo then you get the best of both worlds. This ammo shoots great and they use Lake City brass which has had the crimps removed. It's a win/win.

 

[OIF/OEF]

Midway USA I think had some brass by General Electric that was military brass no crimp really good deal on clearance Clarence lol

 

[th82457]

Since you stated your use for the brass after firing is for a bolt action, I have had good results with both the Black Hills and Fiocchi brands - included exceptional accuracy. Just my experience. Not as hard as the military stuff, but may work well in your circumstance.

 

[Road_Clam]

I want to buy basic target shooting ammo. 1000 rounds. I want to reload the brass. So the purchase is two fold quick way to have some fun ammo to shoot in the AR's and then use the brass for more of the same and a little 200 yd target shooting in a basic bolt action.

THE THING I DONT WANT TO DO IS SWAGE CRIMPED PRIMER POCKETS !

I am looking for Nice Quality Brass.

PMC
WOLF GOLD
AMERICAN EAGLE
FIOCCHI
FEDERAL
PRVI PARTISAN
REMINGTON UMC
BLACK HILLS BLUE
NORMA
ULTRAMAX

Did I mention low price also!! So what suggestions can someone offer?

IMO based upon your criteria I would suggest Wolf Gold. I bought 2 cases a few years back, and now am into reloading the Wolf brass. WG shot a respectable 2 MOA through my Bushmaster M4, and the great bonus is the excellent brass for the recreational shooter/reloader. Primer pockets on the Wolf brass may or may not need to be reamed. If you use Win primers you can seat them, if you use CCI primers you will have a tough time seating them without a ream. You can get a 1K case of WG for about $310 at the moment.. LOL

 

[Linko]

All great ideas. Thanks

I shot a couple of boxes of Fiocchi and when I was preping my used brass I noticed that it looked like it had RWR headstamp. Which I understand is a german company. The brass looked nice. Not as nice as some Norma I had but better that the other run of the mill stuff.

 

[Brians356]

A friend shot a box of new (not remanufactured) Black Hills ammo in his AR, and gave me the RWS cases, which are like jewelry, w/ pretty laser-etched headstamps, and neck wall thickness variance <= .0012". Even though they were fired in a Wylde chamber, there was no visible or measurable swelling in the head area (we concluded they were oddly low-pressure loads), and they are the same length to the shoulder as cases fired in my R-700.

Since then I have opened many Black Hills boxes in stores, but can find no more of those RWS cases in any; they switched to either LC or Federal as I recall. I've heard tell that new RWS brass is expensive - when you an even find any. I still wonder if there's not a bunch of it sitting on shelves in Black Hills ammo boxes somewhere.

 

[Road_Clam]

A friend shot a box of new (not remanufactured) Black Hills ammo in his AR, and gave me the RWS cases, which are like jewelry, w/ pretty laser-etched headstamps, and neck wall thickness variance <= .0012". Even though they were fired in a Wylde chamber, there was no visible or measurable swelling in the head area (we concluded they were oddly low-pressure loads), and they are the same length to the shoulder as cases fired in my R-700.

Since then I have opened many Black Hills boxes in stores, but can find no more of those RWS cases in any; they switched to either LC or Federal as I recall. I've heard tell that new RWS brass is expensive - when you an even find any. I still wonder if there's not a bunch of it sitting on shelves in Black Hills ammo boxes somewhere.

I bought some BH 69SMK match ammo a few years ago and it used the premium RWS brass , I recently bought some standard BH 55 gr "red box" ammo and it was Geco brass. I'm thinking the BH "match" grade ammo uses RWS brass ?

 

[Brians356]

I bought some BH 69SMK match ammo a few years ago and it used the premium RWS brass , I recently bought some standard BH 55 gr "red box" ammo and it was Geco brass. I'm thinking the BH "match" grade ammo uses RWS brass ?

Naw, this ammo was just labeled "Black Hills Ammunition, Factory New" w/ 40-gr V-max bullets in a red box. But it was not a recent purchase, probably in the last year or two though.

 

[riflewoman]

Midway USA I think had some brass by General Electric that was military brass no crimp really good deal on clearance Clarence lol

It is made by General Dynamics. MIL spec stuff. I bought a box and am loading it now. They still have some left at $110/500.

 

[Brians356]

Midway USA I think had some brass by General Electric that was military brass no crimp really good deal on clearance Clarence lol

It is made by General Dynamics. MIL spec stuff. I bought a box and am loading it now. They still have some left at $110/500.

Could you follow up with a comment of the quality of the General Dynamics brass? Is it any good?

 

[Linko]

I have a large amount of UMC that I bought during the last crisis. I have been reloading that. I seems soft and thin. Have only rired it twice so far. It sounds like I should track down once fired LC and work with that. using the best brass avail will pay off in the amount of times it can be reused.
There a few companies selling used mil LC brass.

I will start to look for companies and price around to find some deals.

 

[expiper]

I have dealt with this man many times ,,,the brass is perfect processed Lake City .223 ,,it is clean,polished,primer pokets swaged,etc,,,just load them with your fav load and enjoy,,,125/1000,,,,Roger,,,,,,http://allweatherarms.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=3&zenid=p3o3nun6vtmib5q342k45vlnn7
http://allweatherarms.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=3&zenid=p3o3nun6vtmib5q342k45vlnn7

 

[Mozella]

I just bought 1000 .223 cases from Brass Bomber and I'm very impressed. It's all L.C. and nicely processed. It is ready to load for normal shooting and if I perform a flash hole de-burr and a primer pocket uniformer process, this once-fired brass will be ready to make "the good stuff".

Yes, Lapua makes nicer brass, but it's a lot more expensive. It might be slightly more precise, but with a little work you can dress up the cheaper cases and make them just as precise. They may not last quite as long as Lapua, but the price certainly is right with these Brass Bomber cases. They sell a wide variety of stuff, some more processed than others. Delivery was very quick and quality better than expected. I'm happy.