Prep for New Lake City '18 Brass

[Pawnee Bill]

Just bought 500 pcs new never loaded LC '18 5.56 brass. Do I need to Full Length resize or just run a mandrel in the neck? Has anyone run into sizing issues with this brass?

 

[Pres100]

I’d full length size them

 

[TAJ45]

Absolutely - Yup

 

[dfrosch]

Not sure what your intended purpose is. If you're looking for precision, I would FL size, trim to length, skim necks at least 50% around back to the shoulder, deburr flash holes, uniform primer pockets and sort by weight.

 

[tomswede]

They have a lot of dented necks so running an expander or mandrel through them is needed. Shoulder position is very uniform, no need to size. Length is uniform. My use is in match AR’s.

 

[Pawnee Bill]

Thanks for all the inputs.

 

[searcher]

Full-length resize and trim if needed. That brass sold by Natchez is often a bit short of needing trimming - but I'd be sure to check it. I've bought thousands of pieces of that brass over the years and I have never had any issues with it whatsoever. Has lasted as long as once-fired Lake City, of which I have also wore out thousands of pieces. I run it in a Remington 700, several .223 A/R's and a .20 practical. Great stuff. Some readers cite it as being 2nd rate irregular brass, some even call it dangerous. I'd not pay them attention. Just as with any other brass - the more prep work you do - the better the brass it is. I too skim-turn the necks for rifles I want the best accuracy in (and necessary in my .20)- though absolutely not required if your intended use does not warrant tedious accuracy work.

 

[Bill K]

I would FL them and then check and trim to length if necessary.