Which brass for new 223AI barrel?

[46and2]

I have a 7.7 twist 26" 223ai barrel on order.
I have thousands of LC 556 cases that I'm sorting by year. I plan to attempt to weigh sort, size, trim then see if water capacity correlates to weight. Then sort by neck thickness and concentricity. Ream the crimped primer pockets. Then anneal before fireforming. That's a lot of work!

Plan B.
I found some virgin Starline 556. It gets good reviews in its consistency. Researching I found that the case capacity is a quite a bit less than LC which might negate any velocity advantage of Ackley Improving the 223 case !???

A l'm so reading about a lot of incidents of case separation of Starline brass which scares me. I'm uncertain if the defective brass involved was Starline 223 or 556 brass?

I really don't want to buy Lapua brass at this time.

Should I put in the work for the LC or use them in my Gas guns?
Will Starline mass effect any velocity advantage of Ackey Improving?

To add I will not be using Starline 223 but 556.
Thanks.

 

[vonb]

I use LC in my .223AI. I've never felt it waning in the accuracy dept.

 

[ASbobcat]

I have a 7.7 twist 26" 223ai barrel on order.
I have thousands of LC 556 cases that I'm sorting by year. I plan to attempt to weigh sort, size, trim then see if water capacity correlates to weight. Then sort by neck thickness and concentricity. Ream the crimped primer pockets. Then anneal before fireforming. That's a lot of work!

Plan B.
I found some virgin Starline 556. It gets good reviews in its consistency. Researching I found that the case capacity is a quite a bit less than LC which might negate any velocity advantage of Ackley Improving the 223 case !???

A l'm so reading about a lot of incidents of case separation of Starline brass which scares me. I'm uncertain if the defective brass involved was Starline 223 or 556 brass?

I really don't want to buy Lapua brass at this time.

Should I put in the work for the LC or use them in my Gas guns?
Will Starline mass effect any velocity advantage of Ackey Improving?

To add I will not be using Starline 223 but 556.
Thanks.

First, reaming primer pockets will negate all of your other labor, because it removes brass from the most important area. The only proper way to remove crimps is to swage, which actually work hardens the area around the primer pockets, making them stronger.

Lake City brass is actually stronger than Lapua. It's one of the few cases where Lapua is not the best option.

There are basically two neck thicknesses of LC, .010 (.246 loaded OD) and .015 (.247 loaded OD).

Sorting by year will take forever, and needlessly complicates your process.

LC is remarkably uniform and worrying about neck runout is futile, because the case is aligned in the chamber by the freebore anyway, not the neck. Take a look at any reamer print and you will see the freebore is cal +.0005 (or less), while necks are +.002 or more (typically a LOT more).

 

[a1712]

Weigh after all metal removing processes are done. Removing metal changes weight. I resize, uniform pockets, debur flash holes, trim, turn, then weigh. I know it's ridiculous, it was 8 degrees when I left for work this morning. Brian.

 

[dusterdave173]

The Dillon swager works great after you get it adjusted just right and get the hang of it
I like it a Lot better than whittling on cases

 

[Gabe22BR]

Use Starline-
Unless you got virgin LC…

You’ll end up w/ split necks, cases w/ primers loose, different case OAL , powder volumes inside case gonna be different also..

 

[urbanrifleman]

Are you going to be doing competition with your 223 Ackley? Or are you going to shot PDOGS?

If you are going to shoot competition, buy some Lapua and use that. If you are going to varmint hunt or shoot for fun, use your LC and be happy. The critters will not know any difference.

 

[jwv2001]

How about doing whatever you have to do to seat the primers and then load them up and shoot them. Judging by the twist of the barrel, you're wanting to shoot heavier bullets.
What ever you do, don't anneal before you fireform. That could cause the brass to flow into the barrel.

 

[mroper3]

another one you could consider that no one has mentioned is Norma. Very consistent, and well made brass. Powder Valley has a good price on 223.

 

[Evlshnngns]

Norma 223 Brass Cases Compared to Lapua, PPU and Lake City

I couldn’t find any data on Norma brass cases recently entering the USA market as primed cases. So I evaluated the cases compared to Lapua, PPU and Lake City brass that I had on hand. Several of the data graphs from the study are posted below. The full study draft is posted at...

forum.accurateshooter.com

@BillC79 did some fine work on this.

 

[L.Sherm]

I would use LC brass everyday all day before Norma, if I was gonna pay the price for Norma then I would pull the Lapua button.

 

[Kevin1990]

Taggin in on this one.

I posted a thread a couple weeks ago about .223 brass. Jack neary told me Lapua should be available in late February or early March. I'm still debating on whether to wait for it or buy starline 5.56 brass.

 

[46and2]

Are you going to be doing competition with your 223 Ackley? Or are you going to shot PDOGS?

If you are going to shoot competition, buy some Lapua and use that. If you are going to varmint hunt or shoot for fun, use your LC and be happy. The critters will not know any difference.

Just benchrest 200 300 yd target shooting.
I have 3k 70gr VLD for now, that's the heaviest I have now.

I just pushed the button on the Starline 556 brass. The reason is I think they'll form best from virgin brass vs once fired brass from random AR15s.
I'll use my LC for my gas rifles.

 

[urbanrifleman]

Just benchrest 200 300 yd target shooting.
I have 3k 70gr VLD for now, that's the heaviest I have now.

I just pushed the button on the Starline 556 brass. The reason is I think they'll form best from virgin brass vs once fired brass from random AR15s.
I'll use my LC for my gas rifles.

That's really good brass.

 

[B23]

Does anyone remember when Winchester brass used to come in the white and blue bags versus the red with black top bags like they have for the last number of years?

I've pretty much only ever used Lapua brass in my 223AI so I don't know if there's a difference but over the years I've had a number of different guys tell me they believe the Win brass back when it came in the white and blue bags was tougher with regard to holding primer pockets then the Win brass that's in the red and black bags. Curious if any of you have ever noticed this being the case. It's been probably 15-15+ years since Winchester brass came in the white & blue bags.

 

[vonb]

Does anyone remember when Winchester brass used to come in the white and blue bags versus the red with black top bags like they have for the last number of years?

I've pretty much only ever used Lapua brass in my 223AI so I don't know if there's a difference but over the years I've had a number of different guys tell me they believe the Win brass back when it came in the white and blue bags was tougher with regard to holding primer pockets then the Win brass that's in the red and black bags. Curious if any of you have ever noticed this being the case. It's been probably 15-15+ years since Winchester brass came in the white & blue bags.

I used the Win brass in the white and blue blags extensively and still have some new in the bag. My experience was totally opposite....Primers would not hold firmly after a couple firings even with less than max loads. Even priming on the initial firing, they seemed much looser than other brands. This is what pushed me to look at LC. Back then, you could buy new LC brass from Midway with no crimps. It was great brass.

 

[flatlander]

Back in 1998, a good friend of mine had gotten into commercial loading, and was bidding on batches of once-fired military brass. He came home from down in New Mexico with a fairly large trailer full of LC556, and offered me as much as I wanted at a few cents per round over what he paid for it. I took 7k rounds and spent the winter tumbling, sizing, trimming it in preparation for use in XTC High Power SR matches. Never had reason to doubt how good that stuff was; even neck turned a couple hundred pieces for use in my 600yd ammo. And no, I never did any shooting at 600 to compare it to commercial Win or R-P to see if there was any advantage to turning it. But when I was shooting ammo loaded in that neck turned brass, there was a little thought in the back of my mind that I was shooting the best ammo I could load...and I legged-out & won our state SR match a couple of years running with it. Was it the brass, or was it all in my head? Who cares,,,it didn't hurt my confidence in my ammo, of that, I'm sure.

 

[searcher]

I have a great deal of new .223 brass from various manufacturers. When I need to load up a new batch of brass for a new barrel, I invariably reach for the LC brass (I have both 1x=-fired mil contract brass and unfired) and do an "extreme makeover" on it, reaming and leveling pockets, turning necks, uniform flash holes. A lot of work - but I have found that it shoots about as good as any brass available for my needs and it keeps tight pockets with reasonable service life. For those with not much time on their hands, it might not be practical.

 

[miningshawn]

I have had nothing but good things to say about Starline.

One of my 223AI rifles is an AR platform. The Starline has never had a problem recovering from shoulder dings, where LC has.

The consistency is good, and the primer pockets have held up exceptionally well - 20 plus firings with a fairly warm load.

I actually neck turn these little guys, and Starline virgin beats the pants off of fired LC for this portion.

All that being said, it is hard to turn down LC. Especially when you already have a bunch of it!

 

[Gary T]

Just benchrest 200 300 yd target shooting.
I have 3k 70gr VLD for now, that's the heaviest I have now.

I just pushed the button on the Starline 556 brass. The reason is I think they'll form best from virgin brass vs once fired brass from random AR15s.
I'll use my LC for my gas rifles.

I think you'll be happy w/ Starline brass. I bought an XP-100 chambered in 223 AI a few years ago. I normally take 2-3 prairie dog hunting trips every year. I bought #500 each of Dogtown (made by Nosler) and Starline brass for it. After this year's first pd hunt I should have all the brass fire formed. I had one case head separation, but I don't remember which brand of brass it was. I've been very pleased w/ both brands. I check neck concentricity before loading. Both SL and DT brass were very concentric, nearly as good as Lapua. My SL was 223, not 5.56. SL told me the difference was 5.56 had a thicker case head than did 223. I've always heard LC is good quality, but I'm too lazy to do that much work on the brass.