.223 Brass Expertise Needed

[Patriot]

Good Brass / Bad Brass - Inquiring minds want to know. Any of you reloaders have an opinion?

Headstamp - Company
R-P – Remington Peters
F C - Federal
Winchester - Winchester
CBC - Companhia Brasileira de Cartuchos (Brazil)
LC – Lake City
WCC – Western Cartridge Company
PMC - Eldorado Cartridge Corporation, Boulder City, NV 89006.

TIA

 

[Gammon]

I have had great luck with once fired military, available from XXXXXXXXXXXXX.

 

[PatMcD]

RP, WCC (Winchester), LC, are all good.
I don't know about CBC but assume bad.
PMC might be good, but no experience.
F-C might be good if shooting in a bolt gun. Bad if shooting in an AR.

 

[Chris]

What's wrong with the Federal? Doesn't Federal run the Lake City plant?

 

[Scrivener]

Indeed, it does.

Which is why Federal .223 has dried up in stores. I bought the last 2 cases NET had back in November or so.

 

[Finalygotabeltfed]

All that you listed are good except for the Federal.

I've found Federal brass to be soft and their primer pockets tend to loosen with the first firing and this increases the likelyhood of a blown primer on subsequent firings. Not a good thing, especially in an AR.

From experience, a blown primer can lock up an AR if it gets up into the gas key channel or in the bolt locking lugs. They also tend to get under the trigger in the lower and although this is an easier fix, it will render your gun inoperative until you open the gun and remove it with a bent piece of stiff wire.

I scrap ALL Federal brass as I don't have a .223 bolt gun and even if I did, I think I'd pass on reloading it.

I stick mainly with military brass, S&B, Remington, PMC and PMP.

Be aware that PMP brass has a thicker web and your pocket swager will need to be readjusted to swage them but it is very good brass if you can find it.

Although not mentioned in your list, Guatemalan brass has small flash holes and you'll need to reduce a decapping pin's diameter to decap it or you'll be breaking pins left and right.

 

[Chris]

Damn... And I have an entire ammo can almost filled with once fired Federal brass.

 

[Finalygotabeltfed]

Damn... And I have an entire ammo can almost filled with once fired Federal brass.

I'm just posting my firsthand experiences with it. These are also confirmed by many others who reload .223 on many other boards.

Perhaps you can sell it to someone with a bolt gun in .223.

 

[Adam_MA]

Damn... And I have an entire ammo can almost filled with once fired Federal brass.

Chris,
I have shot plenty of ammo reloaded with Federal brass, and haven't had any of these issues. I could see how it would be a bad thing if you were in the middle of a match, or on a field of battle, but for plinking on the range, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[jpattersonnh]

I have some Federal Match brass that I have had no issues with. I use LC and PMC most of the time. jp

 

[EddieCoyle]

The only .223 brass I've had trouble with is Prvi Partisan. The rims don't fit easily into my shellholders.

 

[PatMcD]

The problem with Federal brass is that it is soft and thick. Thick translates to less internal capacity. Doesn't matter too much in a large caliber like .308, but it makes a big difference in .223. A hot load in Winchester, Remington, or LC brass will be way over-pressure in Federal brass. You may be safe running plinking rounds with it, but heavy bullets in it are asking for trouble. I crunch my 77gr loads as it is.

 

[RKG]

Jeekers: I've reloaded oodles of Federal brass (mainly XM193) without any observed issues. (All with 55-gr FMJs.)

 

[BoB13]

Check ARF.com got to reloading in the general section. It tells all about Federal AE brass problems. Generally you can fire it twice and then toss it. Thin web was the cause

 

[bpm990d]

This is not my picture. I kept it because it illustrates the difference. Good stuff for a few mild loads.

 

[edirtyfour]

Oh man, come on... all that work collecting my brass at the Appleseed gone to waste.

Does this include Fed XM193 as well?

 

[matt]

Oh man, come on... all that work collecting my brass at the Appleseed gone to waste.

Does this include Fed XM193 as well?

yes it was a waste of time, I'll take it off your hands so you don't have to worry about it though 'cause that's the kind of guy I am!

 

[Chris]

XM193 is rejected M193 repackaged for Civilians.

American Eagle is it's own production run.

Go figure, the bulk of my brass is Fed AE and PPU. *sigh*

Ah hell, make good plinking stuff I guess. (^_^)

 

[edirtyfour]

yes it was a waste of time, I'll take it off your hands so you don't have to worry about it though 'cause that's the kind of guy I am!

I'd be willing to trade it for some other caliber...

 

[edirtyfour]

XM193 is rejected M193 repackaged for Civilians.

American Eagle is it's own production run.

Go figure, the bulk of my brass is Fed AE and PPU. *sigh*

Ah hell, make good plinking stuff I guess. (^_^)

Yup, I knew that about XM193, just didn't know if AE was it's own run.

 

[Nickle]

Good:

R-P – Remington Peters
F C - Federal
Winchester - Winchester
WCC – Western Cartridge Company
IMI

(Of these, I prefer WCC, but all are good)

Avoid, but usable:

PMC - Eldorado Cartridge Corporation, Boulder City, NV 89006.

Definitely avoid:

CBC - Companhia Brasileira de Cartuchos (Brazil)

Some brass, marked either CJ or CBC has primer pockets that are too small, and aren't worth the trouble to fix.


The following is bad for you, box up all you have and send to me, I'll dispose of it for you (just kidding, LC is IMNSHO, the best stuff to reload):

LC – Lake City

 

[edirtyfour]

Sweeeeeet, I definitely picked up somewhere around 500 LC cases at the appleseed. Now to begin the tedious process of sorting them out....

 

[Nickle]

You guys do know who runs Lake City, don't you?

Federal does.

LC Brass is absolutely the best, IMNSHO.

 

[99si/mass]

L.C. brass is sweet am on about case 600 in a 1k bunch I got. Super swage 600 is a life saver man if ya got crimped brass.

 

[Patriot]

Good:

R-P – Remington Peters
F C - Federal
Winchester - Winchester
WCC – Western Cartridge Company
IMI

(Of these, I prefer WCC, but all are good)

Avoid, but usable:

PMC - Eldorado Cartridge Corporation, Boulder City, NV 89006.

Definitely avoid:

CBC - Companhia Brasileira de Cartuchos (Brazil)

Some brass, marked either CJ or CBC has primer pockets that are too small, and aren't worth the trouble to fix.


The following is bad for you, box up all you have and send to me, I'll dispose of it for you (just kidding, LC is IMNSHO, the best stuff to reload):

LC – Lake City

Interesting reading back over this thread. I just loaded the following:

69 CBC
125 LC
51 PMC
51 Winchester
240 Federal (200 Mil Headstamp – Remainder Commercial Headstamp)
1 R-P
537 Total.

I will report back in after I shoot it.

 

[Timberwolf]

All that you listed are good except for the Federal.

I've found Federal brass to be soft and their primer pockets tend to loosen with the first firing and this increases the likelyhood of a blown primer on subsequent firings. Not a good thing, especially in an AR.

From experience, a blown primer can lock up an AR if it gets up into the gas key channel or in the bolt locking lugs. They also tend to get under the trigger in the lower and although this is an easier fix, it will render your gun inoperative until you open the gun and remove it with a bent piece of stiff wire.

I scrap ALL Federal brass as I don't have a .223 bolt gun and even if I did, I think I'd pass on reloading it.

I stick mainly with military brass, S&B, Remington, PMC and PMP.

Be aware that PMP brass has a thicker web and your pocket swager will need to be readjusted to swage them but it is very good brass if you can find it.

Although not mentioned in your list, Guatemalan brass has small flash holes and you'll need to reduce a decapping pin's diameter to decap it or you'll be breaking pins left and right.

+ whatever on that.

I've had the primer pockets open up. I had a primer come out of the case and jam up my AR15 solid.

DO NOT USE FEDERAL UNLESS IT'S FOR A BOLT GUN and then dump it after the first reload.

Don't take chances.

I use:-

WCC, LC, FNM, CBC, PMC, IVI plus a few others.

 

[bpm990d]

DO NOT USE FEDERAL UNLESS IT'S FOR A BOLT GUN and then dump it after the first reload.

Sort of an unqualified statement if you don't say anything about the loads. If you shoot a mild load it would be fine. Not my first choice but far from unusable in an AR.

I've shot Fed brass out of a bolt gun multiple times with no real problem, but then again not really hot loads.

B

 

[LoginName]

I have at least a 5gal bucket and a half of LC/XM193), brass... never had a problem with reloads.

Just keep in mind that the primers are crimped and the primer pocket will need to be swagged.

I use a Dillon Super Swage 600 for that purpose.

 

[Cledus J. Crabb]

I use LC in my gas guns and there's nuthin' better.
If you come across RORG (Radway Green - British made) don't hesitate to use it. I've run that stuff through all my AR15s and, even using stiff loads, it lasts and is easy to work with.
FC in bolt guns is okay if you don't run it too hard. You won't get 13 or 14 reloads out of it like you would R-P, Win, WCC or others, but you will get some use out of it.
I'm running a 100 count lot of Lapua through my 700P. That stuff is nice....just a wee bit pricey, though.