Why I like military brass

[Hummer]

Note case on the left has much more metal in the area in the bottom than does the case on the right. The left case is a M193 case and the right is a commercial case. The case on the left is a much stronger design.

The below is a sectioned barrel with 20,000 rounds on it. Note there is a area of the case that is unsupported, thus the need for a thicker head.

This is why when I barrel my bolt guns I make sure there is min movement in the bolt when pushed forward as I want all the support from the chamber wall I can get. You will probably notice on some rifles with the striker down you can push the bolt forward quite a bit, that means you have unsupported case head and with commercial cases being lighter than MILSPEC you can have head failure.

 

[30CalRifle]

I like military brass because it's every where, it's stronger, LC is my go to brass. If you can get a batch of the same year and the same lot number even better. My manic year and lot is LC91

 

[30CalRifle]

That's Magic not manic

 

[Mountain]

I have not sectioned them to see the construction, but seems that all commercial cases are not the same. Winchester and Federal are much lighter than Lapua, Norma, and even PPU. I'm getting more Lapua reloads without failures in a M1 than I'm seeing others get with their LC. We are all loading .30-06 to ~2600 to 2700 fps. LC makes good brass, but if I had a choice I'd use Lapua over that. More for LC for all y'all.

 

[45collector]

I have a .308 Garand (CMP build, Criterion barrel) that I’m all geared up to start reloading for but still haven’t started a trial batch. I guess I’m apprehensive because so far all I’ve reloaded is straight wall pistol brass and .30 carbine. I have a bunch of different types of .308/7.62NATO brass and I’m still trying to figure out if I can safely load the same recipe for any type of brass. Any tips for a necked-case-newbie? I don’t need military performance levels. Just punching paper at no more than 200 yards.

 

[mac1911]

I have a .308 Garand (CMP build, Criterion barrel) that I’m all geared up to start reloading for but still haven’t started a trial batch. I guess I’m apprehensive because so far all I’ve reloaded is straight wall pistol brass and .30 carbine. I have a bunch of different types of .308/7.62NATO brass and I’m still trying to figure out if I can safely load the same recipe for any type of brass. Any tips for a necked-case-newbie? I don’t need military performance levels. Just punching paper at no more than 200 yards.

generally at the levels 308 garand loads are at the internal case difference "should not" be a issue. If your loading to the upper limits of load data you might want to pay attention to the space in the case.

 

[45collector]

Gotcha. That’s part of what I was wondering about. I won’t be trying to get top performance out of the rifle in that regard. Just an accurate target load is all I want.

 

[84ta406]

I use LC brass in my .308 pretty religiously. Just need to remember to load it down since internal capacity is different. Nosler has some good data for using GI brass and their bullets.

 

[PEW]

Note case on the left has much more metal in the area in the bottom than does the case on the right... The case on the left is a much stronger design.

I think this conclusion is flawed without detailed knowledge of the metallurgy of each case. It's reasonable to believe that the commercial case is thinner because it CAN be; Winchester could be using a better/more consistent alloy of brass.

I am not suggesting it's likely, but you can't conclude the military brass is stronger just because it is thicker.

 

[mac1911]

I think this conclusion is flawed without detailed knowledge of the metallurgy of each case. It's reasonable to believe that the commercial case is thinner because it CAN be; Winchester could be using a better/more consistent alloy of brass.

I am not suggesting it's likely, but you can't conclude the military brass is stronger just because it is thicker.

This is a good thought also other than being thicker it could also be more brittle , softer and such. Then you bring up alloy. How much zinc/copper is in it.

its all fun and the more you know
Cartridge Brass Alloys Revealed by X-Ray Spectrometers « Daily Bulletin

 

[BrianWilson]

I have a .308 Garand (CMP build, Criterion barrel) that I’m all geared up to start reloading for but still haven’t started a trial batch. I guess I’m apprehensive because so far all I’ve reloaded is straight wall pistol brass and .30 carbine. I have a bunch of different types of .308/7.62NATO brass and I’m still trying to figure out if I can safely load the same recipe for any type of brass. Any tips for a necked-case-newbie? I don’t need military performance levels. Just punching paper at no more than 200 yards.

Maybe sort out 50 or 100 of the same headstamp to start with. Down the line a bit you may or may not find any difference for range loads, but might as well eliminate as many variables as possible until your happy with your setup.

I haven't loaded any 308 in quite a while, but never had a problem with mixed pick up brass in an M1A, and I will say that in 5.56 I've shot a shit load of, and never had a problem with range brass, but do find enough of difference in some things that I think it's worth culling out some nice LC when I want a "premium grade" hand rolled.