.223 Brass Choices

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buggybuilder

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What is the best brass to buy (.223) for reloading?
I see alot of Lake City brass for sale. How does it compare to Win, Rem. or Federal? If Lake City brass is so good, why do I see so much of it for sale?
 
Lake City is military brass. When we qualify, we shoot a lot of rounds. Therefore generating a bunch of surplus.

I also find it better than any commercial brass. With the exception of Norma or Lapua.

If using LC brass, you'll need to remove a primer crimp. Not a big deal, it's easily remedied with a chamfer tool, or swage die.
 
Originally Posted By: buggybuilderI also was given some brass that headstamps PMP, PAC, and GFL. Are these any good?, imported or a cheaper brand?

PMP - Pretoria Metal Pressings Ltd., Pretoria, Republic of South Africa

GFL - Giulio Fiocchi, Lecco, Italy

Are you certain the PAC isn't actually PMC? on those small case heads, the M can look like an A.

They will all work, fine, I'm sure. I've never paid too much mind to head stamp, but I do prefer the LC for continuity...JMO
 
So if Lake City brass is not commercial, it must be military. Correct? So if it is military brass will the headstamp be .223 or 5.56? If it is 5.56 can I use it without any problems?
 
If I remember correctly I don't think it has a head stamp of 5.56 or .223, just LC. If I was at home I could tell you for certain. I put Lake City above Remington, federal, and winchester. I like lapua but l have just as much lake city as lapua.
 
LC brass is nato. It should have a nato cross stamped on the head as well. There is no difference between 5.56 and 223 brass. The difference is in the chamber of the gun.

In general, you can shoot 223 through a 5.56 rifle with no problems, but it is not recommended to shot 5.56 through a 223 rifle.
 
For reloading .223 you can use military 5.56 brass without issues once the primer crimp is removed. Lake city brass is excellent, I just ordered another 1,000 once fired cases for use in both of my .223s.
 
Originally Posted By: buggybuilderSo if Lake City brass is not commercial, it must be military. Correct? So if it is military brass will the headstamp be .223 or 5.56? If it is 5.56 can I use it without any problems?

There is no difference in 5.56x45 and 223 Remington.
 
If you can find 'virgin' Lake City brass, it's one of the better ones on the market...If it is once fired, your only two concerns are... 1) is it crimped primer? and 2) was it fired from a full auto weapon?...A "Yes" answer to either question just presents different concerns during the prep stage, but will still be better than most commercial civilian market stuff..

Brass with a NATO head stamp may not be LC, will usually be crimped, and usually have been from a full auto weapon..Much of it will be Berdan primed rather than Boxer and that requires a specialized depriming tool and will cost you a lot of depriming pins in your dies..

If you watch various distributors, such as Midway Arms, Natchez, etc...,you can sometimes find virgin LC brass and it's worth the price....I usually buy 500 rounds at a time, when available, and only use 100 pieces at a time...I get quite a few reloadings out each piece and even more after annealing it...
 
New to handloading and bought 1000 cases of once fired LC brass back in May. Don't have anything to compare it to but it works just fine. I use a Lee Decapping die that is supposed to be much stronger than the decapping pin on their sizing dies. Also use a CH4 swaging die to remove the crimp. Haven't run acros any Berdan primed brass yet.
 
Originally Posted By: pahntr760Originally Posted By: buggybuilderSo if Lake City brass is not commercial, it must be military. Correct? So if it is military brass will the headstamp be .223 or 5.56? If it is 5.56 can I use it without any problems?

There is no difference in 5.56x45 and 223 Remington.

100% agree.
 
Quote:but it is not recommended to shot 5.56 through a 223 rifle.Quote:There is no difference in 5.56x45 and 223 Remington...Many people shoot 5.56 ammo through their .223 Remington chambers...You just have to keep in mind that there are slight differences in the brass, chambers, and load factors..

Military brass is generally produced with slightly thicker base walls and therefore can generally produce slightly higher pressures than commercial brass...Doing a water volume measurement will tell you how much..It's always better to work up your loads individually between the two types..

When shooting 5.56 ammo through an AR that is chambered in .223 Rem can produce feeding problems as well safety problems since the chamber is slightly smaller due to SAAMI specs..

HERE is a pretty decent article on the subject...
 


That SAAMI article is not relevant to 99.999% of shooters. Back when the 223 arrived, there were many P.O.S. rifles around that were very weak - like the Savage 340, 343, 24, etc - these rifles were originally designed for 22 Hornet level cartridges, and going up to the 223 was a stretch for sure, and it is the reason these rifles have disappeared into oblivion.

The 222 Remington is SAAMI rated at 45,000 psi for the same reasons - but if you have a modern 222 Rem, you know you can load it to 60,000 PSI without blinking.

So... unless you have some of the older poor quality rifles like a Savage 340 or 24, forgetaboutit!!.

Any "modern" bolt of and gas gun in the AR family will easily handle the 60,000+ pressure - all day long... year after year after year.

Military 5.56mm brass is not heavier or thicker than civilian 223 - both weigh around 91 to 93 grains.

Very old Lapua is ~100 grains - the current Lapua is ~ 92 grains, like everybody else.

PMC brass IS heavier, at ~100 grains, and max loads will be about a grain less.

Other than removing the crimp, treat Lake City brass like any other brass, and don't worry about sorting by the date on the head stamp, the date is NOT a lot number... they all come off of hundreds of different machines in a given year.
 


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