Let's Talk .223 Brass

[stomp442]

I wouldnt even mess with turning case necks, they should all be fine. The maximum differnece I allow in my weights are .2 grains either .1 high or .1 low of a median weight that keeps showing up. I usually end up with at least 3 piles of brass. One large pile of one weight and a slightly smaller pile of another different weight that measures out well and a third pile that doesn't match up with anything and either gets given to a friend or tossed.

[yobuck]

the need to turn necks is not nesassary in factory chambers. some feel the need to (clean them up) by just removing
the high spots. i personaly wouldnt bother. a custom chamber might well need some degree of turning but not always.
take a bullet and insert it into a fired case before resizing. that will show you how tight your chamber is. chances are
there will be little to no resistance in cases from your gun. some shooters mark their brass so that it goes into the chamber
the same way every time. loaded singely of coarse. you can also put rubber o rings under the die lock rings to help with straightening
your rounds. also seat the bullet partially, rotate the case, then seat fully to help there also.

[ShowMeShooter]

thanks yobuck, I tried the fired case test. in my handirifle a bullet just falls in. My Stevens isn't here yet to test.

[bigedp51]

ShowMeShooter

1. Apache below just gave you the best advice on cartridge cases and accuracy, and accuracy is uniform consistency of your cases. And mixed brass from different lot numbers of the same manufacture can cause you accuracy problems.


Depending on how serious you are about accuracy.......you need to get batch of brass that is used only for matches and keep records on.

All of the brass you have now is mixed, even the same brand will come from different batches of processing.....different lot numbers. It's too inconsistent for true accuracy work.

I would advise getting a new batch of Lapua brass of the same lot number (if you can find any in 223; 200 cases should be enough to start) and use it for match work only. Keep detailed records of all loads fired with this brass and you will start seeing what loads work with your rifle.

2. I have two AR15 .223/5.56 rifles and a bolt action Stevens 200 in .223, I also have two standards for my brass and the rifles I shoot them in.

The mixed brass you have I would only use in my AR15s for 100 yard or less practice while standing.

In my bolt action I have 100 brand new Winchester cases from the same lot number, and these were sorted by weight, neck thickness and neck uniformity. This gave me approximately 50 cases worthy of "trying" to shoot bug hole groups.

3. If one to two inch groups are acceptable to you then your mixed brass will be OK, "BUT" because they are not uniform they will never shoot better than your rifle is capable of.

I have three five gallon buckets full of once fired .223/5.56 brass fired by our local SWAT teams and fired in many different rifles. I do "NOT" use any of this brass in my bolt action rifle because it is mixed brass from four different sources. I have one full five gallon bucket of Remington brass and I would still not use it in my bolt action rifle because of mixed lot numbers and being fired in so many different rifles.

Buy a large number of cases from the same lot number and start your accuracy reloading from there. Anything else is nothing but headaches, frustrations and unexplained flyers. Bottom line.............
mixed brass is "hit or miss" in more than one way.

Right now I'm cleaning and processing my Remington brass below and you only see half of it. And "NONE" of it will be fired in my Stevens 200 bolt action, and I'm say this from experience and trying to get bug hole accuracy in my Stevens 200 with my mixed brass.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o254/bigedp51/halfdone.jpg

Below, two five gallon buckets of mixed Lake City and Federal brass, and sore bleeding fingers from removing the primer crimps. :-(

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o254/bigedp51/bucketsofbrass.jpg

Now go out and buy some Lapua brass and get serious. ;-)

[ShowMeShooter]

thanks for the response bigedp51.
I have been messing with this mixed brass all weekend, and just yesterday I gave up on it, dumped all, except 200 hunting/practice cases in 100 count bags to sell at the LGS. I am looking for 200 new matching lot number cases of Laupa, Norma, Nosler, or Hornady brass. I just can't find any, so I was trying to use what I have. I'll just have to wait until the smoke clears on the panic buying of .223 components.
Even if I find brass, I still can't find any match bullets.

[bigedp51]

thanks for the response bigedp51.
I have been messing with this mixed brass all weekend, and just yesterday I gave up on it, dumped all, except 200 hunting/practice cases in 100 count bags to sell at the LGS. I am looking for 200 new matching lot number cases of Laupa, Norma, Nosler, or Hornady brass. I just can't find any, so I was trying to use what I have. I'll just have to wait until the smoke clears on the panic buying of .223 components.
Even if I find brass, I still can't find any match bullets.

ShowMeShooter

I resized, trimed to length, uniformed the primer pockets and flash holes on 200 of the mixed Remington .223 cases I have.

I then sorted them by weight to within 1/10 of a grain, I then measured neck thickness and body thickness at given points. There were variations in case thickness which made just weighing the cases pointless and this test pointless.

I loaded 20 of my best mixed cases against a new box of 20 Winchester cases of the same lot number and these Winchester cases had a more weight variations between them. The Winchester cases out shot the mixed brass by a good margin and a lessen was learned. There is a difference between military shooting in minutes of man, and accuracy shooting in minutes of an inch. You will never shoot a bug hole group using mixed brass.

Complete Precision Case Prep
http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/reloading/complete-precision-case-prep/

Below is mixed brass humor when shooting Zombies with a AR...........
Your going to need a lot of 30 round mags.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o254/bigedp51/Zombietargets.jpg

[JCalhoun]

ShowMe,

For now let's keep it simple. You probably won't find any .223 brass or bullets for a while. You may be able find match bullets at Berger though. The 52gr is a good one for BR.

Take the brass you have and full length resize it, trim it, chamfer it clean the primer pockets, clean the flash hole and be happy. Take it to the range and work up some loads until you find what your rifle likes. Most BR shoots don't use a lot of ammo so I'd imagine you'll be able to make use of all of it if you have 50 or so pieces of each brand.

Take this time to learn the rifle, the game, handloading and just have fun in it. When you get better and supplies of .223 become easier to get you can buy better stuff.

[ShowMeShooter]

today I was looking through bullets I have, and in 100 or more counts I have 50gn Nosler BT, 50gn Sierra varminter sp, and 200 60gn V-max.
I'll load up a bunch of this and go see what this rig will do....

thanks for all the advise fellas, when .223 components start to resurface, I'll be stocking up and getting more serious.

[ShowMeShooter]

I was able to score 200 rounds of new Lapua .223 brass today. SO now I can get back to business here. sorting brass right now. Even this Lapua brass has some variation....more than I thought even.

[seanhagerty]

Good luck finding primers for those.....

[ShowMeShooter]

Good luck finding primers for those.....

I scored 1k Fed Match small rifle primers too.

[jibben]

what 2 flavors of brass do you have the most of?

[ShowMeShooter]

All I have left is Remington that I have loaded for varmint hunting, and Lapua for matches.

[ShowMeShooter]

I just remembered I have 2-300 rounds of PMC brass too.

[outback andy]

Where did you find primers these days ???

[5spd]

I would see if you can find any IMI brass, as good or better than the lapua stuff.

[jhelmuth]

I would see if you can find any IMI brass, as good or better than the lapua stuff. :whistle:

Hmmm... I can't say that I agree that its as good (and definately NOT better) compared to Lapua brass - but IF you can find any IMI brass in .223 (should be in 5.56 actually), then it will be very good brass indeed. I personally think IMI is better than LC (which is my go-to for every load except when the very best is needed (then I use the Lapua brass).

[ShowMeShooter]

Where did you find primers these days ???

I have a friend....