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Looking to score some military brass or pulls for a 308/7.62 build. Recommendations on manufacturer would be appreciated.
I have found a place which has LC Long Range, and LC 87 & 88. They also have WCC10. Anyone have any experience with these?
How is the quality of Federal Pulls?
Thanks
Bob
I use LC for my AR's but not in my bolt rifles. Just remember less case capacity due to thicker brass. Will be fine to use it though. ost of mine is 10 and up. Never heard of WCC10. Federal, to me, isn't the greatest but will work for a few reloads. I use mostly Hornady brass but lapua during load development only.
I have shot some very small groups at 2,3 and 600 yrds with LC 2009 and 1980's LC Match. I agree that volume is lower but so is Lapua. I recomend it for 600 or less if you do not want to pay for Lapua. you may find that much of it weighs very close. You need to trim, remove primer crimp, debur flash holes and size. Small base resizing is not a bad idea, as much of the LC stuff was run through a auto gun.
I don't know of many guys running Federal Brass or Western Cartridge Co (WCC) in matches. Hunting or plinking is good.
Get the LC match. Once fired will be run thru bolt gun and no primer crimp on match brass. Match=long range. Used to be marked match but now marked LR
Look at RMR bullets.
Up until recently when Speer freed themselves from those ATK Buggers, Speer essentially only building bullets for those Federal rats factory ammo. The Stuff Federal uses for Ball ammo is done on the machines at Lake City. There really isn't "better" ball bullets, they are just the Gub'ment spec, regardless of mfgr.
A little fuzzy on the dates at the moment, but all but positive that in 2010 Olin(Winchester) had long sold all case production capacity. So ANYTHING with their stamp is least-cost bidding production by lord knows whom, for a while IMI had been making brass for them. HOWEVER it isn't IMI brass, it's whatever spec's Olin wanted.
LC, is ATK(Federal) operated at the moment. Federal has LONG had dangerously soft brass, as far as the reloader is concerned. They are interested in making factory ammo, which is a "One-and-done" proposition.
Federal Brass is horribly soft, which is great for obturation to the chamber, and thus accuracy. That said, when the heads are as soft as they have been, you can have some nasty seperations, ask me how I have this first-hand experience....:p
As to the "Capacity wars" Ignore most of that as garbage old wives tales. Far too many get stuck in this silly cycle of weight, volume, and metalurgy all magically somehow being the same thing, they are not.
CAN there be a difference? Certainly!! IS there a difference? No, not inherintly. ALL machines have a standard deviation that is deemed acceptable, since no one will tell you what that is, don't expect things to always be the same. Picatinny arsenal has done some fantastic work on how a single line(many machines) can have a staggering difference across all machines. Is company A using the same formula for brass as company B? No they aren't. So weight A is different than weight B, does that mean they have a different volume? No, not by default.
Do what makes you happy, but I have been loading and shooting painless for several decades with a stupid amount of mixed brass. Commercial from the 50's to current, and millitary spanning the same time frame. ALL of them get loaded the same. Is there a difference from this "wild" practice? Not according to the Pressure Trace II system.
Thanks gentlemen for the information. It looks like I will get LC Match. Lots of good information to hold onto.
RBP, Do you have a good source?
I don't know if they are a good source. http://brassbombers.com/308-762_c3.htmQuote:
Originally Posted by Robinhood
I have just started looking around in anticipation of finishing a 308 build. I have zero experience with 308.
Remember that the long range has no crimp. If you get the other I suggest you get the deprimed and primer pocket swaged. Sure does make things easier on you for just a little extra money
Good advice, thanks earl.Quote:
Originally Posted by earl39
Ive been using once fired LC brass for years. both in bolts and gas guns. Out of the 500 I purchased in 308 8 years ago, I still use that same brass. Ive lost maybe 10% due to fatigue. Ive sold my 308 gas guns and have been using the LC on two of my Savage Bolts rigs. id estimate that I probably have 30 firings on that 308 brass with no signs of failure. Ive annealed and turned the necks and there still solid from 100 out to 1200yds.Quote:
Originally Posted by rbp75503
You can sort thru them and get the same year of production via head stamping if you choose. IMO, LC brass is fantastic brass. Its a little on the thick side (.015) but Ive never had a problem with capacity.
I did pay just a bit extra to purchase once fired that had been processed ( sized, primer pockets swaged) but it was worth it.