Which brass do you prefer for reloading?

**mikein** · 03-02-2014, 05:13 PM

I went to the gun show in San Antonio yesterday, and a guy was carrying around a shoe box full of mixed head stamp .223 cartridge cases. He wanted $10.00 for the entire box. I offered him $7.00 and he refused. About a half hour later he was still carting the box around, so I made him the same offer and he took it! I sorted the brass and most of it is:

Lake City
Remington/Peters
Frontier (Hornady, I believe)
BHA

There were a few Winchesters, PMC's and Federals.

Which head stamp do you serious reloaders prefer, and why?

**fgw_in_fla** · 03-02-2014, 06:18 PM

Personally, I'll take any brass I can get my hot little hands on. If you're using it for competition you can be a little more selective but for general target, hunting & plinkage, I take what ever I can get, sort it by headstamp, clean / size, reload, repeat as needed.

My favorite - or my rifles favorite is Fed brass for my beloved 30.06, .308 & Rem for my 25.06 & .243
I find I can get the most use / reloads from Rem, the least from Fed. I don't care much for Win brass because its the brand I've had the most trouble with.
PPU has been good for 8 - 10 reloads (so far) in my .308.
I'm thinking that until I can walk into my local supplier & pick what I want or need of the rack, I take whatever is available & make the most of it.

**mikein** · 03-02-2014, 06:35 PM

I won't be shooting competitively; at my age, I don't do ANYTHING competitively! But I would like to get as much consistency into my reloading results as I can. I do sort and load by head stamp, and was just wondering if there was a "head stamp of choice" out there amongst the .223 reloaders. Thanks for your reply, fgw!

**35Whelenshooter** · 03-02-2014, 07:45 PM

The LC brass is military. This brass has crimped in primers, were RP Hornady do not have crimped in primers, but you will find some of that brass can have crimes in primers. LC brass will have a smaller case capacity than your commercial brass about 5%.

Your LC brass needs to have the crimps removed before you can install your new primer.

I like LC brass for reloading. This brass is thicker in the web area, this brass is loaded at higher pressures.
After you resize it you will need to trim it.

All the brass that you have is good brass for reloading.

The real difference is in the chambers 5.56 V .223 the lead

Just my .02 cents

ColColt · 03-02-2014, 08:11 PM

For the 270, 30-06 class of cartridges, Winchester brass.

Lapua Match brass gets the nod for the .222 and 6BR.

**fgw_in_fla** · 03-02-2014, 08:27 PM

I see a lot of guys at the range with evil looking AR rifles shooting quite a bit of mil-surp ammo. When they leave they have to wade thru knee deep spent cases.
I've wondered why no one put the proverbial scoff on them. True, they require a bit more work to size & clean but the price is right.

Best way to find out which brand your rifle likes is to load 'em up & try them out. Have fun with it & enjoy your OCD / addiction.

**thermaler** · 03-02-2014, 09:15 PM

Careful with Frontier--I've experienced wide variations with their measurements in once-fired ammo.

**mikein** · 03-02-2014, 09:16 PM

Thanks, everyone! Sounds like that as long as I keep my brass separated by head stamp that there won't be any discernible difference at my level of shooting/expectations! I appreciate the feedback.

emtrescue6 · 03-02-2014, 10:28 PM

For my 223 I like LC...yeah, it takes an extra step, but if yer using a case prep station (and not doing it all manually) the additional time is minimal...I have a couple buddies (who have more $ than time) and they shoot a lot of 223 (AR's) and always pick it up for me (I am greatful) in trade for a few reloads when I have them...I have a 5 gallon bucket full I am working through and there must be 10 different head stamps...I honestly see very little variation in how it shots accuracywise...As fgw said...sort it, clean it, prep it load it shoot it.... :)

**mikein** · 03-03-2014, 09:43 AM

Got it! Thanks for the feedback!!

**thermaler** · 03-03-2014, 10:01 AM

When I can afford it--I always try to buy new Lapua brass; best all-around performing brass and consistency I've experienced. It's expensive, but the cost is returned in long-term performance IMO.

**missed** · 03-03-2014, 02:26 PM

I just buy Lapua now.

**psharon97** · 03-03-2014, 02:59 PM

Nosler gets my nod.

n4ue · 03-03-2014, 04:21 PM

Originally Posted by fgw_in_fla

I see a lot of guys at the range with evil looking AR rifles shooting quite a bit of mil-surp ammo. When they leave they have to wade thru knee deep spent cases.
I've wondered why no one put the proverbial scoff on them. True, they require a bit more work to size & clean but the price is right.

Best way to find out which brand your rifle likes is to load 'em up & try them out. Have fun with it & enjoy your OCD / addiction.

Hey Frank. A while back when brass was in short supply, I found a GSA auction at NAS Jax that had 223 and 308 empty brass for sale by the TON! They also had lots of other calibers and the bids were VERY low, however, there must have been a bunch of people watching because there was a feeding frenzy just before the end.
BTW, you needed a forklift to pick the brass up!

ron

**Handloader** · 03-05-2014, 11:36 AM

Lapua....
One note one firing mixed head-stamped brass, Check the overflow volume of a few pieces of once fired brass from YOUR Rifle, and adjust the powder to accommodate (Quick Load works great for this). This will really help to lower you SDev of your per round velocity. The variation in case capacity can be huge (i.e. Remington vs Winchester vs Lapua in .308 and 300 win mag).
About decrimping....I have found that many of the LakeCity Brass will still take and fully seat the primer without removing the crimp (But I still run it through a Dillon Swager and before that it was with the RCBS on a single stage).

**jonbearman** · 03-06-2014, 11:22 AM

In 3 gun the guys prefer lake city as it will reload as many or more than any other brass including lapua.The lake city is the best in my mind and I have some with over 20 reloads on them and they just keep going and going.

Vince · 03-22-2014, 03:16 AM

Originally Posted by psharon97

Nosler gets my nod.

Mine too.

**fgw_in_fla** · 03-22-2014, 04:58 AM

Originally Posted by n4ue

Hey Frank. A while back when brass was in short supply, I found a GSA auction at NAS Jax that had 223 and 308 empty brass for sale by the TON! They also had lots of other calibers and the bids were VERY low, however, there must have been a bunch of people watching because there was a feeding frenzy just before the end.
BTW, you needed a forklift to pick the brass up!

ron

I have seen adverts for bidding on old mil brass. it's definitely a good deal. Getting it home might be a little tricky and there's always the possibility to sell off what's not needed & recover some expense (like back surgery, chiropractor, hernia repair costs).
I was fortunate. my Reloader's OCD went chronic about 2 years before the shortage and the RSO at my local range was letting me have any pickup brass I wanted. At that time I was collecting once fired for calibers I was shooting, calibers I might shoot in the future, calibers I'd like to shoot but may not and all calibers in between. That provided me with enough brass to wage war on a small country if necessary. I ended up selling off some of the brass for calibers I didn't really care for and kept all the rest for stash.

COplains · 03-23-2014, 07:26 PM

I just wish there was enough brass around to be picky. I'll take Lake City when I can get it, crimped Federal seems to work well also. Occasionally I can get crimped ball cases from the sheriff's dept up north for the 223 for $25/500. I always spend the time processing cases new (to me) when I get them so removing the crimp is just part of it. Of course, free is always good.

**fgw_in_fla** · 03-23-2014, 08:56 PM

Free. My favorite word especially when it comes to brass.

The 'lil woman & I visited our new Bass Pro on Friday to look around a bit. To my surprise they had a full compliment of Lee die sets, many RCBS sets, quite a few different caliber Nosler & Speer bullets with a few Sierras and even some powder. Ammo shelves were well stocked with almost every known caliber except .22LR.
Then I turned around to look at the brass bins.
Empty...
Empty except for 2 bags of Rem .44 mag and a few odd bags of .38 sp. No rifle brass. None. Notta. Total void.

Very depressing situation. No good for us guys with chronic reoccurring reloader's OCD at all.

**barrel-nut** · 03-23-2014, 09:44 PM

Originally Posted by thermaler

When I can afford it--I always try to buy new Lapua brass; best all-around performing brass and consistency I've experienced. It's expensive, but the cost is returned in long-term performance IMO.

^this. Lapua brass is a work of art compared to some of the stuff that's out there. The higher cost is more than offset by the huge leap in quality.

**missed** · 03-23-2014, 10:41 PM

Originally Posted by barrel-nut

^this. Lapua brass is a work of art compared to some of the stuff that's out there. The higher cost is more than offset by the huge leap in quality.

That and it seems like the only brass you can find now days too.

masterblaster · 03-23-2014, 10:56 PM

Lapua, Win and Lake City, in that order, I have been a fan of win brass but the basic stock of 308 I been shooting over the last 3 years is starting to get some split necks and loose pockets, I have been changing out to the LC for my semi autos over the last year or so. I use Lapua in my bolt guns that are accurized but have been trying the LC and I have to say I am not unhappy with the performance of the mil stuff.

**thermaler** · 03-24-2014, 07:49 AM

I use lots of LC also--it's tough stuff, but I restrict it's use to "Chevrolet" calibers like 308, 5.56--and now I have Lapua for even those, it's worth it to me. I'm not the world's best or most patient reloader, so my standard is partially determined by what is the easiest to work with and what will be the most reliable. Some of my rifles have "tricky" calibers--6.5's mostly, which I have a particular fondness for--and that's when the precision and quality of Lapua really shines--it's the only case I've never had an issue with when pursuing "fringe" loads.

**fgw_in_fla** · 03-24-2014, 08:47 AM

Originally Posted by thermaler

I use lots of LC also--it's tough stuff, but I restrict it's use to "Chevrolet" calibers like 308, 5.56--and now I have Lapua for even those, it's worth it to me. I'm not the world's best or most patient reloader, so my standard is partially determined by what is the easiest to work with and what will be the most reliable. Some of my rifles have "tricky" calibers--6.5's mostly, which I have a particular fondness for--and that's when the precision and quality of Lapua really shines--it's the only case I've never had an issue with when pursuing "fringe" loads.

Chevrolet calibers?
And now you use Lapua for those, too?...
If I had your money, I'd be using gold plated Lapua, too. In fact, if I had 1/2 your money I'd throw mine away.
Ok...
So I gotta ask. Does Lapua make that much difference? I get really impressive results with Fed brass and even Rem brass. I know a few "seasoned" reloaders that shoot competitively and they don't use Lapua or any high dollar brass.
What is it about Lapua and other exotic brands that make it desirable? Besides the obvious like consistent case weight / thickness / volume. Or, did I just answer my own question?...