>223 case life??

[John Reno]

markm:

I agree,what I'm loading is just for group size bragging rights with my 2 buddies.My sight settings are set for my Hornady sd/shtf ammo and I don't change them.These loads should hit close enough to POA and group size is all we worry about,not where the group is........To be honest,if I had to grab a shtf gun it would probably be one of my 3 Garands that I've shot much more,am better with and still have 10 ammo cans of LC67 in clips/bandoleers for.I know they are kinda slow to reload and only hold 8 rounds,but that's 8 rounds of .30-06 & I can hit you WAY out there.....and they have looooong bayos as well...LOL

Best wishes,
John Reno

[John Reno]

bigedp51:

Yep,the Winchester was "free" so I'll use it to play around with.I will most likely use my once fired PPU...PMC...or Fed/LC to do my reloading with after we get through with this little game we're playing.I keep lots of records on my reloading,it won't take long to find out which brass is working and holding up best for my uses.

Best wishes,
John Reno

[rcoodyar15]

"Winchester" is nothing more than a hollow name, and after Winchester lost the contract to produce ammunition at Lake City they fell on very hard times. They sold off their powder plant in Florida "AND" their brass making factory and they now buy their brass from the lowest bidder. And Olin is making chemicals for fertilizer and the names we grew up with as kids are gone or have been gobbled up by large conglomerates where quality control is governed by the share holders.

The difference is the milspec requirements for the brass have higher quality standards. And as another person said at the Accurate Shooter reloading forum, Lake City brass is the best brass the American taxpayer can buy.

Well I am sorry to disagree but Lake City brass is not even in the same league with Lapua

and all the brass prep required to reload military brass is just not worth the effort. If it is just plinking ammo or for your shtf stockpile go for it. Personally I just buy the bulk ammo Federal Lake City is what I buy and use Lapua for all my precision reloading.

as far as case life, if you try to load to 5.56 velocities three or four reloads and the primers will be falling out of the primer pockets. If you use more moderate .223 loads brass will last 10 firings or more. annealing really helps in brass life and also in accuracy.

[markm]

Well I am sorry to disagree but Lake City brass is not even in the same league with Lapua

Generally speaking, that is true. But there are certain runs of LC that are better than others. There was a specific year of .308 brass that was highly coveted by old school hand loaders.... '73 or something like that.

I've not been able to see a measurable performance difference in almost any .223/5.56 brass. I've shot LC head to head against mixed .223, and couldn't see anything exciting. .308, however, seems to really benefit from Lapua in my experience.

[rcoodyar15]

Generally speaking, that is true. But there are certain runs of LC that are better than others. There was a specific year of .308 brass that was highly coveted by old school hand loaders.... '73 or something like that.

I've not been able to see a measurable performance difference in almost any .223/5.56 brass. I've shot LC head to head against mixed .223, and couldn't see anything exciting. .308, however, seems to really benefit from Lapua in my experience.

After a few rounds of military brass prep I realized that paying for Lapua was worth it for me. All you do with new lapua brass is run it through a full length resizer, check the trim length which I have always found fine, prime, charge, seat bullet and shoot.

If all you are loading for is blasting then you don't need lapua. In fact I don't reload blasting ammo. Store bought is too cheap for that.

If you are reloading for a precision (less than 1 MOA) gun lapua makes a difference.

[bigedp51]

Lake City and commercial contract 5.56 ammunition made for the military has the hardest brass of any other brass. Meaning it was designed Ford Truck Tough to be fired in larger diameter military chambers. And my buddy CatShooter at Accurate Shooter provided the information below when someone just like you said Lapua was the best.

Do not get me wrong, Lapua makes very high quality cartridge cases, BUT this cheap bastard isn't going to chew up $$$Lapua$$$ brass in a AR15 rifle when once fired LC brass is much less.

How Hard is Your Brass? 5.56 and .223 Rem Base Hardness Tests
http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/...ardness-tests/

And the 500 processed Lake city cases I just bought at Brass Bomber were a steal at $55.00
223/5.56 - Cleaned, Deprimed & Swaged - LC Only - 500 Pieces
http://www.brassbombers.com/223-556-...-2LC-S0050.htm

Lapua Reloading Brass 223 Remington Box of 100 $56.99
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/684...ton-box-of-100

Bottom line, your not shooting in bench rest competition and will not cry if you loose a few Lake City cases.

And softer commercial cases were part of the jamming problems brought out in the congressional hearings with the early M16 rifles. So Lake City brass is the best brass the American tax payers can buy.







My 2 cents

[markm]

The L C 0 8 thru L C 10 brass isn't very hard. Some brass in those years lacked the nato stamp and the other divots in the head that I believe help harden the case head. I regularly have to pitch out those cases... but yeah.. LC brass is generally harder in the case head and seems to hold up longer.

LC LR .308 brass outlasts Lapua by a mile. It doesn't seem to shoot as good, but it's much tougher (as far as loose primer pockets goes).