New 223 brass to buy

603Country · June 14, 2012, 01:43 PM

I could probably look at old threads on this, but I'd rather just get your fresh opinions. I'm going to order some new 223 brass, but haven't decided what to buy. My last purchases of the brass were Nosler and Hornady and both worked out just fine, though I just threw away all the Nosler due to a lot of split necks. I probably reloaded them 6 to 8 times, so maybe they're due to be retired anyway. So now...I'm thinking maybe more Nosler, or maybe go with Norma or Lapua. Lapua cases, per 100, are cheaper than Norma or Nosler and they supposedly have a long reload life. I like the sound of that. Whatever I buy will be shot in a bolt gun and neck sized thereafter. I'd like opinions from the long-time reloaders/shooters on what brass they prefer these days.

Marco Califo · June 14, 2012, 09:17 PM

Lapua if you are willing to spend that much per case. I am not.

I use military once fireds, with the processing of the primer pocket.
http://www.gibrass.com
"5.56mm NATO Military Once-Fired, recently purchased, mostly LC, some WCC and FC; some
(223) SAWS (M249) brass, mixed dates.
Add $25/M to polish and process primer pocket. Note that this processing
does not size nor trim.
Ttl Qty: 100 1M 5M 10M 25M 50M
$ Cost: $8 69/M 67/M 65/M 64/M 63/M"

So that is $69 +25= $94.00 for a thousand. That is $9.40 per 100

Midway has: Lapua Reloading Brass 223 Remington for $294.99 for 500, or $590 per 1,000 or $59 per 100. So, if I reload my once fireds 8 times and then toss them, you will need to reload your Lapua 50 times to break even.

LC do better than most brands

http://www.accurateshooter.com

William T. Watts · June 15, 2012, 09:26 PM

Marco Califo thanks for the economics lesson, you make a very strong argument for not using high end cases, most of the cases I have are once fired W-W, R-P, or F-C. I have 25K (or more) cases of various calibers that I have nothing but my labor in. I can afford Lapua or Norma brass, I choose not to and use that money for other projects. William

603Country · June 15, 2012, 09:46 PM

Well, I have to admit that the math makes sense, and I have all the gear required to prep cases - except for a tool to remove the military primers. What supplier should I use to get a bunch of Lake City cases? I'll reread Marco's note in case he already mentioned a source. Being retired, I have plenty of time. I might have to spend less time repairing fencing and more time prepping cases, but I'm sure I can learn to live with that.

wingman · June 15, 2012, 10:07 PM

Laupa for consistent groups in my bolt gun,new LC for my AR,Laupa i get about 20 reloads without any sign of problems the LC in the AR about 10 would go longer if needed. I find both Laupa and LC consistent in weight, Norma would be my 3 choice,the other brands use when I have nothing else.

Marco Califo · June 16, 2012, 12:31 PM

One of the reasons I like military calibers, and own guns for them, is the cheap, high quality brass that happens when the military adopts a cartridge. Military cartridges get adopted for performance reasons, so these cartridges also are excellent performers. I think 99.9% of shooters, with an unlimited supply of ammo with their favorite bullets, and powder, shooting their own guns, would never be able to detect any difference in shooting LC versus Lapua in a blind test where they could not see the head stamps. And half of those that could, would select LC as the ones they thought were better.
Lapua makes excellent cases. Some people insist on only the finest and most consistent, whether it makes a material difference or not.
And, for that 0.1% that compete at top levels, and demand the production consistency of Lapua, great, those are for you!

11B-101ABN · June 16, 2012, 11:30 PM

Almost everybody that sells LC 5.56 (.223) brass gets it from the original user (the military). Uncle Sam has a website: govliquidation.com go to the site and click on the blue box in the middle of the page "Uncle Sam's Retail Store" then click on "Shop Brass". They have boxes of 2500 rounds for $125.00 + tax Delivered. That's about 5 cents per round (TO YOUR DOOR). Check the site regularly because they sell out fast. Virtually every other retailer charges more. If you don't want to wait, check out Wideners, MidSouth Shooters, GIBrass, they all sell LC on an every-once-in-a-while basis. There's lots of LC out there, check out Shotgun News classifieds - but some of the asking prices will make you choke.

Marco Califo · June 17, 2012, 11:40 PM

Quote:

Wideners, MidSouth Shooters, GIBrass, they all sell LC on an every-once-in-a-while basis.

I would say that Wideners has LC 223 95% of the time, like right now:
OFB-LC556 95% BULK Once Fired Lake CIty 5.56mm(223) Brass $204.00/3000
also they sometimes have new un-fired LC brass, like right now:
UF556LCP Lake City 5.56 Primed Brass $125 / 1000

They also stock LC 55 gr FMJ but have been out of stock most of the past year. Wideners has some great deals on bulk deals due south of retail packaging and prices.

GIBrass has ALWAYS had LC 223 brass and I highly recommend that you pay the extra $25 per thousand for them to deal with the primer pocket crimp - they are pros at it!!

I followed the link (http://www.unclesamsretailoutlet.com...red-Brass.html) and their price is:

Quantity in stock: 362 item(s) available
Weight: 2.00 lbs
Condition: Used
Shipped from: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
NSN/LSN: BRASS556MM0100

Our price: $13.99 for 100

AND THEY ARE NOT NECESSARILY LC!!

Quote:

Uncle Sam has a website: govliquidation.com

This is a commercial merchant website and is not related to the US Gov in anyway. As if you needed another hint, other than price, government websites cannot use the .com suffix.

But other than that I like your post.

IAMDEATH · June 19, 2012, 11:05 AM

Here is the website i get mine from http://www.leobrass.com/.

11B-101ABN · June 22, 2012, 06:50 PM

I still maintain that the website govliquidation is an entity of the government. I don't have a lot of puter experience and don't know a ".com" from a ".donald duck", but I have been buying government surplus for nearly 30 years. I remember in the 1980's, it was called PDO, for property disposal office, where u.s. property was gathered and sold at auction. I went to several at the Rock Island Arsenal. During the 1990's they changed the name to DRMO for defence reutilization material office, or something close. Same Building on the Rock Island Arsenal, some of the same people working there (civilians) Just different name. Now it's sold on the internet at govliquidation.com. Still in the same building number. If you bid on something at the govliquidation.com website and are the winner, you have to pick up your stuff at a military installation, or government facility. Depending on the item, you may be required to fill out an EUC which is End Use Cert. asking what you will do with your buy. I just won an auction for a bunch of 50 cal ammo cans which I had to pick up at FT.McCoy WI. How is this NOT affiliated with the government?
The original poster wanted to know where to get LC brass. I have not seen anyone with better prices than Uncle Sam's Retail Sales, once again at the govliquidation site. In the past year, I have bought over 20 thousand rounds of brass from that site ALL of it Lake City...not one single round of anything else and the sale amount was 32 pounds in a USPS bulk boxs with 2500 pieces of 223 for $144.00 plus tax. They don't have the same size listed now but I assume they will again. I have seen a B-52 for auction there and an old aircraft carrier several years ago. Again I ask who but the government could hold such sales?

mrawesome22 · June 22, 2012, 07:06 PM

Anyone.

They buy it from Gov then resell it.

Just an online army navy store.

Sent from HenseMod6.

DeadCenter · June 22, 2012, 08:18 PM

I use once fired LC brass and have had good luck with it. I usually buy from brassmanbrass.com never a problem and fast usually free shipping. I always by the brass with the crimp removed, it's worth the few extra $$ for me not to have to mess with it.

A_Gamehog · June 22, 2012, 11:19 PM

Quote:

DeadCenter

Quote:

,,, I use once fired LC brass and have had good luck with it. I usually buy from brassmanbrass.com never a problem and fast usually free shipping. I always buy the brass with the crimp removed, it's worth the few extra $$ for me not to have to mess with it.

+1

(it's worth the few extra $$ for me not to have to mess with it) I can't state that enough.....

June 14, 2012, 01:43 PM	#1
603Country Senior Member Join Date: January 6, 2011 Location: Thornton, Texas Posts: 3,998	New 223 brass to buy I could probably look at old threads on this, but I'd rather just get your fresh opinions. I'm going to order some new 223 brass, but haven't decided what to buy. My last purchases of the brass were Nosler and Hornady and both worked out just fine, though I just threw away all the Nosler due to a lot of split necks. I probably reloaded them 6 to 8 times, so maybe they're due to be retired anyway. So now...I'm thinking maybe more Nosler, or maybe go with Norma or Lapua. Lapua cases, per 100, are cheaper than Norma or Nosler and they supposedly have a long reload life. I like the sound of that. Whatever I buy will be shot in a bolt gun and neck sized thereafter. I'd like opinions from the long-time reloaders/shooters on what brass they prefer these days.

June 15, 2012, 09:26 PM	#3
William T. Watts Senior Member Join Date: January 20, 2010 Location: Central Arkansas Posts: 1,074	Marco Califo thanks for the economics lesson, you make a very strong argument for not using high end cases, most of the cases I have are once fired W-W, R-P, or F-C. I have 25K (or more) cases of various calibers that I have nothing but my labor in. I can afford Lapua or Norma brass, I choose not to and use that money for other projects. William Last edited by William T. Watts; June 16, 2012 at 07:45 AM.

June 16, 2012, 12:31 PM	#6
Marco Califo Senior Member Join Date: April 4, 2011 Location: LA (Greater Los Angeles Area) Posts: 2,598	Mil Surplus is huge plus for 223 One of the reasons I like military calibers, and own guns for them, is the cheap, high quality brass that happens when the military adopts a cartridge. Military cartridges get adopted for performance reasons, so these cartridges also are excellent performers. I think 99.9% of shooters, with an unlimited supply of ammo with their favorite bullets, and powder, shooting their own guns, would never be able to detect any difference in shooting LC versus Lapua in a blind test where they could not see the head stamps. And half of those that could, would select LC as the ones they thought were better. Lapua makes excellent cases. Some people insist on only the finest and most consistent, whether it makes a material difference or not. And, for that 0.1% that compete at top levels, and demand the production consistency of Lapua, great, those are for you! __________________ ............ Last edited by Marco Califo; June 17, 2012 at 11:45 PM.

June 16, 2012, 11:30 PM	#7
11B-101ABN Member Join Date: March 29, 2010 Location: Eastern Iowa USA Posts: 47	Where to get LC brass Almost everybody that sells LC 5.56 (.223) brass gets it from the original user (the military). Uncle Sam has a website: govliquidation.com go to the site and click on the blue box in the middle of the page "Uncle Sam's Retail Store" then click on "Shop Brass". They have boxes of 2500 rounds for $125.00 + tax Delivered. That's about 5 cents per round (TO YOUR DOOR). Check the site regularly because they sell out fast. Virtually every other retailer charges more. If you don't want to wait, check out Wideners, MidSouth Shooters, GIBrass, they all sell LC on an every-once-in-a-while basis. There's lots of LC out there, check out Shotgun News classifieds - but some of the asking prices will make you choke.

June 22, 2012, 06:50 PM	#10
11B-101ABN Member Join Date: March 29, 2010 Location: Eastern Iowa USA Posts: 47	LC Brass I still maintain that the website govliquidation is an entity of the government. I don't have a lot of puter experience and don't know a ".com" from a ".donald duck", but I have been buying government surplus for nearly 30 years. I remember in the 1980's, it was called PDO, for property disposal office, where u.s. property was gathered and sold at auction. I went to several at the Rock Island Arsenal. During the 1990's they changed the name to DRMO for defence reutilization material office, or something close. Same Building on the Rock Island Arsenal, some of the same people working there (civilians) Just different name. Now it's sold on the internet at govliquidation.com. Still in the same building number. If you bid on something at the govliquidation.com website and are the winner, you have to pick up your stuff at a military installation, or government facility. Depending on the item, you may be required to fill out an EUC which is End Use Cert. asking what you will do with your buy. I just won an auction for a bunch of 50 cal ammo cans which I had to pick up at FT.McCoy WI. How is this NOT affiliated with the government? The original poster wanted to know where to get LC brass. I have not seen anyone with better prices than Uncle Sam's Retail Sales, once again at the govliquidation site. In the past year, I have bought over 20 thousand rounds of brass from that site ALL of it Lake City...not one single round of anything else and the sale amount was 32 pounds in a USPS bulk boxs with 2500 pieces of 223 for $144.00 plus tax. They don't have the same size listed now but I assume they will again. I have seen a B-52 for auction there and an old aircraft carrier several years ago. Again I ask who but the government could hold such sales?

June 15, 2012, 09:46 PM	#4
603Country Senior Member Join Date: January 6, 2011 Location: Thornton, Texas Posts: 3,998	Well, I have to admit that the math makes sense, and I have all the gear required to prep cases - except for a tool to remove the military primers. What supplier should I use to get a bunch of Lake City cases? I'll reread Marco's note in case he already mentioned a source. Being retired, I have plenty of time. I might have to spend less time repairing fencing and more time prepping cases, but I'm sure I can learn to live with that.

June 15, 2012, 10:07 PM	#5
wingman Senior Member Join Date: August 20, 2002 Posts: 2,108	Laupa for consistent groups in my bolt gun,new LC for my AR,Laupa i get about 20 reloads without any sign of problems the LC in the AR about 10 would go longer if needed. I find both Laupa and LC consistent in weight, Norma would be my 3 choice,the other brands use when I have nothing else.

June 19, 2012, 11:05 AM	#9
IAMDEATH Member Join Date: May 17, 2012 Posts: 28	Here is the website i get mine from http://www.leobrass.com/.

June 22, 2012, 07:06 PM	#11
mrawesome22 Senior Member Join Date: November 9, 2005 Location: Ohio, Appalachia's foothills. Posts: 3,779	Anyone. They buy it from Gov then resell it. Just an online army navy store. Sent from HenseMod6.

June 22, 2012, 08:18 PM	#12
DeadCenter Senior Member Join Date: September 17, 2006 Posts: 105	I use once fired LC brass and have had good luck with it. I usually buy from brassmanbrass.com never a problem and fast usually free shipping. I always by the brass with the crimp removed, it's worth the few extra $$ for me not to have to mess with it.