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Old January 2, 2013, 11:10 PM   #1
jwrowland77
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Brass Quality .223

I finally got through cleaning an sorting about 4k .223 cases. Had about 1,750 LC cases and 1,750 FC cases but had some cases I was wondering about the quality of them.

Cases in question about quality and if I should go ahead and use. Will be shooting in bolt .223.

PPU
PSD
PMC
S&B

Scrape or use???
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Old January 2, 2013, 11:46 PM   #2
Jimro
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Use them for plinking loads. 55 gr bullets, just enough charge to cycle your rifle.

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Old January 2, 2013, 11:53 PM   #3
Marco Califo
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Scrap and scrape are different words with different meanings.
Great to sort and separate. Next you need to deprime and process the primer pockets on those that are crimped.
Personally, I would reload the LC only. You could reload the rest for plinking, if you want to. They will go bang.
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Old January 3, 2013, 01:46 AM   #4
Bamashooter
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I have hundreds of FC thats been reloaded at least 4 times. I have never used S&B brass but I have reloaded plenty of PPU, PMC, and PSD which is also PMC. Never had any issues with any of the brass listed. I would reload it if I were you.
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Old January 3, 2013, 06:12 AM   #5
jwrowland77
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marco Califo View Post
Scrap and scrape are different words with different meanings.
Great to sort and separate. Next you need to deprime and process the primer pockets on those that are crimped.
Personally, I would reload the LC only. You could reload the rest for plinking, if you want to. They will go bang.
My apologies to the spelling police. Recycle...how's that.

I know how to fully process my brass, was just wondering if I should waste my time with the 4 that were listed towards the bottom of the original post.
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Old January 3, 2013, 08:15 AM   #6
Mobuck
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I've found PMC brass to be decent quality but you'll find the occasional crimped primer. PPU is OK but seems harder than domestic brass. S&B is more variable than either othe first two. Some has heavily crimped and/or VERY tight primer pockets. PSD-don't know.
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Old January 3, 2013, 08:31 AM   #7
jwrowland77
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mobuck View Post
I've found PMC brass to be decent quality but you'll find the occasional crimped primer. PPU is OK but seems harder than domestic brass. S&B is more variable than either othe first two. Some has heavily crimped and/or VERY tight primer pockets. PSD-don't know.
Hmmm, I may just scrap the S&B and PPU if they're a PITA.
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Old January 3, 2013, 09:38 AM   #8
schmellba99
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I've loaded up several thousand of all you listed without any issues. PPU generally needs to have the primer pockets swaged, but that's a one time deal. S&B has tighter primer pockets than most commercial in my opinion, but I like that compared to some FC brass that I had to pull from the press to make sure was actually primed.

Load them all up - all are good brass.
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Old January 3, 2013, 01:27 PM   #9
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I have 1K PMC that I have loaded 4 times and they still have good, tight pockets. I think it is good bass.

FC and LC are both Federal, both good.

S&B in .223 I have never tried, but I have 300 .38 SPL S&B that have been loaded 3 times and they are still going strong, so if their rifle brass is anything like their handgun brass, go for it!

Comercial PPU that I have shot and deprimed did not have crimped pockets, so I am not sure about the previous post that said they do. I haven't reloaded any, but I have about 100 that are decapped and sized.

What is the deal with everyone saynig to use the off brand stuff for plinking? I have had very good paper punching accuracy with PMC brass at ranges up to 300 yards.
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Old January 3, 2013, 02:15 PM   #10
Marco Califo
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LC are not made by Federal

LC stands for Lake City US Army munitions plant in Missouri. They are the only true current mil spec brass, and have stable and consistent quality. That is why they have an excellent reputation. ATK is the current contract operator, and happens to make Alliant powders and Federal ammo somewhere else. Federal may supply some military ammo, but not made at LC, and not the same quality.
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Old January 3, 2013, 02:16 PM   #11
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I'd use them. In fact, the only brass that I will not reload is Amec (or is it Amerc). I rarely reload, or even pick up, Federal.
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Old January 3, 2013, 03:16 PM   #12
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Marco Feral owns Lake City. I am not sure exactly how long they have, but they do in fact own that company. Also a lot of the cheap Federal Ammo I have been picking up as of late are LC brass. I saw the head stamps when the guy opened the box a while back.

OP I have reloaded most of the head stamps you have listed in a bolt action. All work, all had staked primers. If you have a crimp removal tool all will work. I load mixed head stamps, and get great accuracy from all.
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Old January 3, 2013, 03:57 PM   #13
Marco Califo
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Federal does NOT own Lake City

m&p45acp10+1,

Federal does NOT own Lake City
IT IS NOT A COMPANY
It is a US Army facility owned by the US Governement

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Ci...munition_Plant
"Lake City Army Ammunition Plant (LCAAP) is a 3,935-acre (15.92 km2) U.S. government-owned, contractor-operated facility in northeastern Independence, Missouri that was established by Remington Arms in 1941 to manufacture and test small caliber ammunition for the U.S. Army. The facility has remained in continuous operation except for one 5-year period following World War II.[1][2] As of July 2007, the plant produced nearly 1.4 billion rounds of ammunition per year.[3] In addition, Lake City performs small caliber ammunition stockpile reliability testing and has ammunition and weapon testing responsibilities as the NATO National and Regional Test Center.
Remington Arms operated the plant from its inception until 1985, when operations were taken over by Olin Corporation.[2] Since April 2001, it has been operated by Alliant Techsystems (ATK). LCAAP is the single largest producer of small arms ammunition for the United States military.[3][4]"
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Old January 3, 2013, 06:52 PM   #14
Jimro
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Currently ATK has the contract for Lake City. DOD procurement relies on Lake City with "on the economy" resourcing as needed. Several years back the DOD purchased 6 million Israeli 5.56 rounds to meet training demands stateside while US production went to Iraq and Afghanistan.

The old days of ammo stockpiles are behind us now, the "Lean Logistic" model has taken hold, requiring military units to predict 6 months out their training expenditures (which is idiotic as training schedules aren't finalized until six weeks out). The "month to month" roll over accounting is gone too, the logisticians are trying to force clients to forecast and expend instead of putting ammo back into a supply point for use six weeks out on the next published training schedule.

Any Lake City brass on the market has either been fired, turned in to DOL and auctioned to the public, OR it was a production over run by the contractor running Lake City.

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Old January 3, 2013, 08:09 PM   #15
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Quote:
Use them for plinking loads. 55 gr bullets, just enough charge to cycle your rifle.
Umm, he said he was going to use them in a bolt action....

LC is the most uniform brass but if it has the NATO cross I have found it to be much better than without the cross. Very uniform but some off center flash holes if no NATO cross.

To me S&B have very tight nicely formed primer pockets. Even though they aren't crimped, I swage them all before I prime them. So beware you may encounter priming problems with them.

There is a lot of negative feelings about FC brass. Lots has been written regarding thin webs. I swage all FC brass and have NEVER found a web to be thinner than anything else.

The only 223 brass I will not load is AMERC. But in 223 it is much better quality than 9mm. I use the AMERC brass for all my bullet seating standards (seat a bullet in a sized and unprimed case to make setting your sizing die easy).

I do weigh brass to see if any is very heavy and I need to adjust my loading.
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Old January 3, 2013, 08:16 PM   #16
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I really like PMC since they do not have crimped primers and I have had good accuracy results. Do check them for flash hole placement though, the ones I have seen have had several with off-center flash holes.

PSD is the 'military version' of PMC (AFAIK) and they have crimped primers. I have had good results with them too but you have to remove the crimps.

I would definitely reload them instead of scrapping.

PPU is Prvi Partizan and I have had OK experiences with them in 308, I have not reloaded them in 223 however.
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