223/5.56 Brass

Gothmog

Gothmog

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Well, with ammo prices climbing ever higher I am getting ready to begin reloading for my AR15. As I sort through the mountain of brass I have collected, I have found the following:

'Winchester' marked brass, stamped 223REM
'WCC 66' marked brass
'RP, 223 REM', Remington brass used by UMC
'FNM' brass from the mid 1970's, 6-76 is a sample marking
'LC' brass, '06 and '07 production (recent Federal/AE ammo)
'FC, 223REM' brass, older AE/Federal ammo
'PS' stamped brass from Korea
'PMC' marked brass

Now, I am told that the FNM brass needs the primer de-crimped before using but is very good brass. The LC brass has a very nice, slightly more yellow colour to it and appears to be considerably softer than other brass. The FNM is a bit duller and looks to be the hardest of the lot.

Which brass should I use to reload with and why?
Should I stick with one particular type and sell/dispose of the rest?
Any info apart from that I ought to be aware of?

I'll be reloading for an AR15 and currently have a supply of Varget and 69 grain bullets, but I'm open to other options.

Thanks in advance ... :)
 
You will likely have to swage the primer pockets on the LC as well. I would sort them and load up some of each for a test. See what works best. Who cares what lasts longer if you already have it use it as long as it shoots well.
 
What I'd do and have done:

- Depending how much you have of each, I'd segregate - but only because it may be easier to keep track of how many loadings you've done on which lots, depending on how you keep track of that. I generally keep to loading in 1000 round 'groups'
I have ~2000 Winchester brass for matches, ~2000 mixed brass for practice and plinking.
I've done load development for match rounds done with segregated Winchester brass out of the same lot and with mixed brass which included NATO spec, and commercial stuff. You may see an accuracy improvement with the segregated stuff, but I haven't, and think the gains (if any) are not worth the effort.

- Pitch the PMC & PC brass
- The Lake City (LC), FNM, & possibly the Winchester (WCC) brass will need to be de-crimped.
- You may find Remington brass will loosen at the primer cup - I load mine, but keep it away from matches as I don't want to worry about a blown primer in a competition.
- If you don't load too hot, you shouldn't worry about different lots or even different brands of brass.
- 25.5 grains of Varget and 69SMKs to 2.250" OAL is a decent load that shouldn't stress the gun or brass.


- Every guy out there that loads for an AR should get a Giraud Trimmer. If you can't afford it, go halvers with a bud. - I just finished prepping about 6000 cases over the course of a couple of weeks -I just can't believe I did case prep without one.
 
Sort your collection into batches.

Work with the largest batch. Full length resize them.

Trim them to 1.75"

Using a relaoding manual, load them with the bullet you want to try. Start low and work yourself up. Varget works well with 68 gr bullets.

In case Varget doesn't give you the accuracy, try some other bullets or powder. Make sure you follow the manual.
 
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