Cost of brass
- Thread starter tsmith
- Start date
Here in the U.S our Lake City military 5.56 brass is the hardest brass made and very high quality. Meaning grab any military 5.56 NATO cases you can get the cases will last longer than any other type/brand .223/5.56 case.
How Hard is Your Brass? 5.56 and .223 Rem Base Hardness Tests
http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2014/05/how-hard-is-your-brass-5-56-and-223-rem-base-hardness-tests/
Not only is the military 5.56 brass harder in the base the flash hole web is thicker so your primer pockets stay tighter longer.
Below as you can see the Federal cases have a thinner flash hole web and why they primer pocket stretches and becomes oversized sooner.
How Hard is Your Brass? 5.56 and .223 Rem Base Hardness Tests
http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2014/05/how-hard-is-your-brass-5-56-and-223-rem-base-hardness-tests/
Not only is the military 5.56 brass harder in the base the flash hole web is thicker so your primer pockets stay tighter longer.
Below as you can see the Federal cases have a thinner flash hole web and why they primer pocket stretches and becomes oversized sooner.
BattleRife
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- of No Fixed Address
No doubt that's good information, but in my case 5.56mm cases fail essentially 100% of the time due to neck cracks. Web thickness and body hardness do not seem to be playing a role in determining case life. In fact I would estimate that harder brass would be a problem for me, if that hardness extended into the neck, as metallography has indicated that stress corrosion cracking influences my case life. I strongly suspect that the same holds true for more people than realize it.
Depends on the loading process, for guys doing precision reloading that are just bumping shoulders, using bushing dies to just barely size the necks and annelling often mostly see the primer pockets getting loose and case separation as the failure points. Guys loading for semis doing a FL sizing always and not annelling will typically see the necks split first. I do both and these have been my observations anyway.
For .223 regular ole Federal is crap....loose primer pockets after as little as one firing. Win and Rem are my preference for .223, Mil is OK but needs swaging and loads reduced a bit.
.308 I'll use anything, even Fed seem fine and actually thicker then most other brass.
.308 I'll use anything, even Fed seem fine and actually thicker then most other brass.
I don't know what Federal youre finding but the Federal found at our club not only holds up well but it also needs to be swaged.
I believe it is XM193.
geotndtwine
CGN Regular
- Location
- Calgary, Alberta
Yah I don't shoot 223 but at my range come spring when the snow melts there is mountains of the stuff, or at least until my father gets excited or tired of shooting. He has buckets of the stuff, he says why let it go to waste, and tells me ill cry one day if I cant find it and I go buy a 223.
