Good .223 Brass?

mattf87

mattf87

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Has anyone had any experience with the surplus american eagle brass? i am thinking of getting a 1000 case of american eagle to shoot and then reload after. Just wondering if anyone knows if it is good or not? Or do you know of any surplus ammo that is good enough to shoot then reload after?
Thanks
 
It's okay. Federal isn't known for their super high quality brass, but if you're only plinking with it then it will be just fine for several reloads.
Some people say that american eagle brass is crimped but I've yet to have to do anything to their primer pockets to seat a primer and I've reloaded many thousand AE cases.
 
I haven't reloaded any Norinco brass myself but from what I hear it's okay for plinking.

When you say 'surplus' ammo, what brand(s) are you referring to? I don't really know of any surplus .223/5.56 military ammo that's readily available in Canada.
 
I like PPU (Prvi Partizan), it tends to be on the 'very hot/5.56' end. Brass is good. It has crimped primers, so keep that in mind.

S&B is good. Primer pockets can be tight (not much 'chamfer' or rad) but they aren't crimped.

PMC seems to go bang in .223 but I get an unacceptable amount of bad primers with their .50BMG ammo, so I don't buy it. It has crimped primers.

Remington UMC tends to be on the underpowered side but the brass is okay.

Winchester white box is what it is. The brass is decent. Not crimped.

I don't use MFC and/or Wolf (Russian). It's dirty and underpowered and steel cased so you can't (shouldn't) reload it.

IVI, LC, WC brass (Military) is good but you won't find much (any) in the way in loaded ammo. Primer pockets are crimped.
 
Im useing the federal bulk brand and not having any problems with it. didnt have a reloader when i bought the bulk stuff, but it seems to be fine, tho, i dont know the difference yet lol
 
The cheap nork stuff is made to mil-spec 556 standard.

It is hottish but not "blow your gun up" hot. Over the crony I am seeing an average of +125 fps over compareable commercial stuff.

I have some nork brass that has been loaded 3 or 4 times. Primers are crimped, so be prepared for that.

I also have pails full of win, RP, fed & LC brass, I don't bother to sort it if all it is for is plinking out of semi autos. I keep all my bolt gun brass separate from that as well.

Cheers!
 
Does anyone know where to get any of this stuff in bulk? I have been looking online and its fairly hard to find at a decent price. it would be nice to get one without a crimped primer.
 
mattf87 said:
Does anyone know where to get any of this stuff in bulk? I have been looking online and its fairly hard to find at a decent price. it would be nice to get one without a crimped primer.
Click to expand...

you won't find uncrimped bulk .223 at a reasonable price stop looking, the remington UMC bulk packs as far as I know are not crimped, but they are not cheap either. removing a crimp is a one time thing, and takes 2 seconds, I use a countersink bit (not in a drill, by hand) and just trim out enough to take the crimp out, you dont want a really tapered primer pocket, I have not had any issues doing it this way.
 
The best brass for reloaders is Winchester brass, an excellent compromise between quality and price.
If you're looking for the best brass available, just buy expensive but extremely high quality Lapua brass and you might not want to use anything else after.

Alex
 
The Norinco brass is actually pretty decent. I have some that I have been reloading for years without issue. Better than Federal in my opinion.
 
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