Opinions of Federal Brass
- Thread starter OldSavage
- Start date
I have a about 50 cases for my 223 bolt gun. They are holding up pretty well. My 9mm federal cases have fairly loose primer pockets on the first reload. The 7mm rem mag brass I have can't even be reloaded after 1 firing, primer pockets completely loose. It's not the load either, barnes brass with the same load is on the 4th firing. I wouldn't bother with federal unless you already have a bunch.
Federal used to have a problem with too hard brass that split necks after about the 3-4 reload if you didn't anneal first. When annealed they would seem to last forever.
Maybe they went to the other extreme from some of the above comments and make the brass too soft now.
Maybe they went to the other extreme from some of the above comments and make the brass too soft now.
I've reloaded the same 140 rounds of 308 gold medal match with 1200 bullets. So about 8-9 reloads each. I've annealed once, FL sized once after annealing and neck sized each time. I was still getting sub-moa ammo before retiring the brass. Only reason I retired the brass was due to selling the rifle.
- Location
- West Quebec
I've reloaded it in a few calibres seems pretty good so far
Rossiter93
Regular
- Location
- Nova Scotia
I've reloaded federal brass from the blue box in .30-06 with no issues. Meanwhile I bought a back of 50 new Winchester brass for the .308 and evety single piece of brass the primer pocket was too shallow and the primers wouldn't seat.
I've got 60 pieces of Federal AE now loaded for the 3rd time. Trimmed, polished and neck sized only. Will load another 40 pieces tonight since I just found out that I get to go to the outdoor range on Friday. Boooooo-Yah!
Federal Brass used for reloading hunting ammo is good enough for the average guy.
The tales of woe are prolly being told by guys who are trying to sell Lappua or Norma Brass.
Just my opinion as a former reloader .
But, if one wants to search and try out any myriad of brass combos, feel free to chase the results everyone else gets and publishes on the internet.
Rob
The tales of woe are prolly being told by guys who are trying to sell Lappua or Norma Brass.
Just my opinion as a former reloader .
But, if one wants to search and try out any myriad of brass combos, feel free to chase the results everyone else gets and publishes on the internet.
Rob
It's actually pretty thick brass, but soft as hell. I can echo the same loose primers after 1-2 firings in 223,308,30'06.
I still use it for guns that ruin brass like my M14, M1 Garand, and for the AR when I don't plan on picking it up. It's still quite cheap at $7-$10/50
I still use it for guns that ruin brass like my M14, M1 Garand, and for the AR when I don't plan on picking it up. It's still quite cheap at $7-$10/50
- Location
- Lower Mainland, BC
I reloaded 308 from mostly Gold Match brass about 5 times before the trim count exceeded my safety margin. Didn't have any problems with the primer pockets, but it is definitely softer than Lapua.
IME it's fine as long as you aren't putting really hot loads in.
IME it's fine as long as you aren't putting really hot loads in.
I have used Fed 308 and 223 brass,both work just fine for GP shooting (for me) but require frequent annealing and (especially 308 brass) primer pockets stretch out much faster than the rest of the case.
Buddy of mine shooting M305 says the same thing and for that reason he limits cases to 5-6 reloadings before trashing entire lot.
Buddy of mine shooting M305 says the same thing and for that reason he limits cases to 5-6 reloadings before trashing entire lot.
- Location
- Lower Mainland, BC
I should clarify, all mine were shot out of a bolt rifle. Semi-automatics may impart different stresses that the brass doesn't handle well.
- Location
- West Quebec
Thanks for the heads up on loose primers will be watching
BINGO !
I take all the once fired Federal I can find. Who cares how many reloads you get out of free brass.
Reload it and shoot it till it falls apart and get back to us and tell us when the cases fail.
In the past Federal had a brass problem that was called "soft brass" that dealt with case construction and how "thick" the flash hole web was in the base of the case.
Below on the left is the cause of early primer pocket enlargement on Federal cases, a thin flash hole web that lets the base of the case expand excessively. The case on the right have thicker webs and the primer pockets do not stretch and enlarge early.
Below I use a two inch rod to sort my .223/5.56 cases for thin webs.
Before doing anything to these cases they are inspected with the two inch rod, and the primer pocket is checked with a pin gauge
Below is my scrap brass bucket and 95% of these cases are Federal .223/5.56 cases made between 2005 and 2007. (the "soft" years) These factory loaded cases had oversized primer pockets after the first firing.
Below 5.56 cases made at the American Lake City Army Ammunition Plant and commercial contract ammunition made for the military have the hardest brass, followed by Lapua. My buddy CatShooter came to my rescue at AccurateShooter.com when a heated "discussion" started over which brass was harder LC or Lapua. The "experts" kept saying Lapua made the hardest brass and they didn't know that our military brass is made to higher standards.
TEST RESULTS
Using Rockwell hardness standards (.062″x100kg, Rockwell “B”), the brass measured as follows:
LC 2008 = 96
Lapua 223 Match = 86
Winchester 223 = 69
Remington “R-P” = 49
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/
Bottom line, you will not how good your brass is until you shoot and reload it, and it varies.
