I have LC Nato stamped and LC06....
Is there any difference in the case thickness or are these the same cases?
Is there any difference in the case thickness or are these the same cases?
5.56/223 LC Brass Reload?
- Thread starter mojoween
- Start date
good question...I have some somewhere and wondered the same.
Lake City is milspec, therefore it is thicker than commercial Win, Rem, etc.
I'm basing my words only on my own experience. Anytime you change a component it's always safest to start over with load testing/development. So with that out of the way here's what I do.
If you're loading compressed charges in commercial brass, they'll likely run out the top of the same length LC.
It's great brass though. If I'm shooting from an AR with a forgiving 5.56 chamber and using my "go to"
powders of Varget, H322, H335, and Reloader 15 I use the same load data as commercial brass.
If I'm loading for one of my less forgiving precision .223 chamber AR or bolt rifles I'll definitely start lower and work up. It ain't that hard and it sure beats a blown primer, case head separation or worse.
If it's once fired it's also going to require removal of primer pocket crimp. There are several methods for this obnoxiously tedious task and I hate them all! I was once given several thousand beautifully cleaned nickel milspec brass. The nickel coating being even harder than brass was a devil to work with. After about 2K I said to hell with this and sent the rest to recycling. I know why the old fellow gave it to me now!
I have a few thousand new Lake City 7.62 primed brass that I got cheap, so I'll open the primer pocket on them as I fire and load them again. The RCBS bench mounted primer pocket swager is the best method I've used to date. It's easy to setup and use, it also comes with everything you need for both small and large primer pockets. It's well worth the investment if you plan to shoot once fired milspec.
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/319662/rcbs-bench-mounted-primer-pocket-swager
I'm basing my words only on my own experience. Anytime you change a component it's always safest to start over with load testing/development. So with that out of the way here's what I do.
If you're loading compressed charges in commercial brass, they'll likely run out the top of the same length LC.
It's great brass though. If I'm shooting from an AR with a forgiving 5.56 chamber and using my "go to"
powders of Varget, H322, H335, and Reloader 15 I use the same load data as commercial brass.
If I'm loading for one of my less forgiving precision .223 chamber AR or bolt rifles I'll definitely start lower and work up. It ain't that hard and it sure beats a blown primer, case head separation or worse.
If it's once fired it's also going to require removal of primer pocket crimp. There are several methods for this obnoxiously tedious task and I hate them all! I was once given several thousand beautifully cleaned nickel milspec brass. The nickel coating being even harder than brass was a devil to work with. After about 2K I said to hell with this and sent the rest to recycling. I know why the old fellow gave it to me now!
I have a few thousand new Lake City 7.62 primed brass that I got cheap, so I'll open the primer pocket on them as I fire and load them again. The RCBS bench mounted primer pocket swager is the best method I've used to date. It's easy to setup and use, it also comes with everything you need for both small and large primer pockets. It's well worth the investment if you plan to shoot once fired milspec.
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/319662/rcbs-bench-mounted-primer-pocket-swager
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Protocol...Good Advice! I dont have much of it so I usually just dont bother with it.
You can load 25gn of h335 in any 233/5.56 brass. Any. The max load of ANY powder will not produce a overpressure problem in 223/556. I've loaded for longer than I could drive. The volume difference between 223 and 556 cases is min. There will be 10 "experiencd" guys saying something contrary. Different brass will not give an issue ,pressure, below or at any may load. Length of the projectile between the manufacturer is far more important than case.
For pin point accuracy sort your brass ,length and headstamp. For plinking sort for life, 1st,2nd,3rd loading.
For pin point accuracy sort your brass ,length and headstamp. For plinking sort for life, 1st,2nd,3rd loading.
Mighty broad statement. Lot's of different chambers and bullets to consider. But what do those manufacturer's know that you don't know better....
Not really. 223/556 is a great round for that reason... But we are not talking lots of different chambers or bullets. The op, is without a doubt loading for a AR, he's loading what everyone loads. 55gn fmj. Read what I said in the statement you quoted, projectile differences matter far more cases.
But whatever. You win. Please go load .3gn increments from starting to max and waste components. 223 isn't 40 s&w. Step down from the max charge and run it.
