[Cavitation]

I posted this a couple hours ago but it never posted on the site?????? Here it goes again.

I just bought 50 pieces of once fired Lake City 308 brass. I can get a lot more (like 1000) for a good price. I have never used this brass before. It seemed to size a little bit hard but not unbearable. The primers seated a little stuff as well. That may be a good thing. I am looking to see if anyone has used this brass and has any input. The price is right I am just wondering about lifespan. I had Remington brass and threw it all away after about two loadings and switched to Winchester with good results but that batch is starting to get week.

Thanks,

AL

 

[broom_jm]

Why did you throw away the Remington brass? Did it fail in some way?

 

[kdub]

When using military brass, you need to reduce the loads somewhat due to the greater case thickness, if you're loading near maximum loads.

 

[Cavitation]

Yes thanks for the reminder Kdub. I will be starting new load development anyway cause I am going to try the "new" IMR8208

After two loadings the primer pockets were stretched (not hot load) and it needed trimming after every load. I have some Remington 7mm/08 bras that has been good but the 308 stuff did not last long at all.

AL

 

[broom_jm]

Yes thanks for the reminder Kdub. I will be starting new load development anyway cause I am going to try the "new" IMR8208

After two loadings the primer pockets were stretched (not hot load) and it needed trimming after every load. I have some Remington 7mm/08 bras that has been good but the 308 stuff did not last long at all.

AL

See, I had heard Federal brass was bad for that, but not Remington. I'm starting to wonder if anybody except Lapua makes good brass?

 

[41 Mag]

I have found issues with some of it all through the years. Most of my throw aways are simply lost in the grass anymore. Hard to keep track of it while chasing a bunch of hogs through the pasture. In .308 my loads are only a bit above any medium listed loads anyway.

 

[Bird Dog II]

Da*#n, I just bought some Rem .308 brass. I am going to be ticked if it is bad after two loadings!

 

[unclenick]

BDII,

Use it for your reduced loads. Will last forever.

I've never had trouble with Remington (had over half a dozen reloads from old stuff in my M1A). However, Remington now contracts out a lot of their brass and bullets to foreign manufacturers giving the lowest bid. I heard they had to reject one lot of brass from Korea because the maker had annealed the whole case and not just the neck. So, it's lot-to-lot testing for that stuff, now.


Cavitation,

You are aware that military brass has crimped primers and that you have to cut or swage the vesitges of the crimp away before seating new primers? The exception is M118 LR brass, which has no crimp, I understand, just like the old Lake City match brass. Sometimes the crimp is hard enough that you will crush a primer before getting it in. Other times the crimp is light enough to let you seat past it, but that is a recipe for getting high primers and poor ignition consistency.

 

[Cavitation]

The Lake City brass sized and decapped ok and I could not see a primer crimp on it. What does the M118LR have for a head stamp? Maybe this is what I have. I could not see any crimp or feel it when I cleaned the primer pockets either. I have it all prepped and ready and I hope to have a pound of the 8208 this afternoon maybe test loads sunday.

AL

 

[BIG MIKE]

If it helps I been using LC68 30/06 brass for 35+ yrs. The necks are nice and soft and after swaging the primer crimp with my (original) Herter's swager I still have every one I started out with(except for the ones I shot at a deer with and ejected and lost).I shot 4 deer with the same empty. Yes......I reloaded it each time, LOL. I only have at the most 6 loads on them but they are just like the day I picked them up off the range. They ARE heavier than commercial.

 

[MR 8x57js]

I have 1000's of LC brass in .223 Remington and it has provide some real tight groups for me. I have Remington brass in .223 but havent gotton around to used it .The reason your primers are tight going in is because LC is Federal Mil-Spec brass.

 

[mtmrolla]

I use LC and WCC 7.62 x 51 (.308) brass exclusively for my .308. I clean then then swage the primer pocket, full length resize and trim then load. I trim once more after the first loading and never again. I get great results. As stated above, I start off 1.0 grain down due to case capacities. The military stuff has more base so they weigh more and hold less powder. This makes no difference though and I get great accuracy.

 

[dmsbandit]

I've come to the point were the only 308 cases I want to load are Military cases. There seems to be a growing issue with 308 case longevity and federal is the mian culprit. IMHO, Federal cases are scrap after the first firing.

 

[pruhdlr]

LC For Me

I use LC72(Match) brass for both my .223's and my .308's. I acquired a bunch of it along about the time I retired from the military.

The primer pockets are not crimped nor do they have any kind of sealant on them. The weights are very consistent also. Although I find some are not annealed,there life expectancy has gone up to 15+ loadings now.

I find that the non-match brass is on par with the match, after the prep work,it simply has an extra PITA factor. I cut all my brass to length(usually .005-.010" over) and de-burr the flash holes. I also square the primer pocket. This helps with the consistency.

I have found thru my years of reloading,that you can pretty much do things as you want to....just as long as you do it the same every time. ----pruhdlr

 

[Combat Diver]

What does the M118LR have for a head stamp?
AL

M118LR headstamp would be LC 08 (two digit year of production) and a cirlce with a + in it (NATO). No caliber or anything else. I've seen some M118 that had a cannuluar ring around the top of the case (below shoulder) but not always. Only way to determine the load is keep it in the box until time to shoot. Standard M118 is a FMJ bullet and the M118LR has a BTHP design.

CD

 

[chase.2]

I too have read that military brass is heavier and I had a small hand full of LC 74 in 30-06, so I decided to compare them to the only other civilian brass on hand, federal. What I found was that the LC brass was several grains LIGHTER than the federal. Being puzzled and surprised by this, I went as far as bisecting a case of each from neck to head with a band saw! The band saw made a rough and lopsided cut, so I finished it with a mill file for a clean and precise cross section of each case (I had some free time). Visualy I could see that the LC brass was indeed thinner but only from the shoulder down. It became hard to see a difference in thickness closer to the head. On the inside, the LC case head had a nice, smooth, flat bottom, no flare at the flash hole and a much sharper curve where it met the case wall, making for what appeared to be an increased capacity over the federal.

Sadly, this process resulted in the destruction of all my LC brass so I can't make an actual internal volume measurement.

 

[big dan]

i use lc brass for my 300 savage, 7/08 & 260 and have to say that i get great results with it in all 3 scenarios. the old notion that military brass is heavier than comercial brass is far from reliable in my opinion...
sometimes i wonder where this stuff comes from and why it gets repeated so enthusiastically without more people checking for themselves.

 

[MontyF]

Personally prefer LC out of the military brass I've used.

I however don't have any in 7.62 NATO.

Use LC exclusvely in my .223 varmint loads and have about 5,000 rounds of it.

I have 100 rounds of 62 LC match brass in 30-06 that's being used for hunting rounds.

I've found LC brass to be of better quality for weight, centered flash holes and neck concentricity than most military brass I've had experience with.

 

[Cavitation]

Chase???Why did your LC brass get ruined?

 

[chase.2]

I moved to Alaska a few months ago but only brought 3 rounds of lake city brass. All three were cut but only one was a good cross section due to user error. I am currently on the hunt for more LC brass.