Relative merits of different brass - sorting range pickups

[RogerDat]

Not trying to start a flaming argument but what are the relative quality of different head stamps on range pickups. First pass at this range brass stuff for me and sorting .223 by head stamp got me wondering if some of it should be "first choice" for reloading, and others more of the "if I really need it" then use that bag or bin.

I'm not even sure of what brand some of these are so that might be useful information.

What I have so far from own research is:
FC is OK but not good. Some with date is military aka 5.56, mil will have crimp primer but possibly better brass.
LC is either Lake City = Good brass or Hungerian made for Armscore = not good. Don't know how to tell the two apart.
RP is Remington = Good brass
PMC is Korean but Good brass in later production
Starline = Good brass
PPU = Good brass (mine is all 5.56 rather than .223)


I see these head stamps that I'm hoping for information on:
FC - Federal
FC - slightly different with dots and markings around edge
Federal
Hornady
LC - with dots and markings around edge. Think this is year of manufacture
L C 6 0 - each character around edge at 4 points, like 3,6,9, and 12 on a clock. You know the not digital time thingies. :-)
PMC
PPU
Remington
R P
Speer
Starline - two stars with a line between them
WCC - Western Cartridge Company / Winchester military brass?
Wolf
Winchester

I know there is "top" quality brass too but I'm mostly interested in the run of the mill stuff that maybe I should avoid loading. Or that will probably have crimped primers. Some of those I can see just by looking crimp is obvious. Feel free to toss in any head stamp I have yet to see so I did not list.

[Harter66]

FC is Federal Cartridge. Probably just different heading stamps from different lines and lots.

LC 60 is Lake City GI brass from Lake City Mo 60 is the yr of manif.

PMC is probably Fiocchi brass for Precision Metalic Cartridge in Henderson NV it tends to be soft sometimes and has been known to wear out of headspace before cracking.

PPU is Privi Partisan European but of good quality.

Hornady is theirs the belted mag brass seems to be ok their rimmed cowboy cases are often short to accommodate the flex tip ammo.

Winchester was generally regarded as the cream at 1 time I shoot it in the auto pistols now .

Remington is hit and miss and case volumes are all over by weight. RP is theirs also it seems to be more consistent.

I throw Speer CCI and Federal all in 1 bucket as they all come from the same line FC does also but is often GI 556 vs 223

Starline is generally considered the cream of pistol brass and may also be Fiocchi or visavis.

Wolf is Russo my only experience is with steel cases tossed I've never had enough to have a sort lot . It may be a commercial boxer head from 1 of the major plants.

[RogerDat]

It looks to me like military brass with crimped primer will have a Year (06 in my one LC example) rather than the 223 rem or 223 remington stamp. Military wants to know when it was made and by whom, civilian market they put the caliber on it rather than the year made.

So that becomes an easy (and essential) sorting group. Primers needing different treatment is enough reason to segregate the brass by that grouping in my mind.

Still really want to know what is good, is ok, or is best used only if you like disappointment.

[Harter66]

I'm just starting 223/556 in my preferred brass from other calibers and cartridges I would use the Winchester, ww, LC ,Federal, FC,Speer , Starline, PMC then whatever is left . More or less depending on your rifles tastes.

[Landshark9025]

If you check out the reloading section of the Equipment Exchange of ar15.com. You'll notice that the brass that is the most advertised and generally the most sought after by name is Lake City. Also gets the most references when working up loads. Must be something to it.

Kind of a pain to deal with the crimp, but once it is gone, it's gone.

[CastingFool]

IMO LC, Winchester, Remington, Federal (FC mil) is good, as well as Hornady, and Speer. All PMC goes into scrap bucket. My first experience trying to reload some 45 acp PMC brass, I had a difficult time, turned out flash hole was off center, right then I decided I wanted no part of it, whether rifle or pistol brass. Of course, for pistol, Starline is tops

[dragon813gt]

If you check out the reloading section of the Equipment Exchange of ar15.com. You'll notice that the brass that is the most advertised and generally the most sought after by name is Lake City. Also gets the most references when working up loads. Must be something to it.

Kind of a pain to deal with the crimp, but once it is gone, it's gone.
It's called cheap surplus ammo. If Remington ammo sold for the lowest price you would see it's availability increase. No one brand is superior in all regards. Every reloader has their favorites and some firearms may as well. I prefer LC brass for case conversions. It tends to hold up better w/ fewer split necks. And the brass turns a nice blue when annealing. Not all brands do this due to differences in the makeup of the cases.

[runfiverun]

the FC with just a date is actually IMI.
FC with 223 is federal brass.
it may have a crimp even though it's commercial their newer stuff usually does [some of their 0-6/308 brass is too]

your lake city brass may be 09 not 60, look for the nato cross in a circle.
the WCC I just toss in with the LC stuff unless I need a smaller lot of brass to do a load work up with.

all of the above are going to be crimped primers.

[RogerDat]

NATO cross looks an awful lot like a + sign? Then I have that for a bunch, think some of the FC stuff has that too. The stuff that is LC with the two letters and two numbers at 4 points I was figuring 06 rather than 60 because I think that came from LEO range group. Lot of 40 s&w, 38 special, and 223. Did not think they would be using 223 from that long ago.

Seem to recall back in the 60's it was shotguns and 30 carbines. No reason for them to have 223 from back then. Come to think of it when did LC start making 223 would it have been pre Vietnam war? Looks like eventually will need an approach to restoring the primer pocket. Don't know that I will do enough of this to warrant the Dillion or RCBS pocket swage. Might depend on if I can get a load that cycles well and is accurate in a mini-14. Then if I can get that to work with cast.

If I can cast for it I will do a bunch, buying components I'll do some from time to time but just as likely to purchase bulk steel case as bag-o-bullets. Either one is store bought supply not the deep well of inexpensive cast. You know that pile-o-lead that always needs just a little bit more if the price is good. To go with the pile-o-brass that suffers from the same perpetual needy incompleteness. Hmmm supplies for casting sort of sound like a bad relationship. Expensive and high maintenance.

Appreciate the feedback, and getting some idea of the "good, the ok, and the ugly" of range pickup.

[wv109323]

My thoughts are the quality of the brass is proportional to the cost of the original ammo. Your better brass comes from quality ammo.
That said there is enough .223 ammo that has crimped primers that you will need to swag or ream primer pockets sooner or later.
After cleaning and while resizing I segregate my primer crimped brass from the non-crimped. I then swag the primer pockets of the crimped as an extra step. Then all goes to be trimmed for length if needed.
If I want to sort by headstamp I can. I use sorted brass if I am going to load match bullets but for regular bullets to blow up water jugs I don't sort by headstamp.

[Harter66]

In 223 Win is $35/100 ,Federal is $15/20, LC surplus runs 250-275 /800 in Reno ,I doubt based on the experience here that Federal is bar none the best of the best of the cream. Top Brass 1x repacked goes for $18/50 also so go with what looks good on paper.

[Geezer in NH]

I just separate and load each head stamp as a reload to the same velocity. Keeping records for each makes it easy to repeat.

For offhand blasting ammo it is a moot decision as the ammo will work better than I can shoot offhand.