Mil Spec verus Comerical Brass

[MGySgt]

I have been prepping 7.62 NATO cases to use in my 308W. I have noticed that the 7.62 NATO casses appear to be much harder than any of the comerical casses I have used.

With the lower chamber pressure of a boolit vice a J-word

Those that are using the Mil Spec cases for boolits - do you anneal them before loading them the first time?

[sffar]

They might be just thicker metal than what you're used to, but I've found once fired military brass, having been annealed in manufacturing, generally doesn't require annealing right away. Might be a little tight for fitting a large sized boolit into if the case neck isn't sized accordingly.
On the other hand, annealing couldn't hurt. I'd take measurements to see how it'll all fit together, treating a firing in the rifle it'll get used in as part of the case prep.
Sam

[bbqncigars]

I never have, but be aware that the thicker milspec brass will develop higher pressures for the same load vs commercial brass. That said, I prepped all mine to use with an RCBS X die to avoid future trimming.


Wayne

[MGySgt]

Thank you for the replies - both make sense.

I have 2 lots of Lake City brass - 1993 and 2001 - the 1993 is harder - I can tell on resizing and trimming of the cases.

I am going to try the 2001 brass first. Still in the triming stage with those.

Drew

[Shiloh]

Commercial brass is usually a bit higher grade metal.
I have mil-spec brass that has cracked after a few firings, and some that has many firings.
Annealing the necks gets me a lot longer life.

Shiloh