30-06 brass by headstamp. How do you rate them?

[monmouth]

I load .308, but I'm trying to get a better feel for 30-06 brass and not sure how reloaders feel about certain headstamps. How do you feel about the following:

FC stamp
RP stamp
Winchester
Hornady
Greek
LC

Is it fair to put Greek case quality with LC? Is RP superior to Winchester? Is Hornady decent for reloading? I understand the Lapua/Nosler/etc case quality, but curious about the rest.

[Outpost75]

Good question.

FC of recent production is soft and suitable only for light loads, because the primer pockets loosen.

Beyond that you could lot the RP, Winchester and Hornady together for sale if only a small quantity, but most would prefer like-headstamps if you can sort into groups of 20+ cases.

The Greek HXP and LC Ball cases are all good stuff for feeding Garands, you could lot those together along with any SL, TW, WCC, etc. GI brass 53 and later is noncorrosive primers. Brass fired with chlorate primers cleans up OK after decapping with a water and detergent wash and that headstamped 34 and later is Ok. Prior to 1934 the arsenals hadn't figured out final stress relief and case splits can be dangerous.

I WILL BUY ALL USGI. 30 CAL. BRASS YOU HAVE, 1934-1978 PRODUCTION, BALL, MATCH, CRIMPED PRIMERS OR NOT, once-fired with primers in place, primer lacquer color visible, as-is, not cleaned, not tarnished black or brown or corroded green.

[Scharfschuetze]

I can't help you with the commercial cases and their quality, but I'll say that I use LC brass for all my Ought-Six applications. From past affiliations, I've got a lifetime supply of it, both M72 Match and M2 Ball. I use the stuff for forming other cartridges as well, both military rounds and sporting rounds.

[TXGunNut]

Of the commercial domestic brass I'm torn between Hornady and RP if buying new brass. I won't invest the cost of powder, lead and primers in FC brass but may use WW in a pinch. I've used RP for years but after sorting and prepping I'm pretty sure I'd be ahead with Hornady brass. With RP brass I deburr the flash hole, measure (and often trim), resize and sort into "light" and "heavy" groups and quite often cull a few for being too far outside of the groups. All new brass then needs trimming after 2-3 firings. With Hornady brass I pay a little more but all I do is size and measure, then remove the lube and I'm ready to load. For some reason I still use RP, seems to be easier to work with but can't say exactly why. Maybe I'm just a tightwad and generally find prep work therapeutic. Guess it's a moot point, can't seem to find much Hornady brass these days.

[zomby woof]

HXP is holding up very well with repeated firings of cast

[Bob Busetti]

I have found no difference between LC & LC match. Some the worst match brass I have had is FA,LC. It is match brass by name only. I have had bad brass in most major brands, not very much, but non the less every now & then some slip by the inspection. A rare few hand no hole in the primer pocket, creases in the case from forming & soft brass. Just saying.
Bob

[monmouth]

Thank you for the responses. Guys around here trash Greek brass, but I never heard a real reason that supports their disdain for such a headstamp. Tend to believe they don't want to deal with extra case prep.

[garandsrus]

The nice thing about. HXP brass is that the crimp doesn't need to be removed when reloading. The primer will seat just fine.

[tygar]

Of commercial I find Nosler, who weight matches & totally preps their brass, the best. the uniformity is really great. It is my #1 choice for long range to 1k shooting.

I also use a lot of Remington. I buy large lots & weigh match & sort for uniformity & find a better Bell curve with them than others. Fed is to soft, been blowing primers from WW.

I use the "same" brass for a given caliber.

For all military I use LC & LCM only. It is thicker & tougher for extraction, has higher pressure due to thicker cases, lasts longer & when matched as I do with above, is great & I have accuracy & durability with it.

When I shoot surplus that is not LC I store it then trade it. This is for rifles. Pistol, except for "match" I mix & match.

[Pirate69]

I am using FC brass with pretty good results. I sorted the bras by weight and the brass with the widest weight variation had the greatest spread. Two groups were less that 0.5" at 100 yards. Will be interesting to see how the brass holds up.

[Cornbread]

I reload for .308 a lot but no 30-06, I am familiar with two of those headstamps in once fired brass for 308. The FC brass can have some really loose primer pockets but it works great for me so long as I don't do loads on the max end of things. WATCH OUT! for Hornady brass if you are buying ammo and shooting it to use the cases to reload with, a lot of the Hornady once fired brass has crimped primer pockets. Both their super ammo and the american whitetail stuff so far has had crimped primer pockets that I have had to ream or swage out afterwards so I can reuse them. Also in 45-70 their(Hornady) brass is shorter than it should be to fit those FTX bullets the leverrevolution ammo uses, so make sure you measure the cases up once you resize them for any anomalies like that in 30-06. Other than those couple of odd things about their brass I really like hornady more than the FC, it seems to last longer(more loadings) for me than the FC and it seems to stretch less.

My Dad and brother do 30-06 so anything you find out about those headstamps post back here and I will pass the info on to them as well.

[lonewelder]

HxP is very good brass,as good or better than than LC.

[Mark Daiute]

The nice thing about. HXP brass is that the crimp doesn't need to be removed when reloading. The primer will seat just fine.

Holy B Jeez! That aint what I found! I must be doing something wrong!!

[Cornbread]

Holy B Jeez! That aint what I found! I must be doing something wrong!!

Same here. I can get them in if I use a tiny bit of case lube on the sides of the primer but even then it is really hard and I worry about getting a bench fired primer and I'm not sure lubing the pocket is a good idea, I just tried it on two rounds to see if it would work. I am having to swage the pockets out with this just like I have to do with military brass: http://www.midwayusa.com/product/235832/rcbs-primer-pocket-swager-combo-2

I use Winchester Large rifle primers or CCI and neither goes in for me until I swage the pockets but it is worth it because the brass is so good.

[shtur]

HXP brass only has three very small brass "dots" sealing the primer, rather than a full brass seal around the primer. I can remove those three tiny pieces of brass from the primer pocket with one turn of my Sinclair primer pocket uniformer. It takes a few turns to clean up USGI brass. I reload the HXP and USGI for my M1 Garand. For my bolt 30-06, I use Win, R-P, and lastly FC.

[Shiloh]

I really like the Greek and have been using it for years. I was gifted some by some of the members here. I needed some replacement
for cracked brass. Was willing to pay and no one would take anything for it.

Shiloh

[garandsrus]

I reload mostly the CCI-34 primers in the HXP brass and dont do anything to the primer pocket prior to seating the new primer. I don't use lube either. I know other people doing the same thing...