BruceB
03-21-2006, 07:28 PM
How many times have you heard the statement, "Military brass is HEAVIER than commercial brass!"??? This is usually accompanied by dark predictions of doom if one uses the same load in GI cases as he does in the civvy stuff.
Uh-huh. Probably hundreds of times, if you've been in this hobby for a few years.
Getting ready to crank up the ammo factory for my new .223, I decided to do a quick check on the case weights of the assorted brass I have on hand. I took ten cases marked "WCC" (Western Cartridge Company, or Olin) from TEN different years of manufacture, and another ten cases marked "LC" for Lake City Arsenal, also from ten different years, and ten assorted Winchester commercial cases with both "Winchester" and "WW Super" headstamps, implying that these were of varying vintages as well.
All the brass was brilliantly shiny from the tumbler, and confirmed free of any leftover corncob etc.
The lightest case weighed was 94.1 grains, and the heaviest was 97.1 grains. The lightest in average group weight were the military WCCs, the next heaviest were the military LC cases, and the heaviest group on average were the commercial Winchesters. The AVERAGE weights of the three lots were only 1.5 grains apart. This is remarkable consistency, if'n you ask me.
This info won't stop me from sorting cases by headstamp, but it DOES clearly show that certain "information" that everyone "knows" to be true, is crapola. Check your own brass just to be safe before loading all of it with the same load, but don't believe everything you read or hear on handloading subjects. Indeed, I have on occasion found the opening statement to be true, i.e.: that SOME military cases, or SOME lots, were indeed heavier than my current on-hand commercial brass. I must add though, that I have also found results similar to those of today, wherein commercial .308s were heavier than whatever 7.62 NATO brass I had, and .223 Remingtons were heavier than the 5.56mm brass I owned at a particular time.
Don't take anything for granted.
Uh-huh. Probably hundreds of times, if you've been in this hobby for a few years.
Getting ready to crank up the ammo factory for my new .223, I decided to do a quick check on the case weights of the assorted brass I have on hand. I took ten cases marked "WCC" (Western Cartridge Company, or Olin) from TEN different years of manufacture, and another ten cases marked "LC" for Lake City Arsenal, also from ten different years, and ten assorted Winchester commercial cases with both "Winchester" and "WW Super" headstamps, implying that these were of varying vintages as well.
All the brass was brilliantly shiny from the tumbler, and confirmed free of any leftover corncob etc.
The lightest case weighed was 94.1 grains, and the heaviest was 97.1 grains. The lightest in average group weight were the military WCCs, the next heaviest were the military LC cases, and the heaviest group on average were the commercial Winchesters. The AVERAGE weights of the three lots were only 1.5 grains apart. This is remarkable consistency, if'n you ask me.
This info won't stop me from sorting cases by headstamp, but it DOES clearly show that certain "information" that everyone "knows" to be true, is crapola. Check your own brass just to be safe before loading all of it with the same load, but don't believe everything you read or hear on handloading subjects. Indeed, I have on occasion found the opening statement to be true, i.e.: that SOME military cases, or SOME lots, were indeed heavier than my current on-hand commercial brass. I must add though, that I have also found results similar to those of today, wherein commercial .308s were heavier than whatever 7.62 NATO brass I had, and .223 Remingtons were heavier than the 5.56mm brass I owned at a particular time.
Don't take anything for granted.