teach me on 223 brass

[M4sherman]

alright I just got 2,000 peices of 223 remington brass for .05c each and I am sorting the cases and as soon as I get a new press I am going to size and deprime them but in the mean time I am wanting to learn about head stamps.

so far I have the following

R-P .223 remington

pmc .223 remington

FC 223 remington

winchester 223 rem

A-merc 556 0-

S&B 223 rem

a little lake city and what appears to be a South African style head stamp

so what can yall tell me about these head stamps

[Oh Shoot]

alright I just got 2,000 peices of 223 remington brass for .05c each and I am sorting the cases and as soon as I get a new press I am going to size and deprime them but in the mean time I am wanting to learn about head stamps.

so far I have the following

R-P .223 remington

pmc .223 remington

FC 223 remington

winchester 223 rem

A-merc 556 0-

S&B 223 rem

a little lake city and what appears to be a South African style head stamp

so what can yall tell me about these head stamps

Ya mean companies?

R-P Remington

pmc PMC

FC Federal Cartridge

winchester Winchester

A-merc American Ammunition

S&B Sellier and Bellot

All fine, 'cept maybe the American, ya might wanna search/read some on that...

Sorry if this isn't what you meant.

- OS

[Jonnin]

AFTE Headstamp Gallery is handy sometimes.

[M4sherman]

damn I am up to 8 kinds including to different types of lake city. so far FC and R-P and the most prominent

[Raoul]

There's also the issue of the Nato headstamp.

[M4sherman]

yea I saw a few of those. I am done. 2000 rounds of 223,1 6.8 and a 44 magnum here are what I have found

ppu 223

S&B 223 rem

bha match 223

mal 8-81 5.56

Taa 07

SSA 6.8 SPC

Winchester 223 rem

FC 223 rem---there are a few different styles of this stamp

LC 08--few variations

PMC 223 rem

Vany different surplus -lco91-l c 0 8- W C O 5S

R-P 223 remington

there are also 40 Amerc

The bassic split is 30% R-P, 30% FC, 15% PMC, 5% winchester , 5% Lake city,10% surplus, 5% various. my eyes hurt....

[Jonnin]

unless you are really, really picky about it you can sort 223 by weight to isolate the military stuff from the 223, mil is much heavier.

The brand does not matter too much beyond that unless trying to make something exotic.

[dlm37015]

i guess i am odd i onlt use lake city or aac which is the same as lake city .i like it because its heavier brass and last longer

[Guest LetZrock]

i guess i am odd i onlt use lake city or aac which is the same as lake city .i like it because its heavier brass and last longer

Do you know what the AAC head stamp is ? Its not American Ammunition Company is it?

[gregintenn]

I've always read that you should toss the A-Merc brass. I do not have any first hand experience with it however.

[Oh Shoot]

I've always read that you should toss the A-Merc brass. I do not have any first hand experience with it however.

That's what a quick Google would indicate.

- OS

[dlm37015]

the folks i deal with tell me that the aac brass is made at lake city and used for special ops .i dont know but i have some that i have loaded over 5 times and its still good it weighs the same as lake city .some of the brass i get from lake city plant in the last year or so has a speer headstamp .in the past couple of years i have sold lots of aac head stamped brass and had only 1 complaint and that was because the buyer didnt neck size before he loaded it other than that i havnt hearsd anything else about it and i have had several millon rounds of it

[Guest Grout]

I have first hand experience with A-Merc brass,toss it as far as you can throw it.If it doesn't split while reloading it will after you fire it

[Dolomite_supafly]

Some say Federal is soft as well. It is the primer pocket that loosens over time.

I have some R-P brass I have reloaded ALOT and have not had any issues. Now I load them for a minimum headspaced gun so they don't grow which is why they are lasting a lot longer than most. The same R-P brass will work harden in other firearms in 4-5 loadings unless you anneal.

The gun that has the minimum headspace is headspaced using a piece of brass I sized rather than headspace gauges. I can't shoot factory ammo unless I loosen the headspace but I reload so it is not an issue. Since trimming I have not had to trim again in at least 6 loadings and that is with me neck and FL sizing. This makes all the work I do prepping the brass (weighing cases, trimming, primer pocket uniforming, flash hole uniforming/deburring, chamfering) well worth it. If I would only get 4 loadings out of my prepped brass I wouldn't do it.

I will also say that this is a good source of info about the 223, including a lot of info about various makers. This link also has some very detailed information.

Dolomite