223 or 556

[SUBie123]

Anyone can help me out? How can I tell if this is a 556 or a 223 brass? Picked it up at my locate range.

The stamp head has LC 19...

[xfer42]

Looks like a NATO stamp (circle with a plus/cross) so I would bet 5.56.

[MongooseV8]

Yep Lake City 556

[SUBie123]

Thank guys. Everyday I learn something new.

[divingin]

What do you think the difference would be between the two?

In theory, 5.56 brass *may* be heavier (thicker, less volume), but in practice, it seems to be a crapshoot.

Exterior dimensions are essentially identical.

There is the primer pocket crimp to consider, but that may show up on commercial ammo as well.

[edgerly779]

lake city 5.56

[edgerly779]

Open i]up primer pocket and reload. I have a bunch I have processed.

[the86d]

If you don't load near max data it shouldn't matter, unless you might be shooting for precision, which I know nothing about... I am a QTY guy...

[JackEllis]

LC brass is all I use in my bolt .223s, mainly because there's tons of it left lying around where I shoot. Depending on the current price of brass, when I'm done with it a brass recycler will pay around a penny and a half per case.

[galun]

LC is good brass. You lucked out getting his as range pickup!

I use LC sorted by year for my precision loads.

[tabascoz28]

It kind of depends on who shot it out of what. You don't really know if it's once fired, unless it has some primer seal on it or you saw the person open up a case/boxes and fire it .

If the brass came out of a larger chamber it could have stressed the neck. I've had LC brass crack at the neck on the first reload for moderate loadings.

I think sometimes you can tell by how deep or light the printing on the headstamps are. Usually a light headstamp means it's been hammered a bunch already.

[alpha_romeo_XV]

If your plan is to reload it my experience is that with mid pressure loads LC gets about 6 reloads before some of the cases split. I've gotten twice that number of reloads from Lapua and Remington brass. Federal somewhere in between. Best to keep track of how times your brass has been reloaded. I've had 556 LC brass that did not have crimped primers but 223 Speer brass that did have crimps so make sure what you have and process them accordingly.

[sigstroker]

Hard for me to imagine 6 reloads on 5.56. I must have about 2000 empty cases. I think I might have 3 reloads on the first brass I acquired.

[tabascoz28]

I think annealing also helps with longevity, Annealeez is probably the cheapest machine that is already built, but there are a few ways to do it for cheaper in parts/diy. There's a guy that is making a pretty cheap induction machine. He helped me build a regular burner that works for 556 and 762.