good place to get 1x fired 223 brass?

[dinnerplate]

does anyone know where i can get once-fired .223 brass that ISN'T mixed headstamp?

i've been looking everywhere, and it's either mixed, crimped, overpriced, or out of stock. i'm trying to find an optimum load, and need my brass to be consistent. the federal stuff i have seems subpar. any ideas? thanks, guys.

[rsrocket1]

You might get 2 out of 4 from your desires.
My recommendation:
1. Buy 1k mixed for real cheap and hand sort headstamps. How many hundreds of rounds do you require to develop an optimum load. The rest is certainly good for plinkers.

2. Buy a batch of LC 1x military brass. Even if you had to decrimp 100 rounds, it's not that difficult (it will probably take you less time than looking for your batch of matched/commercial/bargain priced/in stock brass) and you will have a matched set of brass for your development.

3. Are you doing this for competition shooting? If not, why not develop a load that is the most tolerant to variations in brass and charge? If you are doing this for competition, price is usually not an object.

anyway, that's my free advice and remember, you get what you pay for

[Bill Steele]

Mostly crimped.

I buy some brass from this guy.

Most of his .223 brass is crimped primer.

http://store.brassmanbrass.com/servlet/StoreFront

[Eat Dirt]

I have a few 1,000 for ya ...........

[dinnerplate]

rsrocket, that's a interesting suggestion, about developing a load for variations. i'm not doing any competition shooting, but i was led to believe the brass has to be consistent if i want to find an optimum load. and it has to be consistent in the number of times it's been fired too, since cases expand.

how much of a variation in MOA would you guess i'd see if i used mixed headstamps versus one type of headstamp? assuming i find optimal loads for both.

[rsrocket1]

I find that 1 MOA is good enough for me and after developing a load with once fired, very carefully matched/sized/seated brass and individually weighed bullets, I found a load that gave me about 0.5 MOA. At that point, I felt that the gun and I were probably more of the limiting factor. I then saw what the variations were when changing the load, changing the brass and changing the seating depth and found that my groups got out to about 3/4 MOA.

After that, I "let it fly" with mixed brass on a progressive loader and only checking charges every 10th round (the charges never changed by more than 0.1gr) and saw that the groups did not get a whole lot worse than 3/4-1 MOA with slow, deliberate shots. This is with 55g fmjbt's and I can even switch over to 55g SP flat base bullets without changing setups and get the same size groups.

That extra 1/2 MOA is not worth it to me because I simply shoot for fun, but its a little comforting to know that if I really wanted it, I could go back to getting it without too much effort.

Reloaders often load with different objectives in mind so its good to know what is the objective when recommending something.

[dinnerplate]

that was going to be my method too - use matched brass to find the optimal powder charge, depth, etc. for my AR and bullet i use, and then "let it fly," as you said. i would then use mixed brass at that point.

excellent point. my objective in doing this is to create a general purpose load that will allow me to plink, but also switch over to more precision when i pop on the scope. if i can get 1 MOA from mixed brass, i'd be satisfied. but i'd still need to find the optimal combo first, wouldn't i?

do .223 reloaders generally use mixed brass? i'm sure it varies by purpose, but i'm curious to know.

[GeoffLinder]

Tough to find single headstamp 1x anymore. I have been buying 3-4k and then sorting into 1k lots of single headstamp.

I like Scharch (Top Brass). Their 1x is FC, WW and LC. I use the WW and LC for precision and the FC for plinker.

They also offer brand new LC for $200/1000

http://www.scharch.com/categories.php?cat=7

[mattmcg]

I've found that gunbroker.com often has once fired LC brass at a reasonable cost. I think a couple of the folks abroad fighting our multiple wars box it up and send it back for their wives to sell on there. A couple of the folks I've purchased from even tumbled it in corn cob before packing and shipping. Definitely allowed me to stock up for the summer competition season!

[spencerhut]

I find that 1 MOA is good enough for me and after developing a load with once fired, very carefully matched/sized/seated brass and individually weighed bullets, I found a load that gave me about 0.5 MOA. At that point, I felt that the gun and I were probably more of the limiting factor. I then saw what the variations were when changing the load, changing the brass and changing the seating depth and found that my groups got out to about 3/4 MOA.

After that, I "let it fly" with mixed brass on a progressive loader and only checking charges every 10th round (the charges never changed by more than 0.1gr) and saw that the groups did not get a whole lot worse than 3/4-1 MOA with slow, deliberate shots. This is with 55g fmjbt's and I can even switch over to 55g SP flat base bullets without changing setups and get the same size groups.

That extra 1/2 MOA is not worth it to me because I simply shoot for fun, but its a little comforting to know that if I really wanted it, I could go back to getting it without too much effort.

Reloaders often load with different objectives in mind so its good to know what is the objective when recommending something.

That about sums up my thoughts on the matter. I have Target and Blasting loads for most of my common rifle calibers. The main difference is I get a bit more picky on my components and QA process when putting the target loads together. I think Clint Smith was pretty clear about picking a load, sticking with it and working on your shooting skills. I save my tinkering for my odd ball calibers.

[Fyathyrio]

I have seen fully prepped brass on gunbroker.com including removing the crimp...but you'll pay for it. I believe many were matched by manufacturer...

[james1179]

guy on craigslist in the inland empire has lake city brass thats been cleaned and crimp taken out of the primer pocket once fired. 1000 rounds in a ammo can including shipping for 95.00. won't let you pick up though even if you live close. i tried

[bearing01]

I was pleased buying from this guy. Very fast shipping.

http://www.tjconevera.com/oncefiredbrass.html

[dinnerplate]

i think there's a general shortage of once-fired .223 brass, but these sites help a lot. i'll check back in with them later to see if in stock. thanks a bunch.

now to buy a pocket crimp remover...

[Artsville]

Tough to find single headstamp 1x anymore. I have been buying 3-4k and then sorting into 1k lots of single headstamp.

I like Scharch (Top Brass). Their 1x is FC, WW and LC. I use the WW and LC for precision and the FC for plinker.

They also offer brand new LC for $200/1000

http://www.scharch.com/categories.php?cat=7

These guys are good to go.....i buy the resized once fired. I lube and run thru the 650 for plinking.....super easy...

I don't debur or anything...my last batch was all LC brass.

art