LC vs FGMM brass

[shinbone1]

Can some of the veteran reloaders or others 'in the know' please weigh in? How does Lake City 308 brass stand up to reloading vs some of the other stuff? Is it worth putting SMK pills in LC brass? Thanks

[joelogic]

Mil brass is thicker and tougher. It will hold less powder hence lower velocities.

YMMV but reload what you got.

[d0wnShifT]

x2 for the thicker LC brass. I bought 100 mixed headstamp one time fired and I noticed that there was indeed less space for powder. I don't think you'll have an issue with Varget until 46 grains with LC. I loaded 168 SMK's and the brass did fine.

[damndave]

They will load just fine. I run LC Match brass and they are nearly identical internal capacity as FC brass.

I have used many brands of factory brass for match 308 and ALL will produce 1/4moa ammo. Some of the brands I have used are CBC, PMC, PPU, FC & LC.

[J-cat]

According to Federal, who also happens to operate the Lake City plant, LCLR brass is supposed to be weight sorted to within 2grs. But that is BS because if you take any lot of recent XM118 ammo and weigh the brass there's gonna be a 5 grain spread. My lot of LC11 LR weighs from 178 to 182 grains. Most of them weigh 180, but there is a good number on either extreme.

Similarly, I have a bunch of FGMM whose weight spread is 7grs, from 174 to 180grs. Now, this is not from one lot but from many lots over the years. I sort them by weight, i.e. all the 180s, all the 175, etc. That way I minimize pressure fluctuations due to differences in case volume.

Back to LC. I recently got burned on gunbroker. Dude sent me a bunch of LC07 LR brass that was fired through an AR10 which puts a deep gouge in the neck, slicing lengthwise through at least one third the thickness of the neck wall. Yeah, it's once fired but it's not gonna last very long.

FGMM is good for at least 5 reloads if you keep the pressure near 50,000 PSI. If you load to the max, 2-3 reloads. Then the primers fall out. It also grows about .005" per firing, even if you only neck size, which is ridiculous. LC is a lot more durable, but if it was AR10 fired the neck won't last more than 5 reloads.

Rather than taking any chances, buy Lapua. It is similar in capacity to the lightest FGMM, but lasts longer and is better made. You'll see it in your groups.

[Jasonaspears]

I just picked up a bunch of once fired LC brass to do my own comparison to my FGMM brass. I've gotten 5 reloads out of my FGMM brass without any negative signs. I'm loading them with 41.9gr of IMR 4064 so it's not maxed but is incredibly accurate. The LC brass looks to be thicker and case capacity shouldn't be an issue with my lighter charge. I'll know here shortly