If buying .308 brass for future reloading.. What to avoid?

T

taymag

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These will be for plinking..

Is there any particular loaded ammo that's decently priced that will be good reloading brass after?

And any to avoid?
 
I've seen a few issues described for some Eastern European makes. But mostly you just need to avoid steel and Berdan primed cases. There have been complaints about soft brass from Federal, but it's not a problem if you are loading to moderate pressures.
 
Why would the headstamp matter? I guess I am just looking for the best (while hopefully being cheap) factory ammo/brass that I can reload on 2nds

I know this isnt even in the same boat since its converting, but with 300blk 1/2 the 223 brass I had from once fired wasn't useable. With 9mm I also find some variations in thickness and different press feelings with different brands/headstamps so I want to make sure I have the safest possible when loading something with quite a bit more power
 
Headstamps matter because some people don't like removing crimps from 7.62 brass other people have had problems with them being shot out of belt fed machine guns with generous chambers. Thus making the sizing a bit tougher Of course .308 ammo can be fired out of these same weapons. Ive also seen more 7.62 brass being fired out of rifles with fluted chambers causing stripes on the brass. Although reloadable, some people just don't like them. A lot of the .308 brass that I have picked up has be fired out of bolt action rifles and reloads very nicely. Sometimes it matters to some people
 
Prvi Partizan (PPU headstamp) is good brass and decent low-cost ammo. Sold as Monarch at Academy but also sold as Prvi Partizan at other outlets. Primers are not crimped, at least not the ones I've come across.
 
For the common three, Federal, Remington and Winchester are the heaviest to lightest in that order, with the Federals usually providing the tightest bullet hold. Just checked with www.oncefiredbrass.com and they currently have available Federals and Winchesters priced at $15 per 100 once fired. Their offerings can vary daily. They are located in New York and ship three days priority mail. Military brass has crimped in primers that require another step in the loading process for removing the crimps. Often that process, by swaging or reaming, is not uniform and shearing primers can result during primer seating. Some, however, have found that removing the crimp with an electric drill and proper size bit is the better way to go.
 
Headstamps matter

Headstamps matter because they identify the maker, and sometimes year of manufacture. Different makers use different composition brass. Federal and I believe Remington use a softer brass. LC (Lake City Army Ammunition Plant) indicates quality brass was used, to make U.S. military spec ammo. In 7.62 it tends to be heavier and have reduced capacity compared to Winchester 308 brass. LC usually has crimped in primers, which must be removed to reload. THe plus side of this is that if you remove the primer crimp, you are certain you have once only fired brass and not range brass of unknown history.

For general use, getting started, and plinking away any brass will work. BUT, different headstamps should NOT BE MIXED for 308 and 7.62. The same load in different headstamp brass can have significant differences and potentially result in unsafe loads. Just do not fool around with maximum loads.
 
just separate or avoid 7.62 stamped. They have less capacity than .308 -> higher pressures.

Norma and Sako and Lapua are excellent quality.


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"Why would the headstamp matter? I guess I am just looking for the best (while hopefully being cheap) factory ammo/brass that I can reload on 2nds"

I suggest you buy a reloading manual and READ IT(at least the informational section) before continuing.

Agree that PRIVI is OK ammo and brass is OK for reloading. Also recommend Fiocchi as a possible.
 
I have reloaded a lot of 7.62 Nato "once fired" brass for my 308 Ruger bolt gun. The first thing I do is tumble it and then full length size. If I find an occasional hard to size case, I'll set it aside for further inspection. Removing primer crimps is so easy I don't give it a second thought (and it usually takes about one second). I also have a couple hundred Hornady cases and I use different load data for them vs. my mil spec brass (slightly larger powder charges). In my scrounging I've found R-P, Privi Partizan, an occasional Federal and Winchester. Headstamps matter because not all 308/7.62 brass is made the same...
 
Avoid PMC. Bought a box a few years back when I got my 308. Some of the cases wouldn't hold a primer in on the first re-load. Needless to say I tossed all of them in the scrap bucket.
 
The softer than other brands brass from Federal only means it doesn't last as long before primer pockets get too big. Not a big deal.
Milsurp 7.62x51 doesn't get head stamped with that. Only issue with 7.62NATO brass is the one time requirement to remove the primer crimp. No big deal otherwise. Any brass fired out of another firearm requires FL resizing anyway. Plus checking lengths and trimming, chamfering and deburring as required.
 
I use once fired pickup FC until its expired but I would not buy it.

As noted, its soft, it fails sooner and if the lube is not quite right it sticks in the press and rips the head off (and then the fun with the case remover ensues)

Not keen on Winchester.

RP is good middle of the road brass.

LAPUA is very , probably the best and get on sale better price (sold in lots of 100) than Nossler/ Hornady in lots of 50.

Nossler is poor per experts, Norma good close to Lapua.

PPU is about the same as RP, good solid middle of the road and cost is decent.
 
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Why would the headstamp matter?
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For all the reasons already given, and one other, commercial brass (.308) has less chance of having been fired out of a machinegun. GI brass, nowdays (and for a long time) is mostly stuff fired from machineguns, and can have been "overexpanded" in the "generous" machinegun chamber, which makes it harder to size and can lead to a shorter brass life.

For a plinking load, its machts nichts, for something else, it might matter.
 
"Why would the head stamp matter?
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Not to me, after the case is fired it becomes a 308 W once fired case. And then there is the difference in head stamps; that matters also (to me), different head stamps are another different way to sort cases.

Then there is that thing about cases being fired in a machine gun. I understand there are reloaders that get in into mortal combat with reloading; I don’t. I am the bigger hammer fan. I use a better lube and I have forming dies, lots of forming dies. If I need to whip a machine gun fired case into shape I run it through a forming die, I have never had to do that but I have the forming die JIC (just in case).

F. Guffey
 
I was interested in some 308 cheap cases to refrom to 7-08. I bought once fired military. Annealed them. 308 sized them. 308 small base sized them. All swaged and reformed pockets. Finally 7-08 sized. The SB was necessary so the bolt would roll over. Between annealing and lighter loads in the 7-08, the cases are doing great. I use 308 non-mioitary cases in my 308.
 
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