LC 5.56 brass

R

rebs

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Can anyone suggest where I can buy Lake City 5.56 once fired same head stamp processed brass ?
How important is it to use all same year head stamp for accurate reloads ?
 
You could call Top Brass and ask them about headstamp consistency just because they are premium reconditioners. But I don't think I'm aware of anybody who guarantees matching headstamps.

How important is it? I've found that when I am shooting with others, having matching headstamps that aren't the same as anyone else's makes my brass easier to identify as mine rather than theirs.

As to shooting ability, some guns and loads and kinds of shooting can be sensitive to it, but I wouldn't worry too much about it until you have exhausted other accuracy loading steps. If they resize with the same force and they have the same internal volume afterward, have the same neck and body wall runout, they are probably about as well matched as you will see a difference in, even if the headstamps are from different years.
 
Like Unclenick suggests... try Top Brass (Scharch.) I have see it in places like Cabelas, too, in 100cs bags (Top Brass brand.) I find it unlikely you will be able to source one lot of one headstamp, or only one headstamp (LC only, for example.)

I probably wouldn't segregate modern LC from each other, I don't think there is that much of a difference.
 
As to shooting ability, some guns and loads and kinds of shooting can be sensitive to it, but I wouldn't worry too much about it until you have exhausted other accuracy loading steps. If they resize with the same force and they have the same internal volume afterward, have the same neck and body wall runout, they are probably about as well matched as you will see a difference in, even if the headstamps are from different years.
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This, especially the bold. I don't sort 5.56/.223 brass by headstamp or brand anymore unless it's specific loads for coyote hunting. Even with those, 100 pieces of matching acceptable brass is plenty. For bulk blasting, even at longer ranges, I'm not seeking <1/2 moa. I can get sub moa with my mixed brand, mixed headstamp reloads (barely, but sub moa none-the-less). That's good enough for me.

I also load to middle of the road levels, so those 100 pieces of matching brass can last for 8-10 loads fairly easily.

None-the-less, if you want what you want who am I to judge? Some range pick-up, if you can find a range that allows you to police as much as you want, will be a cheap way to get a good amount. It's semi common for a group of several to bring in a bulk pack of LC 5.56 and blast away next to each other on the line. All of that will be same headstamp. That probably won't be common at every range, but it's fairly common at one range that I go to.
 
I sort 223 brass by brand as one likes LC and another prefers FC. Mixing lots/years does not affect my groups by anything that a pdog will care about. This method may give a pdog a haircut at times instead of a flying lesson, but it's fun seeing those guys scurry around.
 
I sorted 100 LC brass by year and measured th case weight dry and water volume last year and found no statistical correlations. Bear in mind that at the time I was using a .1 gn scale so accuracy was all that on the case weight or water weight
 
It's usually one of those deals where there is a correlation but it is so weak that the normal variation scatter is greater. Again, precision measuring to match overrides the value of lot matching. The only brass brand I am aware of that guarantees all pieces will come off the same tooling is ADG, and they don't currently do .223.
 
LEO Brass (http://leobrass.com) sells LC headstamp brass (various years, but all LC) at $7.00 per hundred.

I sort my brass by headstamp and the military headstamp by year because I have noticed variation in how the cases "feel" when I resize them and I like to have a consistent feel. As far as accuracy, I have never noticed headstamp making a difference at the ranges I shoot.
 
I’d guess that there is enough variation within a year of production that it makes the year stamp less meaningful. January to November means a huge volume of production at Lake City and so equipment gets checked. Their internal quality control matters, so a decade may make a difference but a year may mean December to January or more. The lot would matter more so being the one to “once fire” it matters there.
 
I'm using LC brass in the wifes Savage110FP.
Course with my eyesight and reluctance to wear my glasses, i'm lucky to make out the LC on the head.
What year? I dunno...
20 rounds under 1 inch at 100 yards with boring regularity tells me there are bigger things to worry about.
 
www.gibrass.com

http://www.gibrass.com/
I have bought 7.62 and 5.56 LC from there. They will polish and process the primer pocket with a swage machine for $25 per thousand. The 5.56 is $75 or $100 swaged and polished. Currently they are shipping mixed '10 and '11.
They also sell surplus powders and have WC844 in stock.

BrassBombers.com is shutting down permanently, has no 5.56 and some 7.62.
 
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Where do you live and how much are you looking for ? I can't get processed LC all same headstamp brass but I can get once fired same headstamp from my local range .
 
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Again, I pushed myself away from the keyboard and tried to cultivate friends, a few of them were in Yonkers, NY. They dealt in Junk. One day they offered me 24,000 cases, a wild guestimate would be there were 9,000 223 F.C, L.C etc. I purchases the cases in buckets, barrels and boxes and then I sorted and sorted and sorted, and then someone died in an accident so I purchased everything the family offered for sale. That bunch of 223 cases came with clips, lots of clips.

F. Guffey
 
Yes I received it . I waited to contact you because i was going to the range today . That fell through and I’m now going monday . I’ll pick some up regardless because I use them . I think they are $25 for 500 once fired , dirty , with crimp . I might even have some my self now but would need to look around .
 
In my own testing, I couldn't find any discernible difference in LC head stamp years for 7.62 or 556 (all newer than 2008 though). Tens of thousands of them. I trimmed, swaged, and annealed it all. I loaded up my best loads in mixed year batches, and same year batches.

I found no difference in my .9 MOA AR-10 load using 175 smk's and 4064 with same vs different years. My national match AR load using LC brass increased from about 0.48 MOA to about 0.70 MOA with 77 gr bullets and varget, but no difference in the 1 moa load using 62 gr fmj's and H335.

Average velocities and ES's were similar. Especially in my non-match grade bull barrel AR's.

Bottom line is, if you dont have an honest 1/3 - 1/2 moa gun, you will be better served worrying about brass prep and good loading techniques for semi rifles than the year of your head stamp .

If it's for use in a bolt action rifle that shoots in the 2's or something, LC isnt the brass you should be using anyway
 
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