Tips for buying .223 or 5.56 brass

R

RileyMartin

New member
Hi,

My .223 and 5.56 brass is reaching the end of it's life and it's time to buy brass. So far I've been reloading the brass from my commercial ammunition that I've saved after firing. I don't want to buy loaded ammunition any longer, and and then reuse the fired brass, so I was hoping I could get some tips when buying brass so I don't have buyers remorse.

Thanks,

Riley
 
star line makes good stuff as well as hornady and remington and some others that could be more pricey

i have used all of these and had good luck and service from them,,,i do kinda prefer the star line

hope you can find some,,,good hunting

ocharry
 
I saw in an ammo & reloading supply search engine there is once fired brass, mixed manufacture, available right now as low as .10/case with no guarantee.

I also saw once fired cases, mixed manufacture, cleaned and with a 100% guarantee for 0.15/case as well as all Lake City manufacture, tumbled and polished but no guranatee for 0.15/case.

I have all the equipment for cleaning and processing so I don't mind that if it'll save me money.

I don't have any experience with buying once fired brass so I'm not sure of the quality you actually get compared to the savings vs. new brass and the difference in longevity/number of reloads for each.
 
If you buy once fired LC from a reliable source it will be once fired if the primers are crimped in. You can pay extra for crimp removal, getting good quality homogenous brass. LC lasts very well. Cheaper mixed range pickup will not ever be homogenous. You sort it to remove steel, berdan primed, culls, etc. Case capacity is generally very close. You need to decide what best meets your needs, and is available.
 
When GIBrass.com is in stock, it is 1000 for $100. Plus $25 to process primer pockets (effectively the first time). So you are looking at $0.125 per for excellent quality. He wont be out of stock for very long, as he buys military lots and processes them.
 
check your local ranges, most will sells it for scrap prices. I get for it for $1.50 to $2.50 a LB. Will need to clean, sort/inspect and remove some crimps. cant beet the price.
 
Get on Starline's email notification system. Took about 2 mos, 1000 for $200-ish.
Usreloading, same thing, email notification.. 1x range i bought was "ready" to load..for $125-ish/1000.
 
Check local ranges. If you can't find a source, I'll ask a friend of mines who owns one here in CA if he'll sell you brass. I was there yesterday and 5.56 brass was all over the place.
 
If you do not mind dirty mixed headstamp range brass I can fix you up for the cost of postage. This is all crimped primers. Just send a PM.
 
LC brass from a source that can get you 1-2 head stamps in 1000. Then full prep. Sort by head stamp, swage pp’s, trim pp burr, anneal, FL Size, trim, chamfer & deburr....then load them up!
 
For an AR, if its a general Self Defense and practice/target then really the mixed headstamp stuff you will get in bulk/deals will be more then sufficent. ARs are rough on brass it seems to me so feeding your AR lapua could get pricey. If you are all about precision and built your AR as such then Starline is a very reputable mid tier in cost and offers great consistency. Peterson is a step above but they seem to be a bit behind recently due to demand. Lake City is just solid stuff.
 
"...reaching the end of it's life..." Why do you say that? You annealed it at all?
"...loaded ammunition..." Gets expensive in a hurry. Mind you, reloading isn't about saving money. You probably will not, but you will be using ammo that is tailored for your rifle.
The issue is current availability. Both Midway and Graf's show nearly everything as out of stock. Midway lists over priced Lapua brass at $62.99 per 100 though.
 
Some cases starting to shows signs of case head separation.

I haven’t started annealing my brass. I’m not sure to what extent it extends brass life and how many more reloads you get vs. not annealing.
 

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