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WCC vs LC


sschultz

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I have used WCC and LC interchangeably. No, I did not chrono loads in each of the cases side by side... but I did not experience any noticeable signs of pressure. Also, the WCC brass that I had was from an older lot of 5.56 NATO ammo, and had crimped primers. It appeared otherwise identical to LC brass of the same vintage.

LC brass in 223 is not necessarily thicker than commercial brass, hence similar loads are generally acceptable. In fact, in applications where a uniform/thin case wall is required, it is the superior choice. I use LC brass only to convert to 300 BLK, as it provides acceptable neck tension while providing a case neck that is not too thick. There is a significant difference in LC/WCC 308 brass though, my experience has shown that it requires a 1-2 grain reduction in powder charge at a minimum.

I would pay the same for WCC as LC to answer your question. The disclaimers apply, as usual be careful and good luck!

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Lake City brass is made to higher standards than commercial cases, that being said commercial contract ammunition to the military must meet milspec requirements which are the same as Lake City. If the case does not have the NATO symbol stamped on its base the case is not milspec.

556hard-a_zps7570e6b0.jpg

hardness-a_zps8d54ad66.jpg

Case weights

223-556weight_zps3566d29a.jpg

Internal volume

casecap_zps3f8bb2c9.jpg

These Federal cases below are NOT milspec and are known for soft brass and oversized primer pockets after the first firing. Don't be fooled they do NOT have the NATO stamp on their base and many people refuse to reload them.

federal556_zps8997eff9.jpg

If it were me I would only buy Lake City cases and not mix brands and stay uniform.

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  • 2 weeks later...

intersteing. If you look on the base of the cases that i have that came out of a box like that they say LC..... Federal did/does run the LC plant. Do not reload brass that has FC on the base; federal brass is soft.

I heard some talk that FC 223 brass would be safe to reloaded for bolt guns. Does anyone believe this to be true?

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intersteing. If you look on the base of the cases that i have that came out of a box like that they say LC..... Federal did/does run the LC plant. Do not reload brass that has FC on the base; federal brass is soft.

I heard some talk that FC 223 brass would be safe to reloaded for bolt guns. Does anyone believe this to be true?

I have some Federal cases marked FC 05 and had a lot of loose primer pockets after the first firing. I also have newer Federal cases that had much fewer primer pocket problems. I use a 0.1745 pin gauge as a GO NO-GO primer pocket gauge that works well. Having said all this many people say Federal brass is on the soft side and others have said Federal has fixed the problem. If I had my choice all I would use would be Lake City and keep the brass uniform.

Your not going to believe this but I read a posting about using a RCBS press mounted Swager unit to tighten primer pockets. I just did 10 cases and it works "BUT" it depends on how old the RCBS unit is and the shape of the swager head and swager rod. I have two swagers and the 1978 swager works and the 2012 swager does not. The older swager has a shorter swager head and if adjusted to cam over slightly it compresses the primer pocket and makes it smaller. I have been reloading for over 46 years and never heard of this trick until today, and I'm really glad it works. My pin gauge doesn't lie and after swaging the pin gauge no longer fits in the primer pockets.

Tightening Primer Pockets?

http://forum.snipershide.com/snipers-hide-reloading/100125-tightening-primer-pockets.html

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