I just got 1000 pieces of remington .223 brass. Any opinions on buying bulk brass? which is best and does it really matter if you get winchester remington or federal?

If you can find it, Federal Gold Medal brass stands out above the Remchester stuff. But Lapua is my personal favorite. True, it costs more, and true, the Remchester stuff is good enough overall for most general applications. But if you want brass that has tremendous quality control and consistency, get the Lapua ...

What BT said....

You can't get Federal Gold Match cases any more, I think they stopped making it. I bought some boxes a few years back, and was endlessly disappointed to find that the primer pockets on the brand new brass were so loose that I expect to loose the brass after just a few (mild) loadings. If I had not been on the other side of the Pond, I would have raised hell with Federal and expected them to supply new brass! So sadly, not all users have had good experience with the FC brass.

So what is best: Lapua, naturally.

- mike

Since you've already got the Rem brass its a little late to wonder which is best.....
Actually, the Rem will be fine. Unless you are trying to put all your shots thru one hole regardless of the cost, then go with Lapua.

mho has it right, I bought some Fed GM to dedicate to a new Cooper 223, due to it being touted as "the best". Shooting anything near max (not excessive), had the primer pockets loose after 2-3 loadings. I neck-sized only, so brass fit should have been great. It's uniform and consistent, just not durable.
But the dang Lapau is so pricey....

I can not say which is best since Federal has become "part of Speer". I have found over the last 34 years, Winchest and Federal are about equal in quality. Remmington is the softest and splits quicker.

For future reference, Federal loads Mil spec 223 ammo as M193, and it is lake city brass....outstanding. In addition, the 55 gr FMJBTs chronograph 3340 fps out of my 24 inch Encore with 1 MOA accuracy. Any good sporting goods store can order it and make a decent profit selling it to you for $4.50 a box (20). Heck, the brass is worth $1.50, and it is decent target ammo.

I like Winchester for the Price but I would agree that Lapua is the best.

Listen to Sabot, and if you are wanting to fork out cash, go with lapua. I personally have had excellent luck with federal gold medal brass and you can find it once fired on ebay. Crap, I let a secret slip.

Tis true, Lake City brass is great stuff. Forgot about it, though I have used more of it than all other brands combined, due to its use in NRA Highpower competition. Many Highpower shooters tend to lean hard on their loads, due to the ranges involved. Obtaining once-fired brass was always a great, cheap way to go, and LC brass proved its mettle in that use.
As to Fed GM 223 brass, I was warned by the same Highpower shooters of its "issues", and for me, it is true. Good but not very durable. But I will use it till I wear it out.

You will be enlighted if you cut open the base of Federal case compared to LC brass. Federal stuff is quite thin down on the web. It's no wonder primer pockets let go after one or two loadings.

Downside is I bought a case of the 55gr FMJ stuff to beef up my supply of brass. In my opinion I wasted my money cause the brass is junk. But a $2.99 a box, I got what I paid for.

I stick with LC and Winchester brass now.

Joe

Bobby, I wish you the best of luck with the Federal stuff. I myself bought 500 pieces and have 100 left, it was said to be top notch stuff. The first 400 were done after a fireforming load in 6 and 7 TCU. The last 100 I have left, have a differnt type of lettering on the case head. The first 400 were fired 1 time and "deemed" junk. The necks broke off at the shoulder junction. The ones that did not get fired could just be snapped off, like breaking a pencil with your thumb.
I never did let Federal know what had happened, as they were turned in to a wildcat. I figured I new the answer before the question.

As to the Lapua .223 brass. I have not tried any but get various replies and input across the board. I have heard from more than one that Norma is making the .223 for Lapua, and putting Lapua on the head stamp.
The #1 gripe on the .223 Lapua brass seems to always go to the primer pocket or, and the flash hole being off center. I hate to shell out the $$ for the brass if it is that bad.


Back to the question at hand. I would vote on the LC brass myself. I have a batch in 7 TCU that has been loaded at least 25 times now and shows no sign of problems. I have anealled the necks 4 times now. But at the moment I am using WW brass as I found several "K" of brand new for the price of once fired range brass. Then don't you know, some brand new LC brass that was unfired and sorted in to lots by weight came up. Like an idgit I passed on it .

Bottom line, IMHO, "most" of the time you can just about make any of it work really well with good case life.
Jeff

Another vote for either a) Winchester if you insist on going w/ 'commercial' or b) Lake City brass. For $55/1000 shipped to your door, it's pretty hard to beat. Maybe if you are trying to shoot formal benchrest it would need improved upon, but then you'd likely have a different caliber anyway. If you get really worried bout consistency, hell, it's cheap enough you can sort and cull to your hearts content and probably still end up w/ a better lot than the expensive stuff.

Another satisfied HighPower and Varmint shooter

Monte

Lapua is the best. It is also tough. But, 44 cents a pop!
I shoot high-power, and use LC except for the 600 yard line where I go with Lapua. You can lean on LC without blowing up a rat-gun, but remember it is thicker and takes less powder to get up to warp factor nine.
If you are buying in bulk get Winchester. It holds up well. You can buy it pre-primed, which is convenient.
Federal Gold Medal went to crap about 3-4 years ago (that's when I noticed, anyway). It's soft. I personally think they took it off the market because choosy moms stopped choosing FGM.
Remington is kind of crappy also. .223 has never been their thang.
Federal loads LC for the military, and Winchester loads WCC, also for the military. Black Hills loads the 5.56 light sniper ammo (crimped into Nosler 77grain HPBT's with cannelures). That stuff is good, but it ain't cheap.
PMC ain't bad. Sellier and Belloit ain't good. Wolf is putrid.
In Summary:
Great - Lapua
Damn Good - Winchester, LC (once fired, properly sized and reamed)
Pretty Damn Good - WCC, PMC
Not so Good - Federal GM, Remington
No Damn Good - Sellier & Belloit, Standard Federal
Pretty Damn Bad - Anybody else's used brass
Pretty f****ng Awful - Wolf
JCN
PS This stuff varies from lot to lot. Also, If Remington, Federal, or Winchester (Olin, really) are running a few million cases short they will get brass from one of the other big boys and put their own stamp on it. Trust, but verify every lot.
LC isn't so tough because Uncle Sam likes reloaders. It's because they run it through M249 SAWS which have chambers looser than Brittney Spear's cooter. Iffen 'de machine gun blows up you can't turn the terrorist's head into a canoe, and wouldn't that make Dan Rather happy?

"Best" is kinda subjective depending on application...

It would be economically unfeasable for a semi shooter to run batches of 1000 in Lapua brass, and pitch them when the case rims got a little ratty.

I like LC. Get the stuff with the crimp removed.

Win. and WCC ( Win. commercial ) are also good.

My experience with LC, Win. and WCC brass has been that they are all really similar in case capacity and weight.
I do not mix and match headstamps or anything, but a load from one will work fine in the other.
The " Military brass " warnings mentioned frequently are true for SOME mil. brass ( RG headstamp Brit stuff is really thick ) but, LC and WCC are much the same as Win.


Travis F.

It really depends on what you are shooting. I use alot brass from Scharwch. It comes trimmed, formed and primmer pockets reamed. My mini-14 dings them up on ejection once in a while on the neck so no great loss. I do use Winchester brass for my 223 Savage though.