I agree with Don, Federal is my last choice in brass. I have had good luck with Remington and Winchester. Lake City is my first choice. A good place to get it is Scharch, they have it completely processed,(cleaned,trimmed,and resized) and reprimed if you want. The prices are pretty good.
http://www.scharch.com/index.html

I've never had pockets loose from the factory, but Federal is just about the softest brass (at least the last few years).

I tried a lot of brass in my 308 M1A, and Fed wouldn't last. Win was the best commercial US brass, but Lake City was the best of all. (Didn't try Norma or Lapua.)

I bought some 06 gold medal for my .338-06 & found it "soft" when compared to WW or Rem. No more for me.

I think the last few years of Gold Medal brass was softer that previous Fed. I'm not interested in giving them a second chance as I had 2000 cases that only lasted three loadings, trimming every time. Granted the M1A will eat brass anyway, but the Fed was obviously softer than Win or LC.

I was not loading hot loads - I did not lose them to stretched primer pockets, I was just working the cases (and me) to death. I have heard (don't know if it's true or not) that the M1A actually starts to extract with pressure still in the chamber.

My AR does not work the brass like my M1A does - but I never tried Fed in it, either.

A couple of years back, I bought a few boxes of Federal Gold Medal brass (now discontinued as components) in .223 Rem. I have been saving them for a rainy day, but when I got a new .223 Rem rifle, it seemed a good opportunity to use them. So I prepared the cases, including running a K&M primer pocket uniformer through the primer pockets (by hand). Imagine my chagrin, when I came to seating the primers on this brand new brass, and found that the primer pockets were looser than any new brass I have ever tried (CCI BR-4 primers).

I took the loaded ammo to the range - loaded from min to max according to the book, as part of initial load development, no pressure signs. Home again, I reloaded, and the primer pockets were EVEN looser - so loose, I'm expecting to loose this brass in just a few reloads

Have you had similar experience with Federal brass?? Ideally, I would like to send the &%�*"! brass back for a replacement, but 1) Federal no longer offers brass for sale, and 2) it is not that simple from Switzerland to and from the US. Wish I had saved some $$$ and bought some Winchester brass, or spent a bit more and gotten Lapua...
- mike

Another thing to remember is that primer pockets loosen more if the web area of the case expands. In other words, if the brass is a little towards the "small base" side of things, the pockets expand more quickly when fired at normal pressures and "standard" chambers. FWIW, Dutch.