At the local range swap meet, I picked up 500 Federal Match .223 for $15, figuring on using it for my new .223. I currently use Winchester brass for my AR, and bought the Federal brass thinking it would be easier to have a different head stamp to seperate the rounds for the new bolt gun (Savage model 12).

I seem to remember that many have had problems with the Federal brass being to soft. Just interested in how many fireings I can expect to get out of this deal.

Not many if your brass has the same problem as my Federal Gold Match .223 brass has. The primer pockets were on the loose side almost from day one (low loads in once fired brass).

Hope yours turns out better than mine.
- mike

What mho said...

I dedicated a new box of Federal GM brass to a Cooper 223 I bought (normally used LC for AR-15 use). Had read accounts of short Fed GM brass life from the Highpower crowd, but some of them lean on their brass quite hard.
Modest loads in the Cooper had the primer pockets loose after 2-3 firings. I know some report no such problem, but that's my account.
Maybe Federal "Match" is not the same as Gold Medal??

I will definatly keep a close eye on them. For $3 a hundred I thought it was a cheap experiment. Since I will be using a different load for the AR, I wanted some brass with a different head stamp to make it easier to sort out.

All the brass is 2005 production, so maybe (hopefully) it is better. I have been using Winchester brass with great results. If worse come to worse, I have a store of "break in" brass and will go back to the Winchester or get some new Remmington brass.

Makes sense. I always try to keep headstamps separate for different rifles in the same caliber. Makes life a lot simpler. And for the price you paid, you can't really complain.

Hey, if you are lucky, you may find that your brass is just fine and will last almost indefinitely... A friend of mine has been loading .223 Gold Match brass, and has had no problems with it.

- mike