223 brass and Benchmark load

B

BangFlop

Member
What is everyone using for 223 Rem brass? I know Lapua is the best, and will probably go that route at some point, however, I hate to be ejecting them in the snow and loosing them.

Where can one buy Lake City brass at?

Anyone have thoughts on Starline vs Winchester vs Remington? Not really interested in Nosler or Norma as they are basically same price as Lapua and at that price point I’ll just go Lapua.

Will be loading Benchmark, CCI BR4 and 40 gr Ballistic Tips. Anyone have a load with this combination?

Thanks
Steve
 
Midsouth shooters supply had new LC brass so I picked some up this year. They sold out pretty quick. Blue ridge brass company is a good place to get lake city at a good price.

I used to run 27 gr of benchmark under 40 gr Sierra HP with real good accuracy. I used CCI400, not BR.
 
I get all my 223 brass from factory ammo that I put through my guns.

Watch for cheap deals on factory ammo is the best way to acquire brass for 223 in my opinion.

One big advantage to buying factory ammo is it provides me a bunch of extra ammo that I don't have to load. I use my 223's for a lot of my shooting practice and Norma TAC 223 shots less than 1 MOA in two of my guns and it is more than good enough for me to practice with for standing, kneeling or sitting positions. It isn't bad for prone shooting but I prefer my "hand loaded" ammo for the really precise practice shooting or hunting.

I don't think Lapua brass is worth the money for a 223 because a 223 isn't a long range gun. If you are using an AR it is going to chew it up and also can result in more lost brass than a bolt gun. I have Lapua brass for multiple other calibers and agree it is the gold standard in brass. The potential for a little extra accuracy and durability isn't worth the price to me. Even with cheap factory ammo brass I can get 1/2 MOA out my 223 but I do have to do extra brass prep work with it. I would highly recommend the Norma TAC223 factory ammo if you are looking for brass. It will provide good quality Norma brass without having to put as much work into the prep as cheap 223 factory ammo. I've bought Norma TAC223 on sell a couple time for less than $0.30 per round. I recently bought Nosler brand factory ammo 223 40 gr ballistic tips for less than $0.25 each. From what I understand Nosler brass is really Norma brass with a different head stamp.

If you plan on shooting your 223 in matches at more than 300 yards on a regular basis you might be able to justify buying Lapua but I doubt the Lapua brass is much better than my once fired norma brass. I really don't think the 223 is a really great round for coyotes beyond 200 yards and becomes really questionable for 400+ yards. Even though I don't think a 223 is a good long range or windy day coyote gun I still use it more than any other caliber. In the last couple years I've killed a majority of my coyotes with a 223 but I've also used 22-250, 6mm Creedmoor, 6.5 Creedmoor and 338 Lapua for coyotes in the last couple months.

Benchmarch is great powder and less temperature sensitive but you may also want to also try CFE223 powder. I loaded hundreds of rounds with CCI BR4 and Benchmarch powder but not with 40 gr bullets. I load 28 grains of CFE 223 with CCI BR4 and 40gr nosler Varmageddons at COAL 2.210" going around 3300-3400 fps (depending on barrel length)
 
There are several places on the net to buy once fired brass. You can keep an eye on here also. I've bought a few thousand off members on here. I also don't worry about separating brass anymore by manufacturer. If you are looking for absolute accuracy you can, otherwise I still get about 1-2 MOA and sometimes better. Ive loaded Benchmark with all kinds of 50 and 55gr pills with outstanding accuracy. Im Sure it would be great with 40s also
 
Last edited:
I'm looking for better accuracy than 1-2 MOA. More like .5 or less MOA. All of my rifles will shoot 1/2"-1" groups at 100 with factory. Some even better than that. Factory Black Hills in 223 and Federal Premium shoot really well.

Thanks all. I have tried google, but not having much luck with in stock on Lake City.

Steve
 
I like to just buy factory ammo in .223 to get brass too. A good one is Australian Outback Ammo loaded with the Sierra 69SMK. They use adi brass and it seems to be good.
 
So here’s a thought: buy a few hundred rounds of mixed once fired brass, load ‘em up and shoot ‘em and see how it goes. I’ve found that my 223’s care more about powder and bullet than brass. I’ve not loaded 40 grain bullets (my apologies for sticking my snout in on that point) but have had great accuracy using 25 grains of Benchmark with 50 to 55 grain bullets and either CCI or Winchester small rifle primers. I use that same 25 grains of Benchmark with 72 grain hollowpoints in my 6x45. It’s good stuff.

And again I apologize for drifting off the topic...
 
Last edited:
Some Bench Mark pro’s on here have strongly recommended CCI 450’s for that powder. You may also consider Reloader 7 for those bullets.

I like Federal Premium brass if you are not going to get carried away with your powder charge. Winchester brass is spotty with quality control these days. Remington is ok’ish.

Like others on here i plink with LC nato stuff and the re-load it. Its strong brass. So is Winchester.

Buy a chrono or magneto speed instead of luxury brass.
 
I've found that 223 chambered rifles aren't very picky about the brand of brass you use and that the bullet is really the most important factor by far since the 223 cartridge, like the 308, is basically inherently accurate.

My favorite powder was always Varget for 223 because it is usually mildly compressed on max loads and it's very temperature insensitive.

Primers are usually whatever I've had on hand.

I've always favored the Vmax bullets from Hornady but thought that Nosler bullets had a slight accuracy and BC edge so when I'm shooting medium to moderately long range I switched to Nosler and when I wanted to squeeze the longest range I could get out of a 223 I use Sierra Match Kings and these days I favor the Sierra Tipped Match Kings (TMK).
 
I'm a brass goblin. I see brass and I pick it up. I have a 5 gal bucket of rancge pickup. 223.

I used to run mixed range brass for hunting so I wouldnt care if it got lost. Hot decent groups but eventually wanted better.

Switched to LC Brass and sorted them by volume. Groups and SD/ES both shrank greatly.

Still wanting more on the range I snagged some Lapua cases when they were on sale and again saw improvements.

I wont take the Lapua cases hunting I will continue to run the sorted LC. Even just running same LC brass from same lot of factory ammo has done well.
 
Originally Posted By: the noobieI'm a brass goblin. I see brass and I pick it up. I have a 5 gal bucket of rancge pickup. 223.

I used to run mixed range brass for hunting so I wouldnt care if it got lost. Hot decent groups but eventually wanted better.

Switched to LC Brass and sorted them by volume. Groups and SD/ES both shrank greatly.

Still wanting more on the range I snagged some Lapua cases when they were on sale and again saw improvements.

I wont take the Lapua cases hunting I will continue to run the sorted LC. Even just running same LC brass from same lot of factory ammo has done well.

What methods are you using to sort LC brass by volume?
 
I bought a box of new Nosler 223 brass at Cabelas. I believe that Lapua makes the brass for Nosler. Well, about 1/4 of the necks split the first time I shot them. Used 25 grains of Benchmark. I think it was just a bunch of bad brass.
 
Never heard of Nosler=Lapua. I've heard that Nosler brass was made by Norma in the start and now Nosler owns a brass plant and makes their own? For some reason, I thought it was starline...
 
Back
Top