Save $$ By Using Lake City 5.56x45mm Once-Fired GI Brass
Each Wednesday, the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit publishes a reloading “how-to” article on the USAMU Facebook page. A recent “Handloading Hump Day” post covered preparation of once-fired 5.56x45mm brass. This article, the first in a 3-part series, has many useful tips. If you shoot a rifle chambered in .223 Rem or 5.56x45mm, this article is worth reading.
This week, Handloading Hump-Day will answer a special request from several competitive shooters who asked about procedures for morphing once-fired GI 5.56mm brass into accurate match brass for NRA High Power Rifle use. The USAMU has used virgin Lake City (LC) 5.56 brass to win National Championships and set National Records for many years. In this 3-part series, we’ll share techniques proven to wring match-winning accuracy from combat-grade brass.
GI brass has an excellent attribute, worth noting — it is virtually indestructible. Due to its NATO-spec hardness, the primer pockets last much longer than most commercial brass when using loads at appropriate pressures.
Preparing Once-Fired GI 5.56 Brass for Reloading (Part 1 of 3)
Assuming our readers will be getting brass once-fired as received from surplus dealers, the following steps can help process the low-cost raw material into reliably accurate components.
1. Clean the Brass
First, clean the brass of any dirt/mud/debris, if applicable. Depending on the brass’s condition, washing it in a soap solution followed by a thorough rinsing may help. [This step also extends the life of the tumbling media.] Approaches range from low-tech, using gallon jugs 1/2 full of water/dish soap plus brass and shaking vigorously, to more high-tech, expensive and time-consuming methods.
2. Wet-Tumbling Options (Be Sure to Dry the Brass)
When applying the final cleaning/polish, some use tumblers with liquid cleaning media and stainless steel pins for a brilliant shine inside and out, while others take the traditional vibratory tumbler/ground media approach. Degree of case shine is purely personal preference, but the key issue is simple cleanliness to avoid scratching ones’ dies.
If a liquid cleaner is used, be SURE to dry the cases thoroughly to preclude corrosion inside. One method is to dump the wet brass into an old pillow case, then tilt it left/right so the cases re-orient themselves while shifting from corner to corner. Several repetitions, pausing at each corner until water stops draining, will remove most water. They can then be left to air-dry on a towel, or can be dried in a warm (150° F-200° F max) oven for a few minutes to speed evaporation.
Shown below are Lake City cases after cleaning with Stainless Media (STM). Note: STM Case cleaning was done by a third party, not the USAMU, which does not endorse any particular cleaning method.
3. Inspect Every Case
Once dry, inspect each case for significant deformation (i.e., someone stepped on it), damaged mouths/necks and case head/rim damage. Some rifles’ ejectors actually dig small chunks of brass out of the case head — obviously, not ideal for precision shooting. Similarly, some extractors can bend the case rims so badly that distortion is visible when spinning them in one’s fingers. These can be used for plinking, but our match brass should have straight, undamaged rims.
Dented case mouths are common, and these can easily be rounded using a conical, tapered tool, [such as a .223 expander mandrel. A dummy 7.62 or .30-06 cartridge with a FMJ spitzer can also work.] If most of your brass is of one headstamp, this is a good time to cull out any odd cases.
4. Check the Primers Before Decapping
Your clean, dry and inspected brass is now ready for full-length sizing, decapping and re-priming. Historically, primer crimps on GI brass have caused some head-scratching (and vile language) among handloaders. Our next installment will detail efficient, easy and practical methods to remove primer crimp, plus other useful handloading tips. Until next week, Good Shooting!
NOTE: The USAMU Handloading (HL) Shop does not RE-load fired 5.56 brass. We use virgin LC brass with our chosen primer already staked in place. However, our staff has extensive personal experience reloading GI brass for competition, which will supplement the Shop’s customary steps. In handloading, as in life, there are many ways to accomplish any given task. Our suggestions are note presented as the “only way,” by any means. Time for loading/practicing is always at a premium. Readers who have more efficient, alternative methods that maintain top accuracy are invited to share them here.
Accuracy Potential of Mil-Surp 5.56×45 Brass
So, how accurate can previously-fired GI surplus brass be in a good National Match AR-15? Well, here’s a data point from many years ago that might be of interest. A High Power shooter who wrote for the late Precision Shooting magazine took a Bill Wylde-built AR match rifle to a registered Benchrest match. His first 5-round group ever fired in a BR match was officially measured at 0.231″ at 200 hundred yards. This was fired in front of witnesses, while using a moving target backer that confirmed all five rounds were fired.
He recounted that his ammo was loaded progressively with factory 52gr match bullets and a spherical powder using mixed years of LC brass with no special preparation whatsoever. Obviously, this was “exceptional”. However, he had no difficulty obtaining consistent 0.5-0.6 MOA accuracy at 200 yards using LC brass and a generic “practice” load that was not tuned to his rifle.
Saving Money by Using GI Brass
So, with good commercial brass readily available, why would one go to all the extra steps necessary to process fired GI brass? [Editor: It’s about saving money.]
Economically, it makes great sense. When the author was actively practicing and competing with the service rifle, he had ~3,000 rounds of 5.56mm brass, which allowed him to load during winter and spend most time in the summer practicing. If one were wealthy and wanted to shoot nothing but the finest imported brass, the current cost of 3,000 is ~$1920 (plus shipping.)
Dropping down to good, but less-expensive new, U.S. commercial brass brings the price to a much more realistic ~$720. However, at current rates, the same amount of surplus GI once-fired brass costs between $120 — $150, leaving lots of room in the budget for other expenses. [Editor: that’s less than 10% of the cost of the best imported brass.]
Similar Posts:
- How to Prep Once-Fired Lake City 5.56 Brass for Match Use
- How to Prep Mil-Surp 5.56 Lake City Brass — Save Money
- How to Prep Mil-Surp Once-Fired Brass
- How to Prep Milsurp 5.56 Brass for Match Use — USAMU Tips
- USAMU Reloading Tip — Prepping GI 5.56 Brass for Match Use
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Tags: 5.56x45, Brass Tumbling, Cleaning Brass, Lake City Brass, Reloading, USAMU
Been doing this sort of stuff since I started reloading in the 1970’s.
A couple of things I do / use:
Ensure there is only brass in each batch at each process. Dirt, seeds, sticks, etc make a mess of the gear.
“Raw” 1x brass gets deprimed without sizing. That way, there is no chance of damaging a sizing die.
After the depriming, cases get run through a Dillon 600 pocket “de-swager”.
First “wash” is a chemical one: Acid bath (Acetic (Vinegar) or Citric (from the home-brew supplier). This removes a fair bit of any oxide (nasty brown) on the cases.
Hot water rinse, then;
Quick sluice through a bath of “Washing Soda” (Sodium Carbonate) as found in the “Washing and Cleaning” aisle at the supermarket. Final hot rinse.
Shake off the water as per previous poster and lay out on clean beach towel in direct sunlight. This is less likely to cause domestic umbrage than “slow-cooking in the kitchen oven.
Now we get to the boring bit of sizing and trimming. Trim AFTER sizing as the brass will flow towards the neck, especially with “small-based” dies.
Mr. Dillon’s press-mounted power trimmer is a Godsend!
Chamfer and de-burr the necks, using the machinery of choice.
Final process: Polishing, if desired.
I got sick of “bowl” tumblers and bought a little Lyman rotary drum job. Their “secret sauce” is citric acid, so I just bought a couple of bags of the stuff from the home-brew shop and it works just fine. The tiny, magnetic stainless-steel pins do a splendid job, but it is interesting where they can be found, weeks after a polishing session.
More rinsing in hot, preferably distilled water, and drying as before.
Store your shiny trinkets in airtight containers, with desiccant packs as optional.
I tend to do these sessions in bulk, once or twice a year. Once the ex-mil brass is given “the treatment” you can scale back to an abbreviated process, just keep an eye out for over-long cases and “tired” primer pockets
I have been using this brass as well for a long time. One interesting thing I have found is the capacity it has. According to my scale it is some of the lightest stuff which means it has larger powder capacity than other brass. I learned that while making up loads for a .25-45. That cartridge is dependent upon case capacity. It is loaded to try to achieve velocities that are similar to those of the .250-3000. Of course it operates at higher pressures than the Savage 99’s were designed to handle. That means it is wise to find good brass which also has higher powder capacity.
The ammunition that is supplied by the Sharps Rifle Company has a similar weight, thus a similar capacity to the LC brass. It’s within about one grain of case weight.
Just a comment.
On the subject of brass and reloading, I shot National Match Course Competition for many years.First competition rifle was a Winchester made Garand, which I seriously doubt was one of the $3000 examples mentioned on DCM price lists. After about 12,000 rounds, mostly hand loads, I switched to bolt guns, Winchester Model 70 Target Rifles and a Remington 40X Rangemaster in .308 Winchester.
Regarding .308 Winchester, most of this brass came to me courtesy of the USMC at Quantico, where I used to shoot matches. The ammunition, military match stuff, had been fired in Match Grade M-14’s, that the marines were using back them. Fired in bolt action rifles, the cases lasted forever, or so it seemed. The 30-06 brass, fired in bolt guns, mostly military match, was very long lived too.
I have no experience loading 5.56 x 45MM ammunition for AR-15 type rifles, however based on my experience with Military Match brass, using reasonable loads, I expect that it would turn out to be quite good and long lived also.