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May 9th, 2014
Lake City vs. Lapua — which brass is harder? And how about Remington vs. Winchester? Is the widely-held belief that Win brass is harder than Rem brass really true? To help settle these burning questions (raised in a Forum thread), Forum member Catshooter recently sampled the base hardness of four brands of .223/5.56 brass. He employed a very impressive tool for the task — a $2,500 Ames Hardness Gauge. Catshooter explained that his Ames Guage “is FAA certified and approved for testing aircraft engine parts — it does NOT get any better than that!”
Catshooter measured four cases picked at random from batches of Lake City (LC) 2008 (5.56x45mm), Lapua .223 Rem Match, Winchester .223 Rem, and Remington R-P .223 Rem.
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| Lake City |
Lapua Match |
Winchester |
Remington |
Photo Shows Ames Gauge Base Hardness Measurement on Lake City Brass
Photo Show Ames Gauge Base Hardness Measurement on Winchester Brass
 TEST RESULTS
Using Rockwell hardness standards (.062″x100kg, Rockwell “B”), the brass measured as follows:
LC 2008 = 96
Lapua 223 Match = 86
Winchester 223 = 69
Remington “R-P” = 49
Summary of Test Results
Catshooter writes: “For all you guys that have believed that Winchester cases were tougher than Remington — you are vindicated, they are a lot tougher! However, Lake City and Lapua are ‘the pick of the litter'”. Catshooter notes that both Lake City and Lapua are significantly harder than either Winchester and Remington .223 brass. That’s something that we’ve observed empirically (Lapua and LC stand up better to stout loads), but now we have some hard numbers to back that up. Hats off to Catshooter for settling the hardness debate with his Ames Hardness Gauge.
March 5th, 2011
 Winchester recently issued an important product safety notice, recalling certain lots of Winchester 64gr Power-Point .223 Rem ammo. According to The Firearm Blog, “catastrophic failures destroyed a number of law enforcement AR15 type rifles.” That Blog cited LEO agency notices describing guns that suffered cracked uppers and bowed lowers after firing Winchester’s 64gr Power-Point .223 Rem ammo. Rifles built by three different manufacturers (Colt, Bushmaster, and Stag Arms), all sustained similar damage. Below is Winchester’s Recall Notice dated 3/1/2011:
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PRODUCT WARNING AND RECALL NOTICE
WINCHESTER® RANGER® LAW ENFORCEMENT 223 Remington 64 Grain Power-Point®
Olin Corporation, through its Winchester Division, is recalling six (6) lots of its RANGER® 223 Remington 64 Grain Power-Point® (PP) centerfire rifle ammunition (Symbol Number RA223R2).
Lot Numbers (last four characters): DK01, DK11, DK21, DK31, DK41, and DK51
Through extensive evaluation Winchester has determined the above lots of RANGER® Law Enforcement ammunition may contain incorrect propellant. Incorrect propellant in this ammunition may cause firearm damage, rendering the firearm inoperable, and subject the shooter or bystanders to a risk of serious personal injury when fired.
 DO NOT USE WINCHESTER® RANGER® 223 REMINGTON 64 GRAIN POWER-POINT® AMMUNITION THAT HAS A LOT NUMBER ENDING IN DK01, DK11, DK21, DK31, DK41 or DK51. The ammunition Lot Number is ink stamped inside the right tuck flap of the 20-round carton, as indicated here:
To determine if your ammunition is subject to this notice, review the Lot Number. If the last four characters of the Lot Number are DK01, DK11, DK21, DK31, DK41 or DK51 immediately discontinue use and contact Winchester toll-free at 866-423-5224 to arrange for replacement ammunition and free UPS pick-up of the recalled ammunition.
This notice applies only to RANGER® 223 Remington 64 Grain Power-Point® centerfire rifle ammunition with lot numbers ending in DK01, DK11, DK21, DK31, DK41, and DK51. Other Symbol Numbers or Lot Numbers are not subject to this recall.
If you have any questions concerning this RANGER® Law Enforcement ammunition recall please call toll-free 866-423-5224, write to Winchester (600 Powder Mill Road, East Alton, IL 62024 Attn: RA223R2 Recall), or visit our website at www.winchester.com.
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April 20th, 2010
Need “value-priced” .223 Rem Brass? Then give Graf & Sons a call. Graf’s has NEW Lake City Mil-Spec .223 Rem (5.56) unprimed brass on sale for just $19.99 per 100 cases. That’s right… just twenty bucks per hundred. But this sale price expires Friday 4/23/2010 at midnight. Large quantities of sale brass were on hand at this price as of 12:00 noon CST on 4/21. To order, visit Grafs.com, or call 1-800-531-2666.
Many shooters feel that Lake City makes some of the best .223 Rem (5.56×45) brass available. And it’s hard to beat Graf’s price for this LC 2009 headstamp brass (item FDU223). This is a good opportunity for varminters and service rifle shooters to lay in a large supply of quality brass.
August 31st, 2009
The Indian Army has introduced a new Modern Sub-Machinegun Carbine (MSMC) that shoots an interesting new round, a shortened version of the 5.56×45 (.223 Remington). According to The Firearm Blog, “The [MSMC] chambers a round developed in India called the 5.56×30mm. This round is sometimes referred to as the ‘5.56×30mm INSAS’ after the first gun to chambered the round, the INSAS Carbine.”
This is an interesting cartridge, reminiscent of the 5.56×30 MARS cartridge originally developed by COLT for its Mini Assault Rifle System (MARS) project (see below). The MARS gun never went into full production, and the 5.56×30 cartridge remained an orphan. But it was an interesting cartridge. As designed, using just 16.8 grains of commercial ball powder, Colt’s 5.56×30 cartridge could launch a 55gr FMJ bullet at 2600 fps.
We are intrigued by the new Indian 5.56x30mm cartridge because it would seem very well-suited for varminting, either in .22-caliber form, or necked down to .20 caliber or even .17 caliber. We already have a similar cartridge, of course, the 221 Fireball, but right now there is only one manufacturer of 17 and 221 Fireball brass, namely Remington.
If the Indian 5.56x30mm cartridge is produced in large quantities, perhaps we could see budget-priced 5.56x30mm brass exported for sale in the American market. That would be a boon for high-volume varminters. Also, if the Indian 5.56x30mm is standardized internationally, perhaps one of the European brass manufacturers (Lapua, Norma, RUAG, Wolf?) would consider producing it as an alternative to the 221 Fireball. We can only wish that a 20-cal or 17-cal version of the Indian 5.56x30mm cartridge might be produced some day as inexpensive factory ammo. Many varminters are now looking at centerfire options to the 17 HMR cartridge, as 17 HMR ammo prices continue to climb. A 50-round box of 17 HMR can now cost $14.00 or more.
August 11th, 2009
Grafs.com is currently offering Prvi Partisan .223 Remington brass at very attractive prices. 100 cases cost just $22.99, and that includes shipping (but not the $4.50/order handling charge). Bulk orders of 500 or 1000 cases are even less. This is boxer brass, fully reloadable. The PRVI brass is very good brass for the price. We have tried it in the Prvi Partison loaded ammo as well as in reloads. The brass holds pressure well and is more weight-consistent than some brands of domestic .223 brass. This is a good choice for large-quantity varmint loads.
NOTE: Some lots of Prvi Partisan milsurp 5.56×45 loaded ammo have arrived in the US with crimped primer pockets. When reloaded, those cases may require prep with a primer pocket swager to ease primer seating. The unloaded, new .223 Rem brass sold by Graf & Sons is UNPRIMED and has not been crimped, so you should have no difficulty seating primers.
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