nato 308 brass

[wasgas]

who is using nato brass, is it any good for reloading

 

[Johnboy]

its just as good as any other brass out their.the only reason don't use it is that I don't want to mess with the primer pockets.just haveing to mess with them turns me away from them.( crimped in primers )but this is only with used brass already been fired loaded for the goverment.

now if you are buying unloaded milspec brass then you are already ahead in the game.just work it like any other type of brass and load away.just remember that milspec brass is thicker and holds less powder than the rest.so working up from a mild load to a hot load can come fast at times depending on the powder.

 

[Dano1]

I actually use .308 Lake City and Lake City Match brass to make my .243 Ackley Brass. I traded into it and it was just a Ruger M77 MKII that the proir Owner had accurized and then set back the bbl and cut a new chamber and gave it a target crown. I had a problem splitting shoulders with factory .243 Brass, so I turned to making the brass out of the Military stuff. It has worked out great, Necking down in steps and then turning the necks and fireforming. They last a long time and I'm getting great accuracy from them.

I did start my loading using quickload data, but found quite quickly that I couldn't approach the max charges due to the thicker brass, I was able to get the velocity with a lighter charge.

If you are going to use them in a .308 for handloading, just be sure to work up and they'll shoot just fine.

Dan

 

[backwoods83]

I also use lake city and imi military brass for 243, 243ai, 260, and 308, most of the lake city, imi, and ivi military match brass once fired isn't crimped, they are thick, they last a long time and are very consistant in weight and internal capacity.

 

[RT2506]

On average it takes about 1 gr less powder to reach max pressure with the LC match cases than Rem cases I have found in my rifles.

 

[BillR]

Its all I use for my .308. I picked up about 1000 empty machine gun brass. Really was a PITA to get them all re sized due to their being so over sized but I managed. What the heck, it was free. The end results is fantastic though and the gun will if I do my part shoot under 1/4" if the moon and sun are just right. Its as tough a brass as any out there and mine seems to last forever. I do anneal my brass every other loading and so far have not lost a case and I have been trying to see how many loads from a small number of brass I can get before it goes bad but after 10 loadings it is still going.
Cutting the military crimp on the primer pocket was not a problem. I bought a RCBS Primer pocket swedge and just run them all over one of those and some I had to do twice to get it to let me seat a primer but once done their no different than any other case.
One of the guys on the board suggested that I use mink oil for a lube as I kept sticking cases so I gave it a try and after that I seldom stuck a case. To begin with I was sticking one in three cases in my reloading die. Once it is fired it is really great brass to work with though.

 

[Kevin Rohrer]

I use LC brass w/o a problem--once the former MG brass was resized. And it was a PAIN.