FC headstamp brass any good?

[outrider58]

I measured some today and came up with the same wall thickness as Lake City using my digital caliper. Both the LC and the FC 13 came to .0115'' at the neck.

 

[dist1646]

Get it while you can! The government just ordered HUGE quantities of ammo for the military!

 

[BradMacc82]

You should be able to get more than a few loadings out of them before the pockets open up on you - provided you're not looking for pure velocity with every loading.

When I loaded for 300BLK, the 110gr Vmax's I could push beyond 2400fps out of a 16" tube, but brass life was significantly reduced - by the 4th loading they were done. Dialed them back down some and brass life improved greatly, along with accuracy. Think I got on average 6 or 7 loadings before they started getting loose in the pockets.

In the .260, I have some Federal brass that's in the double digits on loadings. Haven't thinned at the web, no split necks, pockets are still snug - but almost to the point of being retired now.

So yeah, that FC brass should treat you well.

 

[Pinecone]

FC with a year stamp is military brass, same as Lake City.

FC without a year stamp is commercial brass. Many people have reported that it has softer heads and the primer pockets get loose quickly.

 

[John from MD]

I advise you not to swage them too much as they seem to loosen up faster that other brands.

I see most of the FC cases loosen up in my 300 BO and I am only shooting 150gn cast bullets at 1600 FPS. They loosen up in .223 but not as often and I have that cooking at 3200 FPS.

Regards,

John

 

[teratos]

FC with a year stamp is military brass, same as Lake City. FC without a year stamp is commercial brass. Many people have reported that it has softer heads and the primer pockets get loose quickly.

It has the year stamp. I think I'm just gonna load these and put them away. My SHTF stockpile.

I advise you not to swage them too much as they seem to loosen up faster that other brands. I see most of the FC cases loosen up in my 300 BO and I am only shooting 150gn cast bullets at 1600 FPS. They loosen up in .223 but not as often and I have that cooking at 3200 FPS. Regards, John

Thanks, I'll take it easy on the swager.

 

[tony b]

no problems for me with FC so far

 

[Muleskinner]

Is there really that much difference? ATK runs the LC plant for the government. They also produce all the ammo for Federal, Fusion Ammunition, CCI/Blazer/Speer, Estate Cartridge, and Black Cloud...If Federal cases are good, wouldn't all ATK cases be the same?

 

[Pinecone]

No, different equipment and different specs.

ATK RUNS the Lake City plant, USG owns the equipment. Federal commercial is made by ATK in their own plant, with their own equipment. The FC brass with a date (FC 16), is not the same as Federal commercial (FC or Federal or FCC).

If ATK loses the contract to run LC, and say Remington runs it, the brass will be the same as when ATK ran it.

 

[BigDaddy]

None of this answers the OP question, but such a question attracts a wide audience. For people following along, General Dynamics brass has some good reviews on Midwayusa. My son bought some and my Sinclair primer pocket uniformer had nothing to do. I'm not sure the primer pocket deburring tool did anything either.

My experience 20 years ago with "processed" mil spec brass was 30 headstamps per 1000 and significant differences (85-105 gr) between various headstamps. I did not keep those records to tell you which were heavy and which were light.