I've been reloading since 1993. I have 60+ sets of dies.

However I have never reloaded for 5.56. I have loaded precision 223 for target and varmint hunting. I always used a single source of brass either factory ammo or new brass


I have several 5 gallon buckets of mixed 223/556 I have picked up over the years.

I know Remington ran the LC plant then Winchester then Federal and I think its back to Winchester now.

I do have a 5 gallon bucket and a half of LC 22 that all came of the same line. Thanks to about a dozen guys who had a 100 yd blast fest. I'll keep it separate from the others. Boxes in garbage all had the same lot #

There is also a bunch of LC 223 headstamps I have separated since there is several hundred along with PS 81. Someone must have shot up an old hoard of about a thousand one day. This is the South Korea military version of PMC

So I was thinking of just mixing all the odds and ends 556 and 223 as the cases are the same. Only difference between is 556 is loaded to a little higher pressure and the led in is about twice as long as 223.


Since the plant has 24 separate lines I'm guessing the variations between years are not much more if any as between what line it came off.

Is Lake City worth separating by years ?

I have been loading for .223/5.56 for 25 years Brad’s varies had a lot of pmc 223 brass from years ago since it was always on sale then. Over the years have collected a lot along the way too.

I had a mini 14 with .223 chamber and my armalite and other ar are 5.56 chambers and have just loaded and shit through both rifles with zero issues.

If I want precision stuff I will separate that brass to have all matching but for general plinking I just load it.

I don’t really load hot either I usually stick to 24.5 of h335 for a 55fmj for
example. I guess if loading near max it might make difference but I never come close

What are your goals for the load? Just plinking, hunting, target, or precision shooting? That will determine how you should proceed.

Your LC223 probably will be the same as the LC22 brass as far as weight, likely all made on scamp machinery.  I mix stuff like that together for blasting ammo.  But I would not for more precise shooting or defensive loads.  And generally if I can load a batch of one headstamp I will do it, and then load the same into a different batch of brass, so they are separated, even if getting the same charge and bullet.

Basically the main difference you will find will be weight, which means internal volume, which will mean pressure differences.  If you want to just load everything with one generic load, I would keep it pretty mediocre, and test it with a variety of headstamps before moving onto volume loading.

Agree with above... for any accuracy oriented load, sort brass.  If you want easy blasting 223, don't bother.  Just expect large extreme spreads, and don't go super hot, both due to brass variation.  For relatively close range training work, it doesn't matter.

I have always sorted by weight.  The heavy stuff never sees a press, as it has less internal volume and loads that fill a "normal" case to the bottom of the neck have risen right to the case mouth and even over in heavy stuff.  It is quicker for me to put a case on the digital than to read the headstamp.

For target/match ammo I sort by headstamp and weight.

I will join the others.  

I try to keep things segregated but for me things happen.

Match stuff is same lot and head stamp.  
The closest to a mixed brass lot I do is a mixed lot of LC that got commingled.  Several year stamps that I keep together and run a modest 55 fmj training load, I am not running a top 5.56 pressure even though I likely could.  I just keep my safety margins as I see that I gain nothing needed to run up to the edge.

I would not mix the PS head stamps in in your situation.  I have some Radway, IMI, Remington, and Winchester lots.  No reason to mix them for me.  The Winchester commercial brass gets run in a bolt gun.  I don’t even mix headstamps within a brand.  I have probably three batches of different winchester commercial stamps, likely four different federal, and a couple Rem and UMC iirc headstamps.

I have zero desire to mix them until they go in the scrap bucket as worn out junk.  You’ll always lose accuracy that way.  I shoot for score in service rifle type shooting or for groups for fun.  I am not a dirt clod make noise shooter.  If one’s accuracy requirement is low, say shorter range 3 gun and 4-5 moa is enough for your accuracy needs then it may be an option.

I separate LC by year even for blasting ammo.

If any kind of problem arises I prefer to know it ain't the brass. It may be more anal but I rarely have any issue at all

I separate brass by headstamp and # of times it has been fired.
I have system for blasting ammo.
Precision ammo is separated by gun and brass lot.

I separate LC from commercial, and thats as far as I take it.  
I use the commercial stuff for blasting ammo as its all mixed brass.
I use the LC from a wide variety of years for what I consider accuracy loads.

Thus far, Ive been able to get consistent 3/4" group with bullets I load for accuracy with mixed year LC brass.  Those bullets are 69gr RMRs & SMKs, and 77 SMKs.  
Could I get better results if I year sorted?  Probably.  However sub minute groups are good enough for what I use my ARs for.

I never separate Lake City by years of manufacture, but that's me. If memory serves me right, there was one year of LC that wasn't up to par, I can't recall the issue or the year.

Beware of foreign brass, I discovered Portuguese FNM-79 unprimed cases weighed 104 to 108 grains! That brass needed a substantial reduction in powder when being loaded. Lake City averages around 94 grains empty and unprimed.

I have gone through 4 1/2 buckets.

I kept the LC 22 bucket and a half that came from the guys who shot it all the same date. All the lot numbers on the boxes was the same. I'm guessing 10-12,000 cases, maybe more.

The 3 buckets contained mostly LC22 and LC21. About 2 to one in favor of the LC22. I came out with a full bucket of LC 22 and  half of bucket LC 21.

I think this is the stuff I picked up in the last couple years.

I also kept the LC 223 , AMMO INC, PMC,WIN USA 5.56, PS81, PPU20 These had 500 or more each and made more than half a bucket in gallon zip lock bags.

There was about a thousand of the PPU20 and I shot a case of it so I think its mostly or all mine.

There where some other LC brass of all years but less than a 100 in all 3 buckets. There where odd and ends of military and 223. Not many had more than 20 rounds. About every brand you can think of. That made a full bucket.

I'll use that stuff with a milder load to shoot closer steel and matches where it need to hit a body size target up close.

I going to work up a good load with the matching lot LC22 and then load it in the random LC22,LC21 and LC223 cases to see how much difference it makes.

The circles and dots on the back indicating which line/machine it came off are all over the place on the random LC22 and LC21.

I'm glad I cleaned all this as I brought it home and put it in sealed buckets with dry packs.

Just need to figure out how I'm going to deprime and swage primer pockets. Most of this will get loaded on the 750



Anyone use one of these on a 750 ?

I separate almost all cases by HS & year... I also do a H2O capacity test, averaging 20 cases of each headsamp... I have found that you can't go by the weight advice, as sometimes cases with normal (~95gr) weight will have less internal volume than 'heavy' cases (102gr+). Cases that I have found to be smaller internal capacity include CBC, DNL, PMP and a few other foreign military... but you have to do the H2O test as a lot of cases you would think are heavy will have the normal 31.1~31.4gr H2O capacity.

Although velocity will be different, the thing you want to watch for is pressure differences with smaller volume cases. On the opposite end are cases with more volume than average - these will generally have lower pressure and velocity. IIRC these will include headstamps HB, 70's LC & WCC, Some S&B (1 bomb on HS) and a couple others... these will usually weigh in the 91~92gr range.

One reason for separation is to ID a batch of a particular load as belonging together, with similar primer, OAL, seating depth etc...
Another is to adjust the load for known small volume cases to match velocity of loads for regular cases.


The LC-21 & LC-22 I have tested hold 30.8 & 30.9 gr H2O which put them slightly less than the 31.1 LC average as a whole.
With a 62gr FMJ I load 25.8gr TAC which gives me 2900~2950 depending on the bbl.

wrong thread

Decap, tumble, size, trim the case length, then sort by weight of each piece of brass. If you are really dedicated, you can sort by flash hole size also. Don't worry about headstamps.

In general for anything other than precision event shooting like matches, I sort by only a few degrees of separation:

-# times loaded:  For pickups, 1x factory is usually obvious.  And if it looks like it's been reloaded ever, I'll either dump it, or segregate it into a fire & dump-on-location pile.  Also, all FC brass goes into that pile as well as Remington and Winchester.

-I segregate out known-thicker / European headstamps.  A hot load will behave differently in those at the upper end.  So Lapua, Norma, CBC, GECO, PPU, GFL all get piled up and run in a separate lot.  They aren't all the same thickness, just thicker than US/Asian brass.  PMC/LC/IMI/Frontier/Hornady all go in a US Pile together.

-I auto-dump any brass marked A-USA,  AMRC, or C J immediately and flick their memory off my hands with vigor - just run away.