Short of benchrest (of which most don’t bother with .308 win anyways) why do people insist on using expensive brass?  Not judging, just curious. The annealer thread got me thinking about it. I know lots of folks who spend big money to stockpile a bunch of Lapua brass or the like for their reloading. I’ve been shooting reloaded TAA (Korean version of LC) or LC brass from M80 ball (not LR or 118LR) for years with excellent results. I think I’m still holding 2nd place in bolt gun division in the MOA all day with one of these loads.  I don’t have to worry about losing a piece here or there. Other than the one extra step during the first reload to swag the primer pockets it’s super easy. Despite the slightly reduced case volume I get nearly identical velocities with a worked up mil brass load as I do worked up commercial brass load. Additionally, the accuracy nodes are more pronounced with mil brass for some reason.  Getting fairly decent SD’s and sub MOA accuracy out to and just past the supersonic/transonic threshold.  I don’t segregate brass by weight or anything special.  So what gives?  Just curious why some folks scoff at the idea.

As for cost...I’m pretty sure I paid $30 for the last 1000 pieces of brass I bought, and they were most certainly fired from an M240 as they are LC 12 headstamped and some have slight corrosion before tumbling from where the links sit on the rounds.  I get 7-8 reloads out of brass if I stay away from nuclear loads, but typically toss them at 5 since I also shoot these through a gas gun and a case head separation there would be a little more sporty. So $30 In brass for 5000 trigger pulls.  

Second half of another 100 loaded up... 178 BTHP’s this time...

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Common half-MOA 5-shot groups at 100yds.

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Does Palma and F-TR count as Benchrest?

That's the thing - do what works for you.  Don't worry about what others do or what they think you should do.

If it works for you, keep doing it.

When your needs change - adapt.


P.S. - that is some fine shooting.

You can get excellent results with LC once fired brass.  The difference is in the prep time.  That LC needs to have its pr8mer pocket swaged then once sized it will need to be trimmed to length then you can load.  New, premium brass is ready to go.  I generally neck size new brass just in case of any damage that happened while ship.  

So, yes, if you want to save some $$$ And spend some time, by all means Us what your using.  I use new brass because my time is valuable.

I use FGMM because it's what my rifle shoots best from the factory, and I had zero brass before, so what else would I collect the brass from?

Also helps my brother had 200rds of 168gr (which doesn't shoot well for either of us), that I burnt up for the brass. So I have like 600pcs of FGMM brass fired in one of two chambers, which are only about 2thou off from eachother. Sometimes the rcbs precision mic can't tell the difference.

Never bothered to use standard commercial or mil brass for accurate loads, but I get respectable results from mixed cases, TAC and 150gr hornady FMJs. They shoot better than any M80 ball I've seen.

I shoot Palma. Lapua and Peterson brass are the only brands that yield the accuracy for me to be competitive in my sport without wasting a lot of time prepping and culling. The bonus is that they also allow for higher pressure and the brass lasts longer.

I stared loading 308 earlier this year and have only used 1x fired GFL and FC brass from factory loads I shot and have had good luck so far with 1 bolt gun and 1 semi. I was going to buy some 308 starline brass but I wasnt necessarily impressed with the 9mm brass when I compared it to others recently.

Did you cull it at all?

I bought 2k pull down LC cases a couple years back and weighed about 3 or 4 hundred and culled 10 on either end.  I set those aside and use them when I'm done with my load development.  I undercharge the light cases by 0.3grs and overcharge the heavies similarly.  If the load still shoots well (inside about 1.5 for 10rds), I know I'm good to go.  Even if I'm going to run them straight through old blue, they're going to be just fine.

Not at all. Never noticed any MOA plus fliers.

Time = money

I can get whatever LC brass I want for free from the range on my old base.

But I’d rather pay for Lapua then spend the time processing it anymore

With SRP brass you could get 20+ loads out of it.

I buy it because I can get lower standard deviation for long range shooting.  Using Lapua Brass I can get single digit standard deviation, doing the exact same reloading process with Hornady brass will typically put me at 12 to 13 FPS stand deviation. Probably wouldn’t make a difference at 100 yards but at 1000 yards it results in vertical stringing.  This is with a 6.5 Creedmoor but I would think the results would be the same with 308.

My SD’s are 10-15 depending on chosen seating depth, rifle, and bullet. Still makes no matter with ONG the effective range of .308. Stays MOA and that’s my standard for a load. I get it...I’m not debating LC is better than Lapua brass. I have plenty experience with how great their brass is in .338 LM.  I’m just questioning whether it’s necessary for about 80% of shooters. In the end we’ll all do it our own way, which is the only way I’d ever want it. Just tossing some food for thought out there. When my LC loads outshoot FGMM, they’re “good enough” for me.

I would ask "Where?', but there is a separate thread for that.

It was from a local guy that bought a bunch of DRMO brass. I didn’t quite need a dumpster full of it like he purchased so I was happy to spend a few bucks to get the amount I wanted.

Out of curiosity, what's your load for the 178gr BTHPs?

You can’t tell from the pictures?  


41.6 gr of RL15
2.810 COAL (to fit in 7.62 PMAG’s)
Fed 210M primers

I use Lake City or IMI brass exclusively in semi-auto rifles. With a 2.0 grain powder reduction I achieve similar results on target as commercial brass.

I use Winchester commercial brass or Lapua Palma brass for longer ranges from bolt action rifles. Both can handle higher charge weights and are of higher quality than military surplus. I routinely shoot Lake City/IMI through my bolt action rifles for short range (<300 yards).

I have never got Lake City once fired for anything near your cost posted. $175.00 per 1000 is probably the cheapest I have found. It's still a good deal. Four firings is all I expect from this brass. G.I. 7.62x51mm NATO headspace is considered still serviceable after closing on a .308 field gage. In other words, they are allowed dangerously excessive headspace by civilian standards.