I realize that I sometimes espouse the LC brass. Here is an example of why I think it is the best for those who kind of pinch their pennies.

I had loaded some test loads with a 50 gr. Hornady and 8208 powder last week and shot them. All 5 groups were under an inch but the velocity was lower than I wanted. So I loaded an additional 25 rounds for further testing. Out of those 50 cases for testing, not one of them had a run out of over .002. That in my book is about as good as it gets without buying Lapua brass.

I've never scientifically verified the superiority of LC 5.56 brass, but I've used Winchester and Remington in the past and LC just seems to be tougher and accuracy is never a problem. The only complaint I have is that when you buy once-fired brass, you have to deal with the primer crimp. The answer is to find unfired LC brass, which I have done...and I'm a happy camper!

Powder Valley sells once fired brass that is almost all Lake City. The batch I bought, for about $74 plus shipping, had had the primer pockets cleaned up, it had been full lenth sized, cleaned, and trimmed, all 500 of them. You might consider these. E

The good thing about LC brass (and WW) is that they are HARD, and run through an AR the best by far. I'm not tellin' anybody anything new here but you don't want to punch a primer (use WW or Rem 7 1/'s, NOT Federal's) in an AR as it makes a very nice pin punch out of that high dollar firing pin.-Muddy

Lake City is my favorite brass for 223. I buy it new when I can find it.

Its an even better deal when you pick it up off the ground for free.