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Originally Posted by Kenlguy
With so much other stuff to choose from, I try to avoid using Fed brass for that very reason.


But it's so easy to score once-fired Blue Box stuff at the range - it's free! (Yeah, I dumpster dive on occasion)

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I was gifted 1,100 rounds of Federal Gold Match .308 Win. once fired brass by a friend on the Border Patrol. it's practically unusable as the primer pockets are extremely loose. I have other .308 win. brass by Remington and Winchester that have been loaded with fairly warmish load and their primer pocket never got to be as loose as those once fired Federals.
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Two observations:

I used to buy a lot of Federal component brass, before they discontinued it maybe 15 years ago. Never had any more problem with loose primer pockets than any other major brand of brass--and their Match brass was pretty tough.

Then they quit offering component brass, and like many others I noticed more loose primer pockets after an initial firing of factory ammo. Which in some ways makes sense, especially during the Great Obama Shortages, when major companies quit selling component brass, because they were selling ever round of factory ammo they could crank out. All they had to worry about with factory ammo brass was that it would work the first time.

Haven't used any Federal component brass since they recently started offering it again.


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Originally Posted by PJGunner
I was gifted 1,100 rounds of Federal Gold Match .308 Win. once fired brass by a friend on the Border Patrol. it's practically unusable as the primer pockets are extremely loose. I have other .308 win. brass by Remington and Winchester that have been loaded with fairly warmish load and their primer pocket never got to be as loose as those once fired Federals.
Paul B.


That's strange, as all of my 308 brass comes from two local Tac units and some I've reloaded three times and fired from either a Sako AII or an AR 10 with Remington or Federal primers.

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So, has anyone actually tested the freshly manufactured Federal brass to see if they have improved it? Load 5 to 10 cases with max. loads as many times as it takes for them to degrade.

223 brass would be great to beat the snot out of.


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Federal once fired brass is what I use mostly these days since I can no longer import LC brass..
I use it for 6.5/260 up to .358..
Have also resized and trimmed to 6.5 & 6mm Creed before I was able to get some factory brass..
I generally start off testing loads up to and past max. book loads..
When I get to what "I" consider max load in my rifle I fire 10+ loads from the same brass to see if the primer pockets enlarge to the point they are unuseable..
I also anneal the case once or twice during the testing..
Case in point recently loaded a .308 up to 3 grains past book max using Alliant 2000-MR under a 185gr Berger Juggernaut..
Fired 12 times and the case is still useable but retired to a dummy round for die adjustment with the same bullet..
Rounded primers, very little primer cratering, no stiff bolt lift, and "very little carbon blow back on the neck"**
** that is what I am looking for..


To the OP, you must have gotten some very poor or overused Fed. brass..
The primer just fall out with the slightest wiggle.
Something very fishy about the primers "just falling out"..

Last edited by Nrut; 09/17/19.

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My primers have shown no signs of pressure beyond what would be normal with my experience. The bolt lifted normally, no sticking. I have not used the whole bag of brass yet. Just maybe a soft bat h.

I did Bite the. Bullet and pick a box of Norma brass up yesterday.


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with federal it depends on the caliber. Their .223 brass is notoriously soft but i can tell you from experience their 270 wcf brass is actuary pretty good.

Of the cheap brass i prefer Remington or PMC


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Back Country if you only use Federal and keep the lots together you should have no issues. It is only when switching brands that the issues arose. You could also chalk it off to bad reloading practices by changing components and not re-working the load.


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Gonna keep my Federal brass, just that I was looking for similar incidences.

"food for thought"


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Originally Posted by Adk_BackCountry
Gonna keep my Federal brass, just that I was looking for similar incidences.

"food for thought"

The 7RM load my bud took to Africa was 160 gr. NAB, 215 Fed primers, 67.5 gr. RL-26 @ 3,000 fps and in FEDERAL brass...

His trophies, my reloads... No problems, no issues. He was very pleased with the performance of that load.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/13730191/6

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Like some other guys here, I found Federal bulk brass in .308, 65x55, and 30-06 that came with primer pockets loose from the get-go. So I measured some primer brands, and discovered that the 5k lot of CCI 200's were substantially larger in diameter. Problem solved. The 6.5 Swede and the .308 brass were then fired in NRA Sporting Rifle Highpower numerous times. I don't think I dropped many points going from Fed 210M(atch) to the plain ol' CCI 200's.


Well this is a fine pickle we're in, should'a listened to Joe McCarthy and George Orwell I guess.
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Adk????: No.
Hold into the wind
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Originally Posted by Tejano
Back Country if you only use Federal and keep the lots together you should have no issues. It is only when switching brands that the issues arose. You could also chalk it off to bad reloading practices by changing components and not re-working the load.

You're probably right on bad reloading practices. "shot in the dark" no pun intended.

But whenever I stick to one task I fail. I just don't think it is about switching brands though. But, just because Rem is strong doesn't mean Federal should be weak. I used Federal because I have Federal, just the same with Rem.

Now that I have Norma in the mail it should complicate my reloading even more so.


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In nasty 5 shot 45 Colt loads Federal is the only brass I’ve used

Rem and Win give 1-5 reloads......Federal just keeps going.

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I have the opportunity to pick up plenty of brass at our local range...

What I don't pick up there, I buy from one of our campfire members who owns a shop here in town...The BrassMan..
he get used brass from Police Depts, Sierra Bullets, Weatherby etc..

since I use to live near Anoka MN, where Federal is located, I prefer it a lot due to that fact alone..

I haven't had the issues you guys mention about primer pockets being loose...
yeah, I use CCI primers a lot and S & B ( they were on sale at Oregon Located Cabelas a lot, for cheap)

223 and 243 predominantly, as the most common calibers I shoot a lot of...
and then range pick up 308, I neck down to 260 Rem...

even tho I run a lot of low pressure loads for range duty, I also run a lot at max SAAMI pressures, and using a lot of powder in the IMR 4895 and 4064, 3031 range...

Loose primer pockets has not been an issue... I anneal every time I reload them, after reading that is what Scenarshooter is doing for his...ya can't go wrong following whatever Pat does....I'm seeing 20 and 30 loads out of them, and still have life left in the cases... to include the primer pockets...

whether I get them from John Johnson over at BrassMan... or they are range pickup... my cost investment is low, so I could toss them... but I don't do so, until the brass gives up the ghost....

any loose pockets in any brass, I switch to CCI primers and keep the pressure down in the 40K to 45K pressure range according to the reload manuals....and they keep working just fine...


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Right now Federal has a 20% rebate on brass, and Midway has some on sale.


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I trust Federal 'factory ammo:, but have had many issues with fired brass. The last batch of "supposedly once fired brass" from a guy one GB was in 7mm RM. I had loaded some 175gr Sierras, not heavily compressed but slightly. The nect day, as I'm getting ready to go to the range, I just happened to check my handloads...30% of them were "split" right up the side! I had to pull the bullets, recover the powder. I consider them the softest brass out there, myself.

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Originally Posted by Adk_BackCountry
Anyone having issues with enlarged primer pockets with Federal brass? I have loaded Remington brass with the same exact charge and primers but no issues present. Standard reloading manual charges.


Have you taken a chronograph reading with both brands of brass? You could be running a hot load because the internal volume in the federal brass is less.

Privi brass in 30-06 takes 2.2 grains less powder than Winchester brass to get the same speed. Privi is heavier which I’m presuming equals less case capacity.

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I've thousands of Federal brass for many diff carts and never had an issue with it being soft. Heck, it's actually a lot better than Remchester in consistency and concentricity proves that without turning. Some was bought once fired, most bought new, and no issue with any. The brass is thicker(less capacity) and does require loads to be reduced when originally developed with thinner brass. I've had soft brass with other manufacturers(mostly Win), so it's definitely a possibility. It's not the norm for sure as I know many that have good luck with Fed as well. One good friend that loads a ton of ammo prefers it right behind Lapua. Hard to form a broad opinion on Fed based on WSM brass as it's quite common to have max psi signs on factory WSM loads.

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