Is there any benefit in using military brass over commercial brass for .223/5.56mm?

[zippygaloo]

I have a 5.56mm chamber.

Is there any benefit in using military brass over commercial brass for .223/5.56mm if you use the published load data in the available reload manuals?

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[deen_ad]

.223 and 5.56 are not the same. The 5.56 has higher pressure and the brass is usually thicker. The overall length can be different also ans the spec for leade is different with the .223 being longer.

You can fire .223 in a 5.56 chamber but not always the other way around.

 

[deadshot2]

.223 and 5.56 are not the same. The 5.56 has higher pressure and the brass is usually thicker. The overall length can be different also ans the spec for leade is different with the .223 being longer.

You can fire .223 in a 5.56 chamber but not always the other way around.

This is somewhat of an urban legend, that the 5.56 brass is "thicker". That was true for 7.62x51 NATO but the 5.56mm round is a .223 round. That's where the military got the 5.56, from the civilian varmint round. The only difference is that the "leade" in the military chamber is longer so it is more "forgiving" of the higher pressures used by NATO rounds.

Just like any other brass, thicknesses vary by manufacturer and loads should be worked up according to the specific brass.

 

[trixter]

I have used aolut 3000 Lake City 09 and 10 date stamped, and they were purchased very reasonable, very reasonable! Just be sure to have some way to reconfigure the primer pocket (I use the RCBS primer pocket swaging tool). Very reasonable and consistent.