Brass question

[okietool]

When I first started reloading, I read an article (?) in some reloading resource (I'm not sure where it was) that cautioned about reloading with military brass. The gist of it was the brass was heavier than commercial brass and would have a higher pressure with a lighter load. The moral was to not load max loads in miltary brass with out working up to them (common sense anyway).

My questions are:
Is there any tables / information about what a clean unfired case should weigh? (I can't see any other way to check the thickness of brass and not ruin it).

Is there any info on which ammo has the heavier (more durable) brass? (Winchester white box, etc.)

 

[Grumulkin]

1. Military 308 and 30/06 brass has less case volume so loads will probably have to be decreased by a grain or two. I don't think this is true of 223 brass but prudence would dictate you work up your loads for the particular brass you're using.

2. In the December 2008 issue of Handloader magazine there was a test of 308 Winchester brass durability. Nosler and Federal military brass, both 10 reloadings to failure, were the worst but still in the bottom half of the heap were Hornady, Federal plain and Federal nickel plated brass. Winchester brass was better than all Federal brass at 14 reloadings to failure. Remington plain and nickel plated were some of the best with 20 and 22 reloadings to failure respectively. Norma was the best with 24 reloadings to failure.

 

[Bevenue]

In 5.56 Nato it is false.

http://www.6mmbr.com/223rem.html About 1/3 of the way down.

 

[Rod Snell]

(

I can't see any other way to check the thickness of brass and not ruin it).

Standard practice is to CC case volume with plain old water. The volume of the case is what determines the expansion ratio, which greatly affects pressure curve. This has been done by critical rifle shooters for over 100 years.

For most straight pistol cases, forget it for all but the absolute max loads.