Federal brass

[sable tireur]

As an interesting dichotomy, many years ago a good friend of mine bought one of the then 'new' AI sniper rifles chambered for the .308 Win. He did not reload at the time so he bought a selection of quality ammunition led by Federal GMM. At the conclusion of the testing, the Federal GMM was so much more consistent AND allowed him to shoot little tiny groups with factory ammunition. He showed me the targets which I quite frankly didn't believe, so we went out together to shoot more tests. The Federal whipped all the other brands of ammunition by a significant amount.

Three things came out of this:

- the combination of the AI rifle and the GMM ammunition was superb

- the AI chamber was significantly oversized so the Federal brass was oversized after firing

- the Federal brass WAS softer than other brands and could not be resized back down to factory spec after being fired in the AI chamber. In fact, it was this experience which forced me to make a removal tool for brass stuck in a die...

Now, if you want to use factory ammunition and you don't need to reload, the Federal is a very good product. If you really want to recycle and reload your brass, pick another manufacturer. We, as Americans, are blessed by the number of brass makers capable of delivering high quality products at decent prices.

 

[Dean2]

"IF" you cannot or do not want to use it for yourself, you can give it away here or donate it to your local youth shooting program.

Actually I sold it for scrap, along with a bunch of pickup brass and donated the funds to my range, which is non-profit. Fed brass is so bad I would not ever want inexperienced people reloading it, or youngsters shooting relaods in it.

 

[xsn10s]

http://www.longrangeonly.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-1515.html

MontanaMarine is NOT your average 30-06 shooter. My chambers I noted are all standard and have over 7-8 loadings on Federal brass. My AR15 5.56 chamber has 3-4 loadings on 223 rem Federal brass.

 

[FEENIX]

If people don't like federal brass, or haven't had good results with it that's fine. It could be that it's a component that doesn't work in a particular rifle for whatever reason. I just had have acceptable results with it. I'd really be interested in the load, components, and load data the OP was using. Specifically if his load data called for Federal brass and if he used all the same components as his load data.

Agreed! The worst brass I ever used was actually Remington but I never considered it junk because I was able to make it work.

 

[xsn10s]

Agreed! The worst brass I ever used was actually Remington but I never considered it junk because I was able to make it work.

Yeah I've seen a lot of folds and inclusions in Remington brass. Though not my favorite I've gotten it to work also.

 

[Canhunter35]

Agreed! The worst brass I ever used was actually Remington but I never considered it junk because I was able to make it work.

You haven't used imperial yet I'm guessing.
Federal and Remington are high end comparatively. Lol
Lately I've been slinging lead between 1100-1200yds with my 308. Comparing brand new Lapua brass, 4 times fired lapua brass that I annealed after 3x firings and federal and Remington brass with 7 firings, annealed at 3x and 6x firings, I'm getting identical results on the target. Same poi, same group size. My Federal brass flash holes needed to be uniformed and were smaller than the rest. Since doing so I've had consistent results.
I'm all for buying premium brass, but if you already own it, use it.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

Agreed! The worst brass I ever used was actually Remington but I never considered it junk because I was able to make it work.

I pretty much lump Fed, Rem and Win into the same category. Win might be a little better? I think "trying to make" sub par (my opinion) anything to work is wasting time and resources. Not only is Lapua a higher quality, better for precision shooting, it is more economical because you will get 3 or 4 or more times the firings out of it than the Fed, etc., less prep and on.

 

[xsn10s]

Well been shooting my 308 PSS since 1991 with Federal brass. It's been a consistent sub 0.5 moa shooter with many .100-.250" groups at 100 yard. I shoot that rifle out to 1200 yards no problem. My 30-06's are all just standard hunters which I like I said I shoot out to 800 yards. I've pushed it farther with them but just for fun. Nothing wrong with Lapua, it's excellent brass. The 500 Lapua cases I had to inspect for work were all very consistent and about the only brass that didn't need flash hole debur. I just have had fine results with Federal brass. YMMV.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

MontanaMarine is NOT your average 30-06 shooter. My chambers I noted are all standard and have over 7-8 loadings on Federal brass. My AR15 5.56 chamber has 3-4 loadings on 223 rem Federal brass.

My point for linking that thread was to show you can get more out of a 30-06 than a lot of folks might think.

 

[xsn10s]

My point for linking that thread was to show you can get more out of a 30-06 than a lot of folks might think.

Sure but that's not what the OP was looking for. He just wanted to see what people's results were with Federal brass in the 30-06.

 

[xsn10s]

As for me using Nosler, Hodgdon's, Sierra, and loads from Ken Waters Pet Loads my 30-06 loads using Federal brass has been predictable and consistent. I didn't always use all the same components list in the load data, but I started low and worked up. It's was easy and predictable with acceptable results.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

Sure but that's not what the OP was looking for. He just wanted to see what people's results were with Federal brass in the 30-06.

And I'm just giving the OP some advice in the way of options. He was having pressure issues and using Lapua brass would go a long way in solving that issue along with other benefits.

 

[xsn10s]

Okay that's your way which is fine. I'd like to know his load and load data. And his rifle.

 

[FEENIX]

I pretty much lump Fed, Rem and Win into the same category. Win might be a little better? I think "trying to make" sub par (my opinion) anything to work is wasting time and resources. Not only is Lapua a higher quality, better for precision shooting, it is more economical because you will get 3 or 4 or more times the firings out of it than the Fed, etc., less prep and on.

Sometimes what people lack in money, they make it up with time. The use of time is purely relative from one individual to the next. There is no argument that other brass requires more prep time.