Federal gold metal brass

[MoMopacksa45]

Gentelmen: What is the general opinion of Federal Gold metal brass for reloading? Such as numbers of loadings that can be expected. Quality compared to lets say Winchester brass.

Thanks in advance, Mike Semper Fi!

 

[nn8734]

IMO it’s middle of the road brass, not horrible but don’t expect super world-beating consistently in terms of MV with it. But for practical shooting, it’s a decent option for the money.

One prominent issue is weak primer pockets moreso than other brass manufacturers. But as long as you’re not hotrodding to much, you should get a decent amt of reloads per case.

Depending upon what cartridge you’re loading for, case capacity relative to other brands can be less so keep in mind when working up a load.

 

[rustyinbend]

Answer to that is ... it depends. Depends on the heat of the loads. Depends on whether it's annealed and how often. Depends on how much it's manipulated during sizing. <blah blah blah> It's decent brass, so it should last 6+ firings if it's treated well ... a lot more if it's treated "very" well.

 

[hlee]

Federal brass is great for "match loads," because it doesn't really matter if you lose them...

 

[Doom]

Someone somewhere sectioned a couple of pieces of 308 (?) which showed a thinner base than some other brands which explains the typical complaint about primer pocket growth with hotter loads. From my experience, limited to 308, FGMM brass is no different than any FC brass. It is however very consistent. I weighed 40 rounds and the spread was less than 1 grain.

 

[NH4X]

My shooting buddy retired his brass after the 14 th loading (loose primer pockets ) 223 rem . He runs his loads wide open ,pedal to tha medal......no annealing ,F L sizing....ymmv

 

[MOUNTIC]

Decent brass. I reload it 4x on my 308s and then scrap it. So 5x fired total.

 

[918v]

Someone somewhere sectioned a couple of pieces of 308 (?) which showed a thinner base than some other brands which explains the typical complaint about primer pocket growth with hotter loads. From my experience, limited to 308, FGMM brass is no different than any FC brass. It is however very consistent. I weighed 40 rounds and the spread was less than 1 grain.

It is not thinner. The reason the primer pockets fail is because the brass is soft.

 

[spife7980]

Quality compared to lets say Winchester brass.

Id say its about the same

 

[Steel head]

It’s decent but doesn’t like to be pushed hard.

 

[Doom]

It is not thinner. The reason the primer pockets fail is because the brass is soft.

I think this may be the thread I remembered.

You are being redirected...

FWIW, I grabbed these two and sectioned them. Best I could tell the FC was 0.068” and LC was 0.072”, making the FC about 5-1/2% thinner.

 

[Doom]

Because I inherited about 200 pieces from a local sheriffs dept, I shot my 308 168SMK load of 43gr of 4064 and measured the primer pocket growth and could not detect any growth, but this is a mild load. Didn’t continue shooting it because I had a friend donate 125 pieces of Lapua to the cause.

 

[918v]

I think this may be the thread I remembered.

You are being redirected...

FWIW, I grabbed these two and sectioned them. Best I could tell the FC was 0.068” and LC was 0.072”, making the FC about 5-1/2% thinner.

That is not the reason the pp are failing. Win and Hornady are thinner than LC and their primer pockets hold up just fine.

 

[texastonk]

I run it in my 308 and 300 win mag.
I don’t load it hot, 44.5g Varget. Around 6-7 firings is what’s been common.
I have a ton of 300 win and have only got to 3 firings on a few hundred of them. No issues. It is good brass in my opinion.

 

[ShtrRdy]

I've had good experiences with Federal Gold Metal brass from 308 and 6mm Creed ammo. I've loaded some pieces 3 times so far. I don't know when I'll start having problems.

 

[Doom]

That is not the reason the pp are failing. Win and Hornady are thinner than LC and their primer pockets hold up just fine.

No argument. Hardness is a factor, and a significant one. I just broke those two down and reported what I found.