Thread: Radway Green brass

Have 15kg of the stuff, and I think it's been fired through a machine gun, or something with a fairly loose chamber. If I size it with a (non-small base) RCBS die, it's not too bad. Through the Dillon Carbide die however, it damages the case near the bottom (pic below). Yes I am using lube, have tried more and a few sorts. Anyone want a crack at it?

Maybe the Dillon die isn't screwed in far enough to fully size it the length of the case. Looks like a nice wee wildcat. .22 belted magnum.

Got a photo of before the case has been sized?

I have had the same problem with that stuff. Using Hornady (non small base dies). They were being sized as mixed brass with a heap of others. None of the other brass was an issue.
They would jam up in my AR, usually requiring the charging handle to be knocked back out using quite a bit of force.
Ended up just throwing the stuff out.

Radway green is machine gun ammo when the UK NRA used it for full bore shooting they ran it through case gauges and weighed it to sort the good from the bad,
the only decent military .308 ammo is US Lake City match made for the snipers,
If you can size that stuff down it should be ok military brass is thicker than commercial so should give a lot of reloads.

Originally Posted by dogmatix

Got a photo of before the case has been sized?

Hard to take a photo of it, but you can just about make out a bulge at the base of the case with the naked eye. Most of the stuff will go into a case guage before sizing, but not after. Had considered lubing the shit out of it and running it in a looser die, then the carbide, but can't really be fucked.

Originally Posted by flyfishnz

I have had the same problem with that stuff. Using Hornady (non small base dies). They were being sized as mixed brass with a heap of others. None of the other brass was an issue.
They would jam up in my AR, usually requiring the charging handle to be knocked back out using quite a bit of force.
Ended up just throwing the stuff out.

Had a bit of a mindfuck with mine, as the first time I really touched it was when I was setting up my 650XL, thought it was the machine!

Originally Posted by shooternz

Radway green is machine gun ammo when the UK NRA used it for full bore shooting they ran it through case gauges and weighed it to sort the good from the bad,
the only decent military .308 ammo is US Lake City match made for the snipers,
If you can size that stuff down it should be ok military brass is thicker than commercial so should give a lot of reloads.

It's 223, but yeah I get you. If you would like 15kg of it, I can deliver next time I'm going through Tokoroa? Had considered decapping it, smelting it down and making a ton of squib rods! (but again, my supply of fucks ended up not going the distance)

On a side note, who have Lake City brass in NZ or is it just a fluke to find any in 223 or 308?

Originally Posted by Tommy

It's 223, but yeah I get you. If you would like 15kg of it, I can deliver next time I'm going through Tokoroa? Had considered decapping it, smelting it down and making a ton of squib rods! (but again, my supply of fucks ended up not going the distance)

Just smash it flat and sell it as scrap its worth around $5.00 a kg at the scrap dealers, they won't take reloadable brass that's not allowed in the places they export it to.
thanks for the offer I don't use the few hundred .223 I have.

Originally Posted by Mavarick

On a side note, who have Lake City brass in NZ or is it just a fluke to find any in 223 or 308?

The Hornady Frontier ammo is loaded by lake city. I was told it should retail at a similar price to barnaul when it arrives.

LC brass
@maverick I have picked some up off TM usually $50 per hundred in .308 Its once fired, but if you have the time or inclination it can be turned into decent reloads.
Some of it has been slapped around in a fairly loose chamber, and takes a fair bit to resize. But if you anneal it and go through it, its good.
I turned a bunch into 260 Rem.
The yanks seem to like it a lot..... could be a patriotic thing, I dont know......Its definitely in the thick case class and this can give you less case capacity if thats an issue.