Federal Brass: "FC" v "FC 07" v "FC 08"

Hey all of you experienced reloaders, I got asked a reloading question that I could not answer and I'm hoping one of you can help...

On Federal brass (within the same caliber), some have head stamps that say "FC". Some have head stamps that say "FC 07" and others that say "FC 08".

Is the brass the same or is it different? If there is a difference, what is it?

"Thanks" in advance for any info you can provide.

- browningbbr

PS: The guy that asked me has .300 Win Mag brass with all 3 head stamps. He's going to weigh the pieces and let me know what he finds. I'll report on that when I get the info.

Hey browningbbr, how you doing? My understanding is that the FC 07 or FC 08 tells you it is Federal Cartridge produced in 2007 & 2008 (i.e. "production runs"). Sort of like LC 05 (Lake City Ammunition Plant, 2005 production run). Will be interesting to see how they weigh up AND the measured physical dimensions (all the dimensions). I believe if those are different, only Federal Cartridge can tell you why (and good luck in that endeavor). Again, I believe the weight and physical dimensions will be informative. Will be interesting to see how they "pooch" just forward of the band after the first firing. I personally really like the soft FC brass. Enough so that it is what I mix and used in Africa. Just my opine, but the FC brass has been good to me. Now... having said that (here is the disclaimer: I inspect and chamber EVERY round I use for hunting prior to going to the field). Sort of a belt and suspenders kind of a guy. Anyone know better, please make me smart here.

-Larry mikelsen

..Browning my understanding is the same as Larry's that it's a production run! I don't know much about Federal brass as the only Federal I ever used is for my 30/30. The only reason I have that is I found a bunch laying on the ground at the range & I took home, cleaned, full lengthed & trimmed then reloaded. Seem to work very well! I just always used Winchester or Remington Brass!!

Thanks Guys - I too am a fan of Fed brass and have used it for several calibers. It's proven to be very consistent. I always weigh each piece after resize-trim-pocket uniforming-flash hole deburr. I end up with very few "grade outs".

I had just never run across the "FC 07" question before.

Another source told us that the "07" denoted match grade cases, but that made little sense.

I'm still waiting for the weight information.

- browningbbr

The fellow that asked me about the FC v FC07 v FC08 brass was unable to check weights and volumes properly, so I did it for him this weekend.

The differences in weight and volume were very, very small. (For volume, I used the weight of water to fill each case. The variance was at most 0.3gn.) I've seen much larger variances in brass from a single purchased lot of new stuff. Case weights were similar. Judging by the case lengths, the case weight will be even closer after trimming, chamfer and flash hole de-burring.

If you are curious, I can email the spreadsheet showing the results. As far as I am concerned, there is no significant difference between the lots with different FC headstamps.

- browningbbr