5.56 x 45 brass from Latvia looks damned good

Bought 250 head stamped VLC from Everglades Ammo for $79. Made in Latvia. If you've seen this brass offered and wondered about it, I'd like to report that I find it excellent in consistency and quality.
They all Wilson gauged perfectly, primers feel very good upon insertion with hand tool and depth. Only two of the 250 had a bent neck that were easily corrected.

I weighed one. It is 101.8 grains, neck thickness .015 and holds 30.6 grains of TAC to the mouth rim.

A fired (unknown number of times, trimmed, et cetera) FC .223 weighs 90.7 grains, neck thickness .012 and holds 31.1 grains.

When I load and fire some, I'll ETA on this.

Since the brass is heavier with less internal capacity you should carefully work up any load with a chronograph. You might not make it to book max but when you hit the correct velocity stop where you are then maybe even consider working down a few tenths to find an accurate load. As long as your powder is relatively slow for the cartridge you shouldn't have to worry about being overpressure if the velocity matches.


Don't hot rod it and be happy. The thicker brass should last a very long time.

My plans exactly, thanks.

Latvia is now a NATO country IIRC if there's a small + on the rim I believe that indicates STANAG compliance.

Negative on any plus on mine.