308 Lapua brass life expectancy

[MartyK2500]

Getting my 308 reloads better from week to week
My now next step, is lapua brass.
If i was to order a 308 lapua brass shipment tomorrow, how many casings are required to go along with my barrel life?

I guesstimate that my savage 10TR is still good for 5000 rounds (shot 350 so far with 42gr varget)
With load development once chassis gets here, i might end up a little hotter.

If i can reload them let's say 10 times, i would need 500.
The setup will be redding body die to bump shoulders a thou or two, lee collet neck sizing, and can anneal every shot or two if required

 

[Alpheus]

If you not going to be hot-rodding it, I would expect 10 reloads at least.

 

[thump_rrr]

I have made it to 4600 rounds with 200 pieces of Lapua from my Savage 10BA
The first 800 rounds were shot using Federal brass so I have 18 loadings on my Lapua.
The primer pockets are not as tight as they were when new but I have no evidence of gas escaping into the bolt head.
These are not maximum loads and I anneal my brass every 2nd firing just because I can.
My group size is beginning to increase and my rifling is 0.040" further than it was when the rifle was new.

On my next barrel I will probably buy 300 pieces.

 

[RePete]

I was at 15 for mine and still reloadable, no signs of failure.

 

[Ganderite]

If not loaded too hot, I would expect 15 to 20 re-loads. Cases would need annealing every 5 th shot and would need trimming once or twice.

 

[MartyK2500]

Cool thanks guys!
As there is a difference between buying 250 and 500, that extra money could be used in trying to improve reloads even more.
I'll go for something like 250 and cycle them as long as possible.

 

[bearhunter]

If you learn how to properly reanneal your brass you should be able to get away with a lot less brass than that.

I have 30-06, 303Brit, 308win and 223Rem cases with well over 60 reloads on each case.

If you're going to shoot the cases in the same rifle, they don't require full length resizing unless it's out of a semi auto rifle. Even then, partial body resizing is OK as long as the reloads will be used in the same rifle.

Another thing about how long your rifle will remain accurate depends on YOUR impression of what's considered to be GOOD accuracy. If you are expecting Bench Rest Competition results then maybe less than a thousand but usually less than fifteen hundred. Hunting accuracy say 2 to 3 cm at 100 m your rifle may deliver as much as 7000+ accurate rounds. Understand, the leade in your chamber will be pushed forward with use. This shouldn't effect your chamber but it will effect how far you seat your bullets out. As the leade wears the jump your bullet will take before engaging the lands will be longer and you need to load accordingly.

One other thing, when you order that new batch of brass, make sure they are all from the same lot. Yes, it does make a difference.

Also, if you insist on loading your cartridges to maximum pressures case life won't be as long as it could be. Load for accuracy, not velocity.

Way more to it than what I have put down here. You need to find a hands on mentor that KNOWS their stuff.

Jim beat me to it but I feel he is being conservative in his estimate of case life.

 

[MartyK2500]

My mentors are you good folks here in CGN!
In the last weeks following advice from previous threads, i have obtained and keep steady my 1MOA objective

Soon, will be pushing for 1MOA further.
Not because i can keep it under an inch at a 100 that i will be able to keep it under 5 inches at 500

 

[RePete]

If not loaded too hot, I would expect 15 to 20 re-loads. Cases would need annealing every 5 th shot and would need trimming once or twice.

Never trimmed nor annealed. Never needed to.

 

[bearhunter]

Never trimmed nor annealed. Never needed to.

That's great if it works for you but you don't mention how many reloads you are getting or how hard your brass has become. There are two good indicators of brass reliability. One is that it doesn't spring back after its been resized and two how much the case has stretched after each shot.

 

[RePete]

That's great if it works for you but you don't mention how many reloads you are getting or how hard your brass has become. There are two good indicators of brass reliability. One is that it doesn't spring back after its been resized and two how much the case has stretched after each shot.

Look at my previous post and the brass is good to go.

 

[SND]

In a sloppy factory chamber, brass life is usually not quite as good as in a good match chamber. But so long as you don't stretch the primer pockets and anneal every few firings it'll do quite a while.
200pcs is much easier to manage and keep track off than 500, or 1500... if you wear them out, buy another 200 then.

 

[bigedp51]

.308 "ball park" reloads, and again it depends on how hot your loads are, and die and chamber dimensions.

 

[MartyK2500]

My chamber is not a custom one, plain jane savage rifle
Headpaced at 1.630" to the thou close

 

[maynard]

I annealed cases for my very first time this year. Then I trimmed and weight sorted my brass. A good amount of this Lapua brass weighs in the 173 gr range. I further sorted this batch into 173 light (173.0-173.5) and 173 heavy (173.5-173.9) I now have 1000 piece of brass in MTM boxes ready to prime and load for matches this year. Looks like I need to buy another 30-40 MTM boxes for the rest of this brass.

This brass has gone though about 6 barrels and they usually go about 4500-5000 rounds before needing to be replaced.

 

[bearhunter]

Look at my previous post and the brass is good to go.

Sounds like you either have a rifle with a tight chamber or your loads are in the median range or both. Good on you. Nice combination but sadly most of us aren't so well blessed.