Brass life?

CobraGuy

CobraGuy

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I am fairly new to reloading and wondered about the life span of reloaded brass.

Do you guys have any "set" guidelines for the life of reloaded brass? "I reload cases X times then discard" sort of thing.

Are there any clear warning signs it might be time for brass to be tossed?

I've reloaded some brass a few times and haven't seen any sign of issues, but wondered what the "normal" is.
 
There is no normal. I have some very stiff 300Win Mag brass that I anneal (to soften the neck) after every second reloading (hot reloads) and they have lasted as long as I can remember. 45ACP and 9mm brass with soft reloads that just barely operate the action, same thing, lasting forever.

I have a M305 with a poor chamber that the brass gets thrown out after the 3rd firing (1 factory, 2 reload): the shoulders split even though I am only neck resizing.

Just look at the primers to see if they are flattening or bulging (loosening), how much the case lengthens with each firing on it, if there are any cracks and so forth. Other fine CGN members will chime in on the symptoms of case life. Overall, the caliber, the load, the rifle and a lot of conditions come into play.
 
1 to 20+ if you anneal a few times and load moderately. Lots of factors involved.
First thing I watch for is loose primer pockets.
Never seen a cracked neck yet on my stuff, or any sign of case separation, but its all fairly tight match chambers that don't over stretch the brass, unlike many sloppy factory guns.
 
I only load handguns and have lost count on most of my 9mm, 38/357 and 44 magnum brass. No cracks and no loose primers then good to go.
 
Thanks for the info guys.

I found 1 cracked 9mm case the other day, which made me wonder. Seems like some of my 9mm brass is "harder" when I resize it, so wondered if it was time to replace it or if it was just that batch. I will keep my eyes on it.
 
There are many variables, rifle headspace, amount of shoulder bump, chamber diameter, die diameter, chamber pressure, quality and construction of the case, etc.

The .308 cases below were fired in a new Savage .308 and full length resized until they failed.

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The Winchester .303 case below was full length resized and loaded to maximum pressures and lasted for three firings.

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The .303 cases below were fire formed using the rubber o-ring method and loaded over 30 times with reduced loads before getting cracked necks.

These cases were loaded with 100 grain .312 pistol bullets with light practice loads of SR-4759 and Trail Boss and died of cracked necks.

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Bottom line, there is no set limit on how many reloads you can get because there are so many variables.
 
OneBarfly said:
I've had reloaded 45 ACP so much that I could barely make out the head stamp. Threw them in the range brass bin after having maybe had 5 split casings per three hundred cases at the time. I'm sure someone fished them out after I was done with them.
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i would have :)

with pistol caliber's i get the odd case splitting at the mouth. I was able to get 20 reloads from a steel tula 45acp case before it started splitting at the case mouth.
 
I shoot a lot of 9mm. After many firings the case head above the rim head eventually gets expanded to the point where it won't drop into my case length gauge. They still seem to work in my guns but I reason that an expanded rim will make it tougher for the extractor to pop over the rim to grab the extractor groove and could lead to inconsistent extraction. I'm using light target loads so by the time this happens I'm probably up to 15-20 loadings and the brass really doesn't owe me anything so it's into the bad brass bucket and off to the scrap yard to recoup a few bucks. 38 Special and 45 ACP cases seem to last just about as long. Using light target loads that are easy on the cases probably reduce my brass cost to less than a penny a case per reload.
 
The 30-06 brass from my m37 stretches quite a bit so I doubt I will get more then 3 reloads per brass on it. Yet my 8 mm brass on the mg34 doesn't stretch as much but I will still probably stop at 3 or 4 reloads to be safe.
Some guns seem to be easier on brass and others not so much
Some guys keep reloading till they pop but I don't think it's worth the risk of damaging the gun or your face!
 
Spawn-Inc said:
i would have :)

with pistol caliber's i get the odd case splitting at the mouth. I was able to get 20 reloads from a steel tula 45acp case before it started splitting at the case mouth.
Click to expand...

I would have taken it, too. If there is nothing visibly wrong with the case, it will last at least one more firing. I don't track number of firings; I just cull defective cases.
 
for my 243 win using lapua brass and hornady it is at 7 reload , i ever only got one neck cracking and that it , pretty sure they will last me a few more reload since i dont load really hot
 
I have a couple thousand .308 Lapua cases. Barrels on my target rifles usually last 4000-5000 rounds. The Lapua brass has out lasted at least 5 barrels. I bump the shoulder back .002" every time I resize. Annealed this brass for the very first time this year.
 
Check this out from Benchrest Central on how many times you can reload brass without annealing and this was posted bye Jim Borden who makes some very nice actions
Rob Bibanette BIBBS Bullets claims his 30 br still shoots in then .100 after 8000 rounds 1/18 twist barrel

manitou





Jim Borden


Jim Borden is offline Registered User


Join Date:Apr 2003Location:NE PAPosts:333


Lasts forever



If you are losing brass at 20 firings-there is something wrong with brass or prep methods. I have some that has over 200 firings and has NEVER been annealed and still works great.

I agree with #### on his assessment of barrel life.

Jim
 
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