Brass life

[M12shooter]

Just wondering how long hand loaders hang on to the stuff before retiring it. I have plenty of 22-250, 25-06 and 30 cal stuff that dates back to the 1980's and has been loaded well over a dozen times...trimmed when required and tumbled to maintain appearance. I do see a slight drop off in accuracy when comparing "virgin" brass to old but not enough to dispose of the stuff for recreational plinking/plate shooting. My 222 is a bit harder on brass as thousands of rounds are fired by myself per year. Necks get work hardened and splits start to occure around the 10 X area. Might be because loading at max and less care due to large volume reloading and thus less quality control?

 

[slushee]

Sounds to me like you are doing everything right! I only got into reloading about a year ago thus I dont have the experience to say if what your doing is 'wrong' .. but to be able to keep your brass in good shape that far back makes me think you should come give me a leason or two

 

[Eagleye]

I have some 6mm Remington brass that I use for casual shooting that has been loaded 15X or more. I have annealed the necks once, but other than that, they are still working just fine. I also have some hard to find brass that is Headstamped D.C.Co. This headstamp was replaced by "Dominion" in the 1950's. It still is working well. Good care and not overworking your brass is the ticket. If one insists on using max loads, brass life will shorten somewhat. Ditto if you have a firearm with a generous dimension chamber. Regards, Eagleye.

 

[Boomer]

I'll keep using brass until it fails or until the primer pockets expand to the extent that I cannot feel resistance when seating the primer.

I think the reason you are experiencing an accuracy drop off is because of the work hardening of the necks. The harder the necks, the stronger the grip on the bullet and the higher the bullet pull weight. While this is not all bad, it becomes bad as case to case uniformity is lost. If you anneal every other time you resize, I bet your accuracy will come back.

 

[Danny Boy]

I have reloaded my 300WM to 19 times (Remington). After the 20 times I will throw them away.

They are loaded almost to book max.

Note I FL the case every four rounds and anneal them every eight rounds. There is no issue with primer pockets what so ever. I experienced neck splite on a few. The wall is a little thin so I think it is time to let go.

 

[sunray]

"...loading at max...Necks get work hardened..." That'd do it. Hot loads reduce case life. Mind you, just because you're loading to max or near max, doesn't mean the cases are bad after any given number of reloads.
When you get one split neck, pitch that one and anneal the rest of your brass. You don't need to anneal every other time you resize though. It doesn't get hardened that fast.
Put the cases into a pan of water(a foil roasting pan will do nicely) up to just below the shoulder, then, using a regular propane torch, heat the neck and shoulder until the brass changes colour(it doesn't have to be red hot) and tip the case over.

 

[kodiak1]

What sunray said X2
Ken.