Do casings get worn out over time?

[Urban]

If i use a casing 100 times... does it affect the quality of the round over time?
I can imagine if it gets a lil beat up from falling to the ground... it might not feed as well with lil dents in it.

 

[SDC]

It depends on what round it is, how hot it's loaded, etc. Most rifle cases will stretch gradually each time you fire them, but a lot of handgun rounds won't change appreciably until the case mouth splits.

 

[X-man]

Everytime you resize the cartridge case you're working the metal. Everytime you fire said cartridge case the metal "grows" to fill the chamber. To extend case life, you want to "work" the case as little as possible. That's one reason why many reloaders choose merely to neck size only their brass, after its been "fire-formed" to their rifles chamber. This doesn't work so well for semi-auto rifles and can be dangerous in some cases. However, it works fine for bolt guns, you just need to reserve those cases for that particular rifle. A small dot of nail polish usually works fine and allows you to differentiate between brass for another rifle in the same caliber. Others also go one step further and anneal their case necks, which also helps prolong case life. I wouldn't expect 100 reloads out of a piece of rifle brass though! :mrgreen:

 

[bisonhd]

Primer pockets loosen up over time. Fed, Rem and Win. primers fit slightly different. When remington primers won't go in snug it may be a good time to try Federals etc.

Brass that's been sitting around for a while will get brittle and not form as they should when fired. Old Dominion and Imperial brass is prone to neck splitting in my guns.

 

[sillymike]

Are we talking rifle or pistol cases?
Rifle cases will wear out after X amount of shooting... as for the pistol case, it seems like I loose them before they plit/crack :|

Mike.