How many times to reload a shell?

darcy32171

darcy32171

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Yes i know if it shows pressure or stress/cracks you discard the shell, but if none of these signs show...How many times is the "safe" limit on one shell or is there even one? I`m on my second reloads with winchester 22-250 brass. I`m loading at the safe limit in the Hodgdon data. Just thought I`d ask. Thanks,Darcy
 
I just load them until stress/cracks appear. Or the primer pocket gets too loose.

There is no magic number of times a "shell" can be reloaded. Proper reloading techniques can extend the life of the brass, sometimes an over-size chamber can negate all the hard work you put into your brass. You have to figure it out on your own.:)
 
With my .375 Ruger(FN), I've used the same 50 Hornady brass for 300-400 rounds. Loads have been from mild to hot with no lose of brass. Part of this longevity may be due to my practice of just partially resizing the brass.
 
With partial full length sizing or neck sizing only you should be able to wring some decent mileage out of your brass. If you anneal your brass now and then it can go even further. I have brass that has been fired 9 or 10x through my 30-30, and looks no different than after the first time through the sizing die.

I swapped a barrel on a rifle and wanted to see how it was for brass life, and ran three cases 13x (normal power loads) each before I just got bored and quit. It depends on the individual rifle, and how little or much you work the brass when reloading.
 
If it gives you a perspective...

Some of the Scheutzen folks will use the same single case for a seasons or more shooting.
They breech seat the bullet (set it in the front of the chamber before the case is inserted) and set a reprimed and charged case in behind that. They use a hand tool to deprime and prime, and have powder either pre-measured, or use a powder measure to throw charges at the line. They don't resize.

If you stay away from too heavy (stretching the case) and too light (failure to properly seal the case to the chamber wall) loads, and anneal your case necks once in a while, the brass life can be pretty close to indefinite.

Differences in chambers vs. sizing dies, whether you crimp etc. all factor in as well.

Official answer. It depends! :)

Cheers
Trev
 
i reload 22-250 and in one on my reload books they state 5 to 6 times max ... for when you resize and then trim you start taking off to much brass. my 2 beans
 
I reload my brass in batches - using it until I see cracks or other signs of imminent failure, then scrap the entire lot of it an start with the next batch of brass.
 
I started with 1800 pcs of .308 Lapua brass 4 barrels ago. Just starting to cull the odd one because a primer might seat a little to softly. I have had one split neck.
 
I have a fed 6.5 swede that the should split open on the first firing!! But like others say, treated well, and annealed brass can last a heck of a long time!!
 
savagelh said:
for 22-250 I have some Win brass that has been fired 8-9 times. No signs of stress yet. It's not a max load and I trim whenever its needed. And I only neck size.
Click to expand...

I have kept track of my brass religiously for my 22-250.
Neck sized only I never full length size.
The lowest count of reloads after 30 years and 20,000 rounds is 36 and the highest is 52 per each piece.
Now that being said I do not load hot. The loads have chronyed at 3300fps.
 
IMagius said:
I reload my brass in batches - using it until I see cracks or other signs of imminent failure, then scrap the entire lot of it an start with the next batch of brass.
Click to expand...

You are probably scrapping a lot of good brass. I did an experiment once where I took a box of factory loads, fired them, reloaded the brass, fired, reloaded etc.

The first cases to go failed about the 5th loading. Some were still in great shape when I got tired of the experiment at around cycle 16 or so. Cases do not have identical lives, even when treated identically.
 
I have a batch of 6mm Remington cases that are on their 15th reloading, and I have yet to lose a single case.
These have been fired with full-house loads right along.
The primer pockets are looser than new ones are, but still easy to feel the primer seat with a hand priming tool..
Treated right, you can often get long life out of cases.
Eagleye.
 
I'm on my fifth reload of winchester brass in 22-250. some of the primer pockets were quite loose so I took a slot screwdriver and hammer and 'chiseled' 3-5 little 'crimps' (BEFORE REPRIMING!) in the edge of the pockets. Aside from the loose pockets and the need to trim the necks down, the cases seem okay.
 
Learning how to reanneal will give you extemely long case life, if you are keeping your pressures at reasonable levels.

I have some bench rest cases that have close to 100 reloads on each of them. I only get rid of them when I change out the barrels.

I also have a batch of 50, used to be 60 338-06 brass with over 20 loads on each of them.

a 250 batch of .223Rem brass with 10 loads each on them and am going to full length resize them and use them in the new bbl I have to install once the accuracy drops off the present bbl. 223Rem brass has very good case life when it's reannealed every after being reloaded 5 times. The same goes for most brass.

Some of the big magnums, like the 8mm Rem mag and 375H&H, will need reannealing after 3 reloads. IMHO
 
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