Longevity of Brass
- Thread starter Mumptia
- Start date
It can depend on the rifle and how large a chamber it has. Also FL resizing versus neck sizing can also change the length of the brass life. Also the make of the brass comes into play as well. NORMA usually allows more relaods than federal for example.
How hot you load your cases also impacts their longevity. Shoot a hot load in a rifle with a generously sized chamber and you might only get 2 or 3 loadings out of it. Shoot mild loads in a snug-chambered rifle and only neck size and anneal after every 3 or 4 loadings and you may get 20 or more loads.
The truth is 308 brass is cheap and if I can get 3 or 4 loadings out of it I think I have received my money's worth.
How hot you load your cases also impacts their longevity. Shoot a hot load in a rifle with a generously sized chamber and you might only get 2 or 3 loadings out of it. Shoot mild loads in a snug-chambered rifle and only neck size and anneal after every 3 or 4 loadings and you may get 20 or more loads.
The truth is 308 brass is cheap and if I can get 3 or 4 loadings out of it I think I have received my money's worth.
I have some 6mm Cases that have been loaded 25 times, and some old 244 cases that are on their 20th reload. These have all been fired in a minimum size chamber and neck sized. None have been used for "hot" loads. If I have a warmish load that shoots well, I will use the brass for 4-5 reloads and then retire it. I refuse to trim more than 4 times, since that is an indicator of brass stretch, the extra has to come from somewhere, i.e. some place else in the case, possibly just ahead of the Web. Regards, Eagleye.
Ok,
Time to retire the brass then.
This is the 4th or 5th go around and my last load was with 165 Interbonds with 41 grains of 3031. (which I since found out to be a wee bit hot when I thought I was on the hot side not over.)
Thanks fellas.
Time to retire the brass then.
This is the 4th or 5th go around and my last load was with 165 Interbonds with 41 grains of 3031. (which I since found out to be a wee bit hot when I thought I was on the hot side not over.)
Thanks fellas.
With proper care of the brass and by staying away from maximum loads(hot loads) it will last a very long time. I bought my .308 in 1991 and 100 pieces of Federal brass. In May 2005 I replaced the brass with 100 pieces of Frontier Match grade brass. From 1991 until 2005, I put 3782 rounds through my rifle. At the time I replaced my brass, I still had 78 pieces of the Federal brass. I lost 9 pieces over the years hunting, and the rest due to brass fatigue. During that time, I discovered that one good hit, and your brass life became very short.
I also have an 8.6 x 72mm SDM. It's a wildcat .338 on belted brass. As we speak, I am loading some of it for the 8th time and the primer pockets are not even starting to loosen up. That said, I had to throw away 5 pieces of brass for it, as when I was originaly working up loads for it, I hit these 5 with a hot load, ( just hot enough to show slight presure signs on the base of the brass) when reload #5 came up for these 5, the primers fell right out of the primer pockets.
With proper care, it will last you for a long time. Personnely, I feel that if you can get 5 out of it, it's paid for itself.(100 x 5loads = 500rounds. 500 - 20 = 25 boxs of Factory ammo = approx. $400.00 (depending on where you shop)
I also have an 8.6 x 72mm SDM. It's a wildcat .338 on belted brass. As we speak, I am loading some of it for the 8th time and the primer pockets are not even starting to loosen up. That said, I had to throw away 5 pieces of brass for it, as when I was originaly working up loads for it, I hit these 5 with a hot load, ( just hot enough to show slight presure signs on the base of the brass) when reload #5 came up for these 5, the primers fell right out of the primer pockets.
With proper care, it will last you for a long time. Personnely, I feel that if you can get 5 out of it, it's paid for itself.(100 x 5loads = 500rounds. 500 - 20 = 25 boxs of Factory ammo = approx. $400.00 (depending on where you shop)
When I first started reloading for the 300WM I kept watching for the brass to start to fail. I was neck sizing but really had no idea how long the brass would last as most manuals said to expect only 4 or 5 reloadings. After paper-clipping and watching for bright rings failed to provide any evidence of failure on the 12th reloading I sectioned several pieces of the brass as some of the pockets were getting loose. There was no evidence of thinning. I eventually tossed it due to loose pockets.
JohnC
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
bushpig said:
was it once fired brass? Be very careful of used brass left on the range. It may have been hot loaded and be ready to separate at the very least such brass should be paper-clipped to ensure there is no incipient separation.
Several shooters I know will destroy reloaded brass that has outlived its useful life by pinching the neck with pliers. It prevents it from being reloaded that one time to many. May seem drastic but it's the safe way to go
I recycle berdan brass for lead so I can cast more 12 g slugs, I also only pick out of the range bin specials. I mean I saw a guy toss in a new factory loaded box of 6.5 swede that he had fired. I couldnt believe it, original primers in the brass are a great indicator. I also scavenge for odd cases or beg inert rounds for my collection shelf! I will try and drill through the case so it is obviously inert in some cases. I reload as many times as possible, using 6.5 now after having 7.5 french for years means I really have to watch the amount of times and not mix the brass. S&B brass sometimes splits on first firing and I've had top of the range very expensive 223 brass from a certain Scandinavian firm split on first firing. I wish they annealed the brass better or sold it with a label telling you to! I also used to risk my 455 Webley Mk V1 with dodgy handloads but as they all went to pay for my deer rifle I think I'm ok!
