How many times do you reload a case?

A Guy Out West

Well-Known Member
IE: 30/06 How many max charges do you run through a case before tossing it? Usually, I use Winchester or Remington brass and shoot it until it needs to be trimmed, then I toss it. This is about 4 or 5 reloadings. I am likely tossing it before it has to go but I always felt it's better to safe than sorry. Now that I have some expensive Nosler brass, I want to use it to it's max.
 
Average is about 12 loadings with .243 brass, 2 reasons, 1. following advice from a reloading manual (Lyman or ABC? can't remember which) I discard cases that become too long after their 4th trim, 2. Case defects becoming apparent,almost entirely caused by split necks, and I F/L size each time.

atb Tim
 
I use Rem & Fed .25-06 cases and anneal after each four reloads...cases are originals & 13 years old. They have been reloaded many times. Still look & perform like new. My loads are max MV i.e. 100gn bullet @ 3250fpsMV
All cases trimmed after each firing & F/L resized to fired headspace dimension.
 
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Annealing maintains the metal in in the shoulder/neck area in good crystaline condition, polishing the case mouths with wire wool or scotchbrite to lessen crack initiation there after trimming & not bumping back the shoulders any farther than necessarry for correct headspacing is how I try & extend case life. -- I don't often need to chuck cases away!

Ian
 
Agree with Yorric
I can get into the lower 20's on perhaps 15 or so out of a batch of 50 to start with - usually get beaten on the way not by split necks but loose primer pockets and/or the early signs of case separation.

I use mainly Lapua or Remington brass and anneal regularly and never develop hot loads - learnt a long time ago we have gravity so nothing shoots 'flat'.
 
IE: 30/06 How many max charges do you run through a case before tossing it? Usually, I use Winchester or Remington brass and shoot it until it needs to be trimmed, then I toss it. This is about 4 or 5 reloadings. I am likely tossing it before it has to go but I always felt it's better to safe than sorry. Now that I have some expensive Nosler brass, I want to use it to it's max.

You shoot max loads and toss brass when it needs to be trimmed?? Where did you learn to reload? ~Muir
 
i run moderate loads in most of mine
Norma brass throughout but the .270 and .222 brass sees (or has seen) the most action
some are well over 15

rarely require trimming so brass volume is still high
 
You shoot max loads and toss brass when it needs to be trimmed?? Where did you learn to reload? ~Muir

Muir,
If I'm shooting a 30/06, that's what I want to be shooting, not a .308, or 30/30, or a 300 mag, but a true 30/06. That is why I use max loads. 99% of the brass I use for reloading has been free. Up until recently, I could collect enough free brass at our clubs annual sight in days, to last me years. With the recent shortage of all shooting components, I actually had to buy some brass. I bought the best stuff they had, Nosler. I had a case head seperation in a .22 LR Ruger pistol once. I have been kind of paranoid about a case head seperation ever since. That seperation on the little .22 shot hot gas into my eye and face and gave me a minor burn on my hand and turned it black! My fist thought was man am I glad this wasn't the .270 or 30/06. Using Federal brass, I have gotten loose primer pockets with 4 or 5 reloadings. Black around the primer pocket and when reloading the primer was too easy to press into place. I always thought why chance it, do 5 and start over. I would not have guess a case would take 20 or more reloadings. I have heard of people getting many reloads, especially if just neck sizing. I have never heard of a really reliable method of knowing when the case is going to seperate. Yes, there is the ring, and you can bend a paper clip at a right angle and "feel" aroud down by the head for a crack begining, and other things. Since my brass had been free all these years, I always thought why fool around with it. Anyway, now that I'm having to buy brass, I'm looking for a way to make it last, especially at the cost of the Nosler product. As I don't know everything, I posted a question about it. Perhaps you can enlighten me of when you know exactly when it's time for a new case. I learned to load when I was 17 by reading the Lyman reloading manual. I bought their Expert Reloading Kit and went to town with it. I am 54 now and have never had a reloading accident. I always enjoy learning from others.
 
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until I hear it ring in the cleaner its a sound that most reloaders can hear even with bad ears lol, then its gone but I had hundreds of each cal so most of the time it just got lost out of the seat ,
 
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I use Rem & Fed .25-06 cases and anneal after each four reloads...cases are originals & 13 years old. They have been reloaded many times. Still look & perform like new. My loads are max MV i.e. 100gn bullet @ 3250fpsMV
All cases trimmed after each firing & F/L resized to fired headspace dimension.

That's amazing, 13 year old cases out of a 25/06 at max. I'm gonna have to venture out of my comfort zone. Have you ever had a case head seperation? Has anyone?
 
Muir,
If I'm shooting a 30/06, that's what I want to be shooting, not a .308, or 30/30, or a 300 mag, but a true 30/06. That is why I use max loads. 99% of the brass I use for reloading has been free. Up until recently, I could collect enough free brass at our clubs annual sight in days, to last me years. With the recent shortage of all shooting components, I actually had to buy some brass. I bought the best stuff they had, Nosler. I had a case head seperation in a .22 LR Ruger pistol once. I have been kind of paranoid about a case head seperation ever since. That seperation on the little .22 shot hot gas into my eye and face and gave me a minor burn on my hand and turned it black! My fist thought was man am I glad this wasn't the .270 or 30/06. Using Federal brass, I have gotten loose primer pockets with 4 or 5 reloadings. Black around the primer pocket and when reloading the primer was too easy to press into place. I always thought why chance it, do 5 and start over. I would not have guess a case would take 20 or more reloadings. I have heard of people getting many reloads, especially if just neck sizing. I have never heard of a really reliable method of knowing when the case is going to seperate. Yes, there is the ring, and you can bend a paper clip at a right angle and "feel" aroud down by the head for a crack begining, and other things. Since my brass had been free all these years, I always thought why fool around with it. Anyway, now that I'm having to buy brass, I'm looking for a way to make it last, especially at the cost of the Nosler product. As I don't know everything, I posted a question about it. Perhaps you can enlighten me of when you know exactly when it's time for a new case. I learned to load when I was 17 by reading the Lyman reloading manual. I bought their Expert Reloading Kit and went to town with it. I am 54 now and have never had a reloading accident. I always enjoy learning from others.

You don't trim your cases at every reloading? If you don't then you have an interesting circumstance of load, brass, and chamber. Keep safe.~Muir
 
I just keep using it until it fails or I lose it! Normally a longitudinal split in the neck is the end. I've never annealed but always neck size and trim. I've got hundreds of once fired stuff all cleaned, full sized and ready to load, but the old stuff keeps on going! I've no idea how many times I use them but it is lots!
MS
 
Your a brave man, Spanker. Muir, I only trim when I get to the max case length, 2.494. I just measured my brass from yesterday, it has 3 max loads or 1.6 gr. below max loads through it and it is still only 2.475. Might be because I only neck size. Oh yeah, the Nosler brass comes fully prepped. Sized, cut, and beveled.
 
Ok, now I'm really confused. I just went down to my man cave and measured a brand new un-fired Nosler case, it was 2.480. How can my fired 3 x cases be 2.475? I measured several of the new and several of the fired, all about the same. According to the Hornady manual, the trim to length is 2.484, still longer than the brand new Nosler case. I guess the 4 thousandths on the new is no big deal, but how can the fired cases be getting shorter than the un-fired cases????? Heck, my fired cases are shorter than the trim to length. Any ideas???
 
Your a brave man, Spanker. Muir, I only trim when I get to the max case length, 2.494. I just measured my brass from yesterday, it has 3 max loads or 1.6 gr. below max loads through it and it is still only 2.475. Might be because I only neck size. Oh yeah, the Nosler brass comes fully prepped. Sized, cut, and beveled.

It's not the designation of "MAX", it's the pressure it's operating at. As to the trimming, I trim to the shortest case at every reloading. Mostly because I crimp my loads and believe that trimming makes the crimp uniform.~Muir
 
I almost always crimp for everything.
No clue about your rifle. Chamber dimensions, the brass, the dies, the pressure operated at... all can influence this. Shortening of cases is more common in autoloaders and light loads in bolt guns.~Muir
 
I don't trim to the minimum length until the maximum length is exceeded, F/l size every time and crimp, this is what I have found by trial & error works best in my Blaser R8.

atb Tim
 
I got 61 loads per case out of my remington 243 brass, neck sizing only, they 5 0r 6 out of a hundred then buckled on the shoulder, so the lot was dumped.
Some brass will last a long time, other far less, eg I was using winchester 7x57 and full length sizing and getting split necks after two loads! 7x64 norma fl sized 10 loads and federal 375hxh neck sized only reloaded once before necks split.
So I dont think there are any hard and fast rules, simply use them until they start to give problems.
 
That's amazing, 13 year old cases out of a 25/06 at max. I'm gonna have to venture out of my comfort zone. Have you ever had a case head seperation? Has anyone?

No never had a case head separation. Not for more than 20 years...and that was from excessive headspace in a MSch 1903 stutzen. So after only three reloads the bright ring was very noticeable, after which those cases couldn't be trusted.
Annealing seems not only to sort that problem out on more modern rifles, but also helps sealing & keeping pressures more consistent.
But the other aspects of case prep all give a bit and add up resulting in more closely matched load consistency. Works well for me.
 
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