Brass life

kevin01041961

Well-Known Member
Question is straight forward how many times can you reload brass ? i've been told just 8 times to be safe is this true i check every case before cleaning and again afterwards , also when you de-burr outside and inside the case ive been told just one quick wipe over otherwise the case necks crack is this also true
 
Some brands of brass are better quality than others, generally you will see slack primer pockets, or some such before stuff like cracking occurs, also how hard you run your brass is a consideration, I just retired some Lapua .223 cases, purely on a whim, as I got a good supply of Nosler custom, but the retired stuff is still usable, can't recall how many reloads that they did.
 
For stalking or foxing i reload untill the brass shows signs off stress.
Target shooters are more fussy .

Keep reloading BUT ruthlessly discard any cases that show any sign you are not happy with.
 
to be honest i dont actually know how many times i used my lapua brass in 6.5x55 !

i lost count , and as soon as any case looked scruffy i threw it out . i threw my first batch of norma 270 brass out after 5 re-loads (slack primer pockets) but my second batch is still going strong after 6 re-loads ! but i do only use min loads .

i have has some federal 6.5 brass last for 7 re-loads which i thought was good .

i personally think if your getting 5-8 reloads out of once fired factory brass your doing well
 
i have 14 reloads out my 284 shehane brass and still shoots great ,but i anneal every 3rd firing as long as primer pockets stay tight and you anneal you can keep using with no probs
 
Only a .22 hornet, but at the moment PPU brass bought new and only ever neck sized is at 12 loads and still going strong.
Load is 11.2 grains H110, cases have been trimmed to length once, on the 3rd loading, not moved since then.
Reloaded factory Remington brass (same load) was showing the strain after 8 loads.

Neil. :)
 
It will depend upon several factors and some you can mitigate others your stuck with. They being the fit and machining of your rifles chamber. If it's slack then the case is worked more in each firing and reloading cycle which will reduce it's service life. The quality of the brass cases them selves and the actual size/diameter of the case head and web/wall juncture. You will be surprised at just how many cases are undersized in this and if undersize they have to expand more to obturate in the chamber! The quality of the machining/finishing of your dies. Not all are the same and sometimes dies which really should not have been shipped slip through.

These without changing the item your stuck with :rolleyes:.

Now these you can mitigate some what:-

The pressure that you reload too, hot loads work/stress brass more than milder loads, how you adjust your dies when sizing and if you truely neck size like using the Lee Collet die which hardly works the brass at all or use another method which does work the brass slightly. Annealing the cases can help reduce the fatigue some.

Personally I use cases until I can detect the signs of failure. One method is to use a wire hook to feel for the ring inside the case.
 
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