Case life when reloading
- Thread starter bungiex88
- Start date
Brass kept for my Garand 30-06 and my bolt action 308 are grouped by number of times fired. Brass is inspected (splits, case head separation) each firing. Handgun ammo (38/357, .44 Special/Magnum, 45 ACP, 9mm) is inspected each firing and tossed when defects are seen (split necks, loose primer pockets) and rarely count number of reloadings...
So far my 30-06 brass easily goes 8 reloadings, 308, 5 so far, handgun brass can go from 8-10 reloadings for my Magnums up to mebbe 20 reloadings for my 45 ACP and .38 Specials (I have some .38 Special brass that I bought about 25 years ago and have no idea how many times it's been reloaded. Reload, shoot, clean, reload. Split neck? Scrap bucket.
So far my 30-06 brass easily goes 8 reloadings, 308, 5 so far, handgun brass can go from 8-10 reloadings for my Magnums up to mebbe 20 reloadings for my 45 ACP and .38 Specials (I have some .38 Special brass that I bought about 25 years ago and have no idea how many times it's been reloaded. Reload, shoot, clean, reload. Split neck? Scrap bucket.
Case inspection. I've never had a head separation, but I almost never use "hot" loads. Neck splitting is the failure I notice most and of course trash those.
As far as I know, my straight wall handgun brass lasts forever with a few exceptions.
When working up loads for my bolt actions or single shot rifles, I always use a micrometer to check for case rim expansion and if any is found I back off 6% and call that maximum load. Maybe this practice is what has kept me from finding loose primer pockets after many firings, don't know.
Usually my best accuracy comes with 90%+ case fill with the slower powders. As an example my best .243 load is 47.5 grains of 4831 behind a 75 grain HP. For deer I use 4350 behind a 100 grain Nosler partition. Both of these are on the low pressure end for the .243 Win.
As far as I know, my straight wall handgun brass lasts forever with a few exceptions.
When working up loads for my bolt actions or single shot rifles, I always use a micrometer to check for case rim expansion and if any is found I back off 6% and call that maximum load. Maybe this practice is what has kept me from finding loose primer pockets after many firings, don't know.
Usually my best accuracy comes with 90%+ case fill with the slower powders. As an example my best .243 load is 47.5 grains of 4831 behind a 75 grain HP. For deer I use 4350 behind a 100 grain Nosler partition. Both of these are on the low pressure end for the .243 Win.
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boondocker385
New member
Search paper clip on this site for bottleneck case checking.
Brotherbadger
New member
Same. I use the paperclip method too.
It really depends a lot of what you're reloading. Low pressure pistol cases such as 45 Auto, for example, are typically reloaded forever based on comments I've gotten from similar threads elsewhere and my own experience. Some higher pressure straight-wall pistol such as 10mm Auto can start to crack fairly soon--such as maybe after just a 1/2 dozen loads using Starline brass, anyway. But with 40SW using all commercial headstamps (e.g., Federal, Speer, Winchester), I also experience virtually no limit at all--very rare to have to throw any of that brass out.
I don't load rifle at all, and definitely don't separate brass and soon lose track of how many times it's been reloaded. I generally hear or feel a cracked case, and that's the only time I throw it out.
I don't load rifle at all, and definitely don't separate brass and soon lose track of how many times it's been reloaded. I generally hear or feel a cracked case, and that's the only time I throw it out.
Just some of the variables that impact case life:
- Brand of brass you are using
- Your resizing techniques (how far you set back the case shoulder)
- What you fire the cartridge in (longer life in bolt action than autoloaders)
- How close to max loads your loads are and the caliber you are loading for
- Do you anneal the case necks
- How much your sizing die "under-sizes" the case neck before expanding
Depending on your loading process, what causes the case to be retired can depend on the above and more. It is really difficult to predict what case life you should expect, based on what someone else is experiencing.
Hammerhead
New member
For handguns I only sort by headstamp but I try to rotate them so they get the same # of loadings. I know some of my .357 brass must be at least 15 years old and have seen dozens of loads.
Flare and crimp are the hardest thing on pistol brass, but if you keep that to a minimum they last a long time. IMO corrosion is a non-issue under normal conditions. I store mine in plastic tubs with no lids.
Flare and crimp are the hardest thing on pistol brass, but if you keep that to a minimum they last a long time. IMO corrosion is a non-issue under normal conditions. I store mine in plastic tubs with no lids.
green_MTman
New member
this is a safe estimate not absolute science and there is no better way than carefull inspection but here is a ballpark for some guns
.223/.308 10 fireings
.270/30-06 7 or 8 firings
.300 win mag/short mag/wby mag 5 firings
ultra mags and .378 wby based mags 3 firings
.223/.308 10 fireings
.270/30-06 7 or 8 firings
.300 win mag/short mag/wby mag 5 firings
ultra mags and .378 wby based mags 3 firings
bungiex88 said:
There is a few different methods I use to determine when it's time to retire a casing. For my typical bottleneck rifle casings it's determined by obvious neck cracks , but also primer fit. Over several reloadings primer pocket bores will open up. If your primer seats too loose you will get gasses that blow around the primer and will combustion etch blast the face of your bolt. With my belted .300 Win Mag casings I not only look for the above conditions, but I also do the belted mag "paper clip test" which you use the clip to feel the beginning of case head separation on the inside of the case near the bottom. Case head separations are notorious on the big magnum belted casings. Brass life can vary quite a bit. I see upwards of 10 loadings using .308 LC NATO brass with mild loads , but I see as little as 3 reloads using .308 FC (crappy brass) within the same parameters.
I'm shooting 308 bottleneck cases in a bolt rifle, headspace when reloading is very important for case life. I went 24 reloads with FC brass, I'm not loading to the max. tumble brass run 0000 steel wool around neck & head of brass to detect any problems. works for me, hope I helped.
stubbicatt
New member
As others have stated, a lot of the longevity of brass cases is dependent on the technique of the handloader.
That said, I have found that 45's last forever. I have some cases I can no longer make out the headstamp, and they keep on going. I attribute this to low pressure and taper crimps.
Revolver cartridges I have found that the flare and crimp stages have the greatest effect on the brass life. I like a firm crimp, and load cast bullets exclusively in my 357 mag brass. Consequently the flare is maybe a bit more extreme than it would be with jacketed bullets, to assure easy bullet seating. I do lose a few of these each time I load. What is nice about it is that the mouth will crack just after flaring, so it is easy to tell that there is an issue before proceeding to powder charging etc. I have not had 357 brass fail as a result of firing the cartridges however. The flaw will not be visible until flaring, IME, so inspections of the brass before beginning the loading procedure does not reveal this latent failure.
I have noticed that after 2 trimmings of revolver brass, I know they are on their last legs. Also, low to moderate charges in general in revolver brass *seem* to have a beneficial effect on their life expectancy. The full house charges seem to weaken them.
Bottleneck cartridges which headspace on the shoulder can be very durable if one exercises care in setting back the shoulders only as much as necessary. I try to get .001 to .002 inch setback, so long as they chamber in a bolt gun. There too I trim each time I fire them, and typically only skim a small sliver off the case mouths if I have properly sized them. With my "shell shucker" automatic rifles, if I can find the brass, I load maybe 2 or 3 times, and leave them for the next guy if he wants them. I always full length resize to the maximum amount per the instructions on the die set. --Having experienced OBD only one time, I do not wish to experience it again, so for me at least, maximum sizing on these cartridges is a safety consideration. (I also tend to choose rifles with some sort of safety sear setup in them to avoid a recurrence of the OBD -- but these are pretty scarce, leaving maximum sizing the only really viable option I can ascertain).
Lastly, bottleneck cartridges which headspace on the rim, such as 303 brit or x54r, I have determined to have C&H tool and die make a custom sizing die for me. They do this by me sending them 3 cartridges that were fired in the rifle in question, and they do what they do, and I get a die back from them in a couple weeks. I simply follow the instructions provided, and by far, this brass lasts the longest, and there is no fiddling about with die setup. The issue here is that since the brass headspaces on the rim, often the shoulder of the chamber is rather long, and of course the brass blows forward to fill the gap on firing. If the shoulder is set back to original dimensions, and fired again, the brass becomes weak at the fire ring. The custom dies will allow for this and set the shoulders back only a little bit, extending case life indefinitely, IME. Too, if you ask them to, C&H will cut the neck portions of the die so that the brass is sized sufficiently to accept a bullet of the diameter you specify without the need to resort to an expander ball. In all, a very special setup.
Then of course there is annealing, which is a process I may experiment with at some point, which is reputed to extend brass life. I suspect in my uses, this would be most advantageous if used with revolver brass. --Maybe one day!
I hope this helps some.
Regards,
Stubb
That said, I have found that 45's last forever. I have some cases I can no longer make out the headstamp, and they keep on going. I attribute this to low pressure and taper crimps.
Revolver cartridges I have found that the flare and crimp stages have the greatest effect on the brass life. I like a firm crimp, and load cast bullets exclusively in my 357 mag brass. Consequently the flare is maybe a bit more extreme than it would be with jacketed bullets, to assure easy bullet seating. I do lose a few of these each time I load. What is nice about it is that the mouth will crack just after flaring, so it is easy to tell that there is an issue before proceeding to powder charging etc. I have not had 357 brass fail as a result of firing the cartridges however. The flaw will not be visible until flaring, IME, so inspections of the brass before beginning the loading procedure does not reveal this latent failure.
I have noticed that after 2 trimmings of revolver brass, I know they are on their last legs. Also, low to moderate charges in general in revolver brass *seem* to have a beneficial effect on their life expectancy. The full house charges seem to weaken them.
Bottleneck cartridges which headspace on the shoulder can be very durable if one exercises care in setting back the shoulders only as much as necessary. I try to get .001 to .002 inch setback, so long as they chamber in a bolt gun. There too I trim each time I fire them, and typically only skim a small sliver off the case mouths if I have properly sized them. With my "shell shucker" automatic rifles, if I can find the brass, I load maybe 2 or 3 times, and leave them for the next guy if he wants them. I always full length resize to the maximum amount per the instructions on the die set. --Having experienced OBD only one time, I do not wish to experience it again, so for me at least, maximum sizing on these cartridges is a safety consideration. (I also tend to choose rifles with some sort of safety sear setup in them to avoid a recurrence of the OBD -- but these are pretty scarce, leaving maximum sizing the only really viable option I can ascertain).
Lastly, bottleneck cartridges which headspace on the rim, such as 303 brit or x54r, I have determined to have C&H tool and die make a custom sizing die for me. They do this by me sending them 3 cartridges that were fired in the rifle in question, and they do what they do, and I get a die back from them in a couple weeks. I simply follow the instructions provided, and by far, this brass lasts the longest, and there is no fiddling about with die setup. The issue here is that since the brass headspaces on the rim, often the shoulder of the chamber is rather long, and of course the brass blows forward to fill the gap on firing. If the shoulder is set back to original dimensions, and fired again, the brass becomes weak at the fire ring. The custom dies will allow for this and set the shoulders back only a little bit, extending case life indefinitely, IME. Too, if you ask them to, C&H will cut the neck portions of the die so that the brass is sized sufficiently to accept a bullet of the diameter you specify without the need to resort to an expander ball. In all, a very special setup.
Then of course there is annealing, which is a process I may experiment with at some point, which is reputed to extend brass life. I suspect in my uses, this would be most advantageous if used with revolver brass. --Maybe one day!
I hope this helps some.
Regards,
Stubb
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I sort by caliber and store in large plastic bins. I care about caliber, nickel plated or not, and in the case of 45 Auto whether it's small or large pistol primer brass. Other than that it just doesn't matter. When a bad case shows up, I toss it. I screw up more cases in the press that ever need disposal due to wearing out. Some cases in a bin might have been reloaded 5 times, others 15 times, some more. It just doesn't matter to me because they're all straight wall pistol cases and they don't ever get trimmed. Life's pretty simple only loading handgun.