Brass Life

[Idahotrophyhunter]

Considering "normal" shooting and circumstances and assuming loads are not overloaded or "hot loads" what would you guess/say is the normal life span of a brass...(specifically a higher pressure round - 280 ai)?

 

[DrMike]

I anticipate that I will get up to ten loadings with quality brass if I don't push the pressure limits. Perhaps I could get more, but I usually discarded after ten.

 

[Elkman]

After joining the forum I learned the value of neck sizing dies. I have always gotten good service from my brass, but eliminating the full length resizing process has really extended my case life. With my 300 WM, I am getting at least, 8 loadings, the STW probably similar. I throw my cases away when the primer pockets are loose, the necks are starting to mark, or the grove behind the belt, becomes noticeable.

 

[baltz526]

5 loadings is about when I start culling, do to primer pocket stretching. Some might get culled after 3-4 depends on the brass and how hard I'm pushing them.

 

[NWBlacktail]

For the 280AI, it has specific advantages associated with being an 'AI'. I would easily give them 10 firings. That would be a great candidate for neck sizing also.

My 270 win, with standard WW brass, I shoot the brass 5 times, then store it away in coffee cans incase Obama'geddon ever cuts off my supply of brass. :mrgreen: I do the same with my 223 bolt gun.

My 300 win mag, I only do 3 shots. The belt just makes me nervous. :!:

40 S&W, until I loose all the brass from being ejected. :wink:

44 mag… well, that one is new to me. Not sure how far I'll go with that.

 

[kraky]

For me its 5 w/belted mag.
About 8 w/regular brass.

 

[SJB358]

I anticipate that I will get up to ten loadings with quality brass if I don't push the pressure limits. Perhaps I could get more, but I usually discarded after ten.

Just about the same as Mike, only I won't discard it till it starts to show signs of coming apart. Gently resizing, annealing and making sure I don't stretch the pockets has gotten me a whole lot of brass life.

 

[11 Charlie]

I have brass for my .300 WBY I have shot 12 times and they don't show any negative signs. The primer pockets were fine for the last loading. This is Weatherby (Norma) brand and I do anneal after 4 firings. I am also lucky in that I have a tight chamber and my sizing die very closely matches it. I full length size and I can push down the press handle with 1 finger. The Remington brass I have still appears to be going strong through 5 firings. I have small amounts of a few other brands and the Hornady brass had some primer pockets getting loose after 3 firings. My gun loves Hornady bullets(and Nosler too!) and I certainly love my Lock N Load Concentricity Tool as well as other of their products so I thought it would have been better quality.Maybe just a "weak" lot for warm loads! I have not used Nosler brass yet but it seems to get favorable reviews. God Bless and great shooting to all!

 

[big rifle man]

I find annealing has extended the life of my brass and based on the caliber between 8-10 firings.

 

[BeeTee]

Splits and loose primers are the only reasons why I cull/toss brass, which are pretty rare. But, I do keep all brands/lots separated, and I use brass that's been loaded just a few times for serious (for me) target or hunting duty. I don't anneal.

 

[Guy Miner]

You guys ever load .38 Special target loads? 148 gr wadcutters over tiny charges of Bullseye? They last about forever.

With the rifle stuff, I'm about with the others, 5 - 10 loads, depending. I too have found that neck sizing is gentle on the brass, but my loads usually are not. Most of my .30 and under loads are up close to, or at, book maximums.

FWIW, Guy

 

[big rifle man]

Guy, I'm up to about thirty reloads so far with a lot of .45 cases. Target loads certainly do extend the life of pistol cases. I'm not a maximum load shooter for rifles so I've been able to stretch case life. I find that minimum resizing helps case life a lot and annealing definitely makes a difference.

 

[dubyam]

I generally get anywhere from 5-10 loads per piece of rifle brass, though I won't stop at 10 if everything looks good for continued use. I'm all about inspecting brass so nothing slips by and surprises me. So far it's working well. And so far is twenty years and counting.

I'm with Guy on revolver plinking loads. I started loading for revolver and pistol, and it didn't take long to find a great load using very little powder. Mine is the book max of Hodgdon Clays under a 148gr DEWC in 38Spl cases, shot through my Taurus Model 65 357Mag. I finally had to retire some of my brass after something like 40 firings. Was it neck splits? or primer pocket enlargement? No. I simply decided that they should be retired when I could no longer read the headstamp on the case. That's getting the life out of brass, my friend!

 

[FOTIS]

About 10 or so.