Equipment & Gear > Guns and Ammo
Tracking how many times you've reloaded brass
woodswalker:
--- Quote from: Ray on February 23, 2010, 10:55:53 PM ---You can log them by lot number of the brass.
--- End quote ---
That assumes you have the box still Ray. I have a batch that i have kept together for over 25 years, all REM-UMC .38 Spl brass....started with 500 rounds...now down to 314 with 61 loadings on the lot. Casualties have mostly been splits to where they were not safe to shoot with target loads. Crinkled a few setting up dies...maybe 6 or so. All are empty..so its about to hit loading number 62! Load is 3.4 Gr Unique under a 148 grain WC. STINKINGLY accurate in my Pre-War M&P Target.
JackOfAllTrades:
Belted Magnum Rifle stuff I keep to small lots. Unknown reload count but I inspect every case before/during reloading. I shoot every bit of my brass until it's not worthy any more.
For Magnum Pistol loads I keep the heavy loads separated from the practice/lead loads. Again, inspecting the most abused cases with fine scrutiny.
My target loads for 45acp... 38spl... Man.. I've got tens or maybe even hundreds of reloads on some cases. I certainly don't keep track.
There is no magic number for the amount of reloads any one cartridge can handle. I've got some belted bottle neck brass that's only been neck sized -ever. Lasting quite well.
-Steve
cwuwildcat:
Do those high number of times you are getting on reloading the same brass unique to pistol, or does it also count for rifle? I'd read to expect 5-10 reloads on rifle brass.
I've got about 150 cases from my .06, that has only been fired in it once. I wasn't into reloading at the time, so didn't know to keep track of the boxes. I tossed the boxes so I don't have the lot info, but at least kept the brass. It's mixed brands, as I was trying to find what worked the best in this rifle.
JackOfAllTrades:
The high numbers I have are for pistol brass that's loaded to low pressure 'subsonic velocities'. 45acp cases actually shrink. Not stretch. Which, in and of itself can lead to other issues.
The high numbers are not 'unique' to pistol brass, as it's quite possible to split cases of just about any cartridge even if strict rules of reloading are adheared to.
You can get more reloads out of bottle neck cases that are only neck sized, (again, I advised you/all new reloaders to do it all by the book, which means full length resizing). You'll get more reloads out of low pressure bottle neck cases (think 30-30), than you will magnum loads (300wm).
Don't worry about your mixed lot brass, especially if it was fired from the same rifle. Do separate by brand though.
'Lots' of brass, separating brass by case weight, wall thickness, water volume, mid and neck concentricity, is reserved for competition shooters attempting to get the absolute most consistency for the absolute most accurate loadings. These things don't necessarily determine case 'life'.
-Steve
shoot-em-dead:
I have 21 rounds of 22-250 that has only been reloaded twice and I can see faint signs of cracks so I set them aside. I am new to reloading but I think you have to look at how much pressure each caliber produces to guess how many reloads a case will take. And just take that as a guess. Every time you reload each case should be inspected after it has been tumbled and washed. It will only take 1 bad case to wreck your gun or worse- the shooter.