Reloading Question

[Harold]

How many times is it safe to reload brass? 2 maybe 3 times? never seen any info on it and was just curious.

[JackOfAllTrades]

It really depends on the cartridge. For 45acp I've reloaded much of my brass 25 times. For 30-06, I have some that's been reloaded say 8 maybe 10 times. 338win-mag, I bet I've got a few that have been loaded 5 times. (but those are custom necked down and loaded hot) I do not scribe the sides with how many times I've loaded them. I go through a visual inspection process and measuring to determine whether that next piece of brass is a candidate for loading again.   

Your dial indicator is your friend. Neck sizing bottle neck cases will allow more reloads than full length sizing. Hotter loads will reduce case life. Improper head space will reduce case life. Belted magnums will have less life than a straightwall case.

-Steve

[JimmyHoffa]

Until the brass shows signs of approaching failure or has already ruptured.  If the brass starts to get really thin over time, you may finally retire a piece pre-emptively.  Mostly just visually inspect it for abnormal bulges or cracks.  If you suspect there could be a crack forming inside, you can bend a paperclip and scratch it around in there to see if it snags on any cracks.  The hotter you load the brass, though, the shorter the lifespan.

[carpsniperg2]

It really depends on the cartridge. For 45acp I've reloaded much of my brass 25 times. For 30-06, I have some that's been reloaded say 8 maybe 10 times. 338win-mag, I bet I've got a few that have been loaded 5 times. (but those are custom necked down and loaded hot) I do not scribe the sides with how many times I've loaded them. I go through a visual inspection process and measuring to determine whether that next piece of brass is a candidate for loading again.   

Your dial indicator is your friend. Neck sizing bottle neck cases will allow more reloads than full length sizing. Hotter loads will reduce case life. Improper head space will reduce case life. Belted magnums will have less life than a straightwall case.

-Steve

Nail on the head

[Harold]

Thanks guys, you two have been far more helpfull then all the local gunshops so far few were saying no more then 5 times and then some were saying up to 20 times. i guess in a way there were kinda right in it all depends on the condition of the shell from what you two said. thanks for the paper clip idea i never would have thought of that.

[jaymark6655]

I have my brass seperated out into lots, and then track each reload on Excel.  I have heard about 10 times for 308, but I am only up to 2 or 3 times.  I also track which powder and bullet was used and the best group with each and the price to build that round (so I can see if it is possible to save money).

[high country]

quality makes a difference too, don't expect to get as much life out of factory loaded brass as with lapua brass.

[JackOfAllTrades]

quality makes a difference too, don't expect to get as much life out of factory loaded brass as with lapua brass.

I'll almost disagree with that statement...    But will add that some brands of factory ammo are known for being thicker, thinner, more brittle, more consistent. Lapua brass is extremely good stuff as the case walls have more uniform thickness, but Winchester and Federal from the 60's and 70's is great stuff. You'll get more reloads out of PMC than you will Starline or CMC. Remington brass in many cases is thinner than others, thus a few less reloads. Some of my brass choices actually depend on what cartridge I'm loading.

-Steve

[high country]

A guy might as well learn to sort prep and aneal cases too

[mazama]

I only use once fired brass for hunting,the rest of my loads iam not as picky on,i also tumble after each firing to look for cracks and bad dents.

[Jamieb]

Might as well throw my  in.
Most of it's been covered already but I have to say belted mag brass properly sized to head space off the shoulder wont wear out any faster then a non belted case. Run your brass in lots of the same loading/firring.
For standard non expensive brass, after tumbling and resizing I visually check the outside on every case and pick a few out to check the inside of with a bent paper clip. Try to stick with one brand of brass, write any brass failures down in your loading book, you'll start to see a pattern.
My 7mm-08RP brass starts getting cracks in the neck after the 8'th firring, I've ran some to 11 firings but the 10'th and 11'th firring I lost a bunch of cases to neck splits.Rem brass for the 7-08 is cheap so I toss it all after the 7'th firring, if it was expensive I'd anneal like my .257wby brass every 5'th firring. Annealing brings back the brass elasticity so necks wont split and the cases will last until the web ahead of the rim get thin from stretching and lets go. A lot of folks over work their brass and shorten the brass life from work hardening by FL resizing every reload. Neck sizing or partial full length sizing is the way to go, both for accuracy and brass life.I put tape of the box of reloads and write the number of firings the brass has.

[high country]

Keep in mind that brass needs to be trimmed or at least measured to get the safe long life mentioned here.

[Wenatcheejay]

If you anneal your brass it lasts longer.

How I Anneal Brass

[jaymark6655]

Read this before annealing anything.  http://www.6mmbr.com/annealing.html  I don't anneal.  Maybe someday I might consider it, but right now it seems like I have more to lose by doing it wrong compared to what I could gain.