Reusing brass

[Rock River]

Is there a standard to be followed for how many times brass can be reused? Is there a difference for pistol vs rifle?

 

[chezuki]

Is there a standard to be followed for how many times brass can be reused? Is there a difference for pistol vs rifle?

I don't load rifle, but I reload pistol indefinitely. I keep loading until they won't hold primers.

Just make sure you discard any damaged/cracked cases.

 

[Leo]

Same as above, I reload pistol brass until failure. My personal limit for rifle cases is 5 times for anything I take to a match. I almost never get a failure, but when record points are on the line, I am not willing to take the chance.

 

[Leadeye]

Straight wall case stuff lasts a long time rifle or pistol. I load it until you see splits then scrap it. I have some 44 special cases from the 70s still going, couldn't tell you how many times they have been cycled, but the loads are always light.

 

[red_zr24x4]

Same for me on the pistol. As for rifle, I've got some '06 that's been loaded about 15 times, some .223 going on 10 x. I found my most accurate load in the lower half of the scale and thats what I load. My rifles are mostly military surplus ,M1, M1A so I don't want to beat them unnecessarily.

 

[GIJEW]

Like others said: straight wall cases can be reused until the necks crack from being resized. I've found that .223 cases start to show issues after 7-10 uses. If the necks haven't cracked, and the primer pockets haven't loosened up, you have to start to look for the beginning of case-head separation. A couple signs are a bright ring on the case or a sometimes a slight bulge along with the ring.

 

[Rock River]

Thanks for the feedback. That says a lot to support the reloading cost justification as well.

 

[gutpile]

i wash brass in dawn dishwashing soap and water......rinse 2-3 times......then put on a cookie sheet in the oven @ 180 degrees till dry then tumble in walnut or treated cob........i learned from an old guy.....he seldom lost a case BUT he loaded reasonable loads as I have learned to i trim every third firing with almost zero case growth......I believe the drying is the secret

Gutpile

 

[Broom_jm]

There is no general guideline, but with rifle cases, the hotter the loads you use, the sooner the case will fail. Moderate to mild loads, and neck-sizing and/or annealing, will allow for 20+ firings with the preponderance of the cases you load. One of our members conducted an exhaustive study that saw individual pieces of brass exceed 50 firings. :O

 

[Josh Ward]

Just keep loading it until it fails ....

 

[shibumiseeker]

Just keep loading it until it fails ....

Mostly true, but with a few exceptions.

OP:

How long brass lasts is highly variable. I have posted on several of the brass life tests I have done over the years and my finding is that on the low end you may only get one reload on some brass (and a few will even fail on the initial firing), to as much as over 150 loadings I have gotten from some in my tests.

Mild to moderate loads with pistol or bolt action rifle will generally last 30-70 loadings and you can pretty much load it until it can't be loaded (neck splits, primer pockets too loose, base expansion, etc). The hotter you load it the less life you will get from it. The looser the chamber the less life you will get.

Where I differ from Josh there is when it comes to semi or full auto rifles and full-length resized brass. THAT should be discarded before failure because the consequences of failure range from annoying to dangerous. With full-length resizing the brass the failure mode is the case separating about one third of the way down the length. This is a very visible precursor to it failing:

If it fails while in the chamber the very least that happens is an end to your range day as extracting that will take a fair amount of effort. It can also potentially damage the gun and you depending on a lot of other factors.

Also, with really hot pistol loads, it's best to not shoot it to failure as you can get case rupture, especially with weaker brass or loose chambers or both:

BTW, all pictures are mine and while I don't care if people use them in posting in forums as illustrations of what can happen, I do retain copyright and anyone wishing to use them in a for-profit publication or website will need to obtain my permission for use.