doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Expensive brass, how many reloads?

I believe that I already know the standard answer, but how many times could or would you be comfortable trimming and reloading a piece of brass? We're taking magnum-rifle pressures here. I'm not seeing the classic signs of thinning (bright ring above the belt), but I'm not sure you always will.

There's gotta be a million answers, but if you have to trim a lot, maybe look at the methods. If it were me, I'd probably load down a bit, and make sure it head spaces on the shoulder. Maybe, very little to no trimming will hold up longer. Maybe, anneal the the necks now and then and feel for how snug the primer pockets are. I wouldn't count on much case life with maximum magnum pressures and heavy resizing.

I guess the best answer is "it depends". How much sizing you do, how much pressure must the brass endure, how well the brass fits the chamber, the type cartridge, quality of the brass, etc.

For my 7x57 I have 10 loads on one lot and it shows no signs of quitting. Same for my bolt action '06. For my M1 and M1a I expect to get 4 loads and maybe 5. for high pressure loads in Dad's .338 3 loads if heavy loads and full length sized and even then I'm worried about head separation. My Krag has such a huge chamber only 2 loads if full length sized. Much better with neck sizing. The '06 has such a tight chamber that a full length die is just about the same as neck sizing.

So give us some details of what you have and what you want to achieve.

Jerry Liles

Appreciate the input. The brass is nickel-plated, so I don't know how that affects things, but trimming is needed after each shot. It is Roy Weatherby's oldest caliber (.300) so you know the pressures are significant. I'm at 5 reloads now so....I guess I'm done. I kills me to fork over the $$$$ when the brass looks so good (& it's hard to find the nickel-plated stuff too). The primer pockets are still good and it cleans up beautiful...oh well.

The best way to save your brass is to set your sizing die to just "kiss" the shoulder( smoke neck/shoulder area with a lighter/candle then you can see what is going on),especially on belted and rimmed cases. Since these technically headspace on something other than the shoulder, setting the dies as often done, sets the shoulder back. When the shoulder is moved back every time it is fired, it stretches and when it does it thins. When it does this several times, the case will fail. Having to trim the case every time, should be the first sign the dies need to be properly adjusted.
Mike

As with automobiles, if one wants speed it comes at a price.

The neck may fail first. Annealing at proper intervals will usually extend case life assuming good case v. reloading die dimension relationship.

Lloyd3,

Please let us know, double rifle? Lever gun?
What caliber?

What is expensive brass? If you have 100 rounds, how often will you have to reload them?

Mike

Skeettx: Plain old boltgun. Is $2 per piece of brass considered expensive? Weatherby stuff can also be harder to find. I guess that after shooting .30-06 for many years, I got used to that level of expense.



There is also the issue of case capacity. These cheap(er) Remington cases are softer and thicker, causing me to need to alter my recipe.

Lloyd3,

PM Sent regarding available Brass

WBLDon