357 brass life?

[2ndAmendmentNut]

Hey guys just curious but how long does your 357 Magnum brass last before you retire it? I have about a 100 pieces of Remington 357 brass which has been loaded 5~6 times each, and I have noticed that the primers are getting significantly easer to seat. I am not getting primer leakage, but I was just wondering if this was normal? Most of my 357 loads are at the upper end with Blue Dot and H110 being my main propellants. Advice or opinions on other brands of brass will be most appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[454PB]

Hot loads will shorten the life by expanding the primer pockets as you've seen.

Using lighter loads, I get 15 loadings with nearly all my handgun brass. It usually fails via mouth splits.

[hyoder]

If the primer pockest are noticably loose I'd suggest trashing the brass. Hopefully you'll be wearing safety glasses when you blow a primer and gloves too if you're shooting a revolver.
Been there - done that - but only once.

[mooman76]

If you aren't usuing CCI pimmers they fit tighter and you can switch to them for awhile when you pockets get loose. I hear wolf are a little tighter too but not sure as they are fairly new. And yes hot loads will wear out brass allot quicker. If you tone it down a little you can double or tripple brass life. That is assuming you are running hot loads.

[HeavyMetal]

Yes you can switch to CCI primers and get more "distance" out of your 357 brass.

I would have thought you'd be seeing case mouth splits by now, perhaps your brass is just that brass, nickle case's will "expire" faster than brass ones.

[SierraWhiskeyMC]

I can only jump on the above bandwagon and suggest that lighter loads will greatly extend the life of your brass.

Not much point in loading to high pressures unless you are making hunting loads, are law enforcement, or military. Low pressure loads will not only extend the life of your brass, but your firearm as well.

You'll be less likely to develop a nasty flinch, too.

[shotman]

I bet you are useing more 110 than bluedot. You will get some powder getting in the primer and that will add a little more pressure there. 2400 will do same thing.

[2ndAmendmentNut]

Thanks guys. I shoot 38s for target and practice with 357 loads that I intend to hunt with. My normal 357 load that my Gp100 eats is a Lyman 358429 boolit on top of 15.1gr of H110, Remington brass, CCI #550, and a C.O.L of 1.580”. According to my data 14gr of H110 is a starting load and 15.5 is max, so these are not true power houses, I get no signs of excess pressure and it is a load I can handle accurately even shooting DA. My question is 5~6 reloads normal case life? FYI I will be trashing this brass and buying new brass, so advice on brass that has a reputation for lasting a long time with these kinds of loads will be most appreciated.

[bradh]

I have always loaded H110 or W296 at 13.5 grain for years, I only lose brass with case
neck splits. Your load is a little hot! My loads are with 158gr SWC.

[bootsnthejeep]

14 gr of 2400 usually get me a half a dozen loadings out of a case before I start getting splits and blowouts. Had a couple actually split the side of the case, those were a bear to extract. Nickle cases, if it makes any difference.

I keep some nice new cases for the important stuff and just keep tossing out the bad ones from my "common" 357 stuff.

[HeavyMetal]

actually it's a good idea to rotate your case's. 5 or 6 "heavy" loads then regulate them to lighter stuff until splits force a retirement.

[Stick_man]

Brass life can be affected by many things such as, but not limited to, powder charge, annealing, type of crimp, amount of crimp, chamber condition of the gun fired in, sizer dies, expander plugs, thickness of brass when new, type of brass (nickel plated or non-plated) and who knows what else.

I will typically get 12-15 loadings out of light to medium target loads in .38 special with a light roll crimp. If I am loading them a little heavier or with more of a roll crimp, that number goes down to 10-12 before I start seeing any signs of getting tired. With the .357mag, I usually load it medium to heavy as they are mainly used for hunting or defense loads (although many people commonly use them for many other things). Once my .357 brass starts to split, they get one last trip through the reloading press. I will trim them down to .38 special length, mark them up,and then load them with a light .38 load. Once the marked brass has been fired, they are flattened or otherwise destroyed so they don't get re-used by me or anybody else. Too much risk of somebody seeing the .357 markings on the base and trying to load them to .357 specs.

Most of the semi-auto rounds use a taper crimp which I believe are a little easier on case mouths. Using light powder puff loads, you should be able to get 20+ loadings from them. Obviously, the heavier the load, the fewer times the brass can be reloaded.

Best of luck, and happy shooting!

[captaint]

2nd A N - Starline brass has an excellent rep. Available thru Starline directly or Midway (maybe in stock). Gotta buy 500 thru Starline. Whatever you need thru Midway. I'm thinking 5 or 6 loadings is too short on lifespan. Might want to chill that hunting practice load a little. Just my take. Enjoy Mike

[TDC]

+1 on Starline.....

[wallenba]

If you can still seat primers watch for signs of work hardening at the case mouth and thin walls. They can still be annealed to make them workable again if they are not too bad. Many can still be cut down to specials if you are a really frugal type.
I only shoot specials in mine, reduced load wad cutters at that. I load just one fifty round batch at a time until they start to get loose pockets. Currently on my 8th reloading, still good on this batch of Starline.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
I have seen a 357 case occasional fail by head separation. Rare.

I wounder is it OK to anneal nickle brass?????