Approx Brass Lifespan

[osteodoc08]

With the cost of new brass (and used brass in some cases), What is the approx lifespan of brass. For some I hear indefinite, others 3 loadings max. I know it depends on the specific caliber and how hot it is loaded. But for an average, run of the mill loading, what can we expect for

Pistol: 9mm, 40 S&W, 10mm, 45acp, 38/357, 44 Mag, 45 colt

Rifle: 223/556, 308 case family, 30/06 case family, 30/30, 7mm RM, etc

I reload mostly 45 acp, 38/357, 41mag, 45 colt, 556, 308, 30/06 (Garand) and 30/30. Case life has been numerous for 45acp, 45 colt, 38 spec and 30/30. I'll get splits in the 357/41 and get tossed from 8-12 reloadings and i typically reload 556/308/30-06 3x and toss the brass for fear of CH separations or other failure. I ty to shoot in lots of brass and if I start getting loose primer pockets, I'll toss them as well.

[C. Latch]

9mm/45acp: infinite. I lose brass before I wear it out
38/357/45Colt: 20-30 shots depending on flare and crimp levels.

Bottlenecks: 5-10 rounds
Belted magnums: 3-6 rounds.

YMMV, a lot.

[gnostic]

Obviously, the determining factor is how hot you load them, and how hard you work the brass in the loading process. I get about the same number of reloads per case as you do...

[LUCKYDAWG13]

I have some 357 Magnum brass that I know has been reloaded 30 times or more

[BK7saum]

If you set up rifle dies to cam over in your press and also have a loose chamber, then yes, maybe 2 to 3 loads. I set my bottleneck rifle dies up to only bump the shoulder 0.001-0.002" and have never had a case head separation in those calibers. Some cases have been loaded 10 plus times, maybe much more.

If you are worried about case head separations in bottleneck cases, use a small wire with a 90 degree bend to feel the case wall near the head for a groove. If no groove is felt, keep loading and shooting those cases. I've lost all my cases to loose primer pockets and split necks. The only CH separations I've had were a 2506 improve that has a chamber about 0.020" too deep.

[KAF]

Annealing brass will make sure you get way more loadings. Very easily done. I have 357 Max brass that is necked down to 32 cal that has had years of use on them.

[DerekP Houston]

I tend to use mine until I find a Crack or noticeable damage. This is pistol rounds 380 - 45acp.

[JSnover]

I tend to use mine until I find a Crack or noticeable damage. This is pistol rounds 380 - 45acp.
Same here. If I notice the headstamp is almost worn off I'll toss it. I figure the rim has worn pretty thin by then.

[waksupi]

I have rifle brass with 50+ loadings.

[runfiverun]

well you can see from the above....... it depends.

I had one set of brass for a particular rifle that I didn't even size I just punched the primer and re-filled the case.
I bet I could have reloaded those 50 cases until I died.

and I have had some others that wouldn't hold the boolit after two firings.

on average though 10 firings on a full jacketed rifle round is pretty good.
revolvers are hard to tell.
I have got over 40 loads on many 38 special cases, and have split nickel 45 colt brass in about 3 while the rest of them went over 40.

[WILCO]

With the cost of new brass (and used brass in some cases), What is the approx lifespan of brass.

It varies. I use mine until it's visually defective.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Mild loads in .30-30 or .303 Savage, anneal every 5 loadings 30+. 45 ACP - ? lost before worn out,. Using Redding Competition Shellholders (usually +.006, +.008) gets me another 4 or 5 full power reloads in my .243's, .308's, and .300's in the Savage 99. Carefully adjusting shoulder reset when full-length resizing is critical to case life on rimless cartridges. Rimmed cartridges and light loads give better case life when shoulder reset is not carefully controlled. Light loads in the .30-30, .32 Special, .303 Savage seldom need full-length resizing. Cases with more taper can be neck-sized by simply unscrewing the full-length sizer a couple of turns. Neck sizing is fine as long as function is not impaired i.e. reasonable chambering and extraction for expected use. DIE ADJUSTMENT is the key to longer case life.

[RogerDat]

It varies. I use mine until it's visually defective.
You know a thread with pictures of cases that are rejected for reloading along with the reason might prove useful. Sometimes hard to determine difference between minor shadow near case head and brass that has been stretched and compressed enough that it warrants concern, or checking for ridge with wire on the inside of the case.

Brass is expensive, one doesn't want to pitch it before it wears out, at the same time one does not want to load a round that is an accident waiting to happen. I have a zip lock baggie of brass I want to show someone with more experience to get a second opinion for that very reason. "Might" be bad, might not, don't want to take a chance based on my "best guess" since I have not loaded that caliber before.

I actually came across a bunch of cracked neck starline 45 colt brass in a bucket of range brass. Had to wonder about age or hard usage. Those rims were worn really thin all the way around. I went from exited at finding 45 colt to bummed that it was all used up.

[Bent Ramrod]

Depends on the gun, the intensity of loading, and the internals of your reloading dies.

My .30-06 cases are loaded to the old specifications so I can use the sights on my 03. Haven't lost a case yet, and I full-length resize them every reloading. My .270 is loaded to handbook levels to approximate (usually lower) factory velocities. I start seeing the occasional neck crack after three reloadings.

A slightly tight neck and a slightly fat expander ball in your resizing die will wear cases out pretty quick as well.

I anneal the case necks of all the unusual calibers I shoot. The others, I let wear out and replace.

[bangerjim]

Yes.........it all depends!

On what you use to tumble your brass in/with

On your powder load

On your reloading methods of "working the brass"

On your environment. (Corrosion)

I just watch the cases when de-priming/resizing for any stress, cracks, or funny colored areas and toss them. I do not keep count at all, just visual inspeciton and good olde common sense.

I throw away very few! As long as you are doing things right, your brass should last SAFELY for many cycles.

I have not bought brass in a while. I come home from the range with 2-3X what I went with! Around these parts, 45LC's are hard to pick up so I have bought those, but have never thrown a single one away due to being "worn out". 223/556, 9mm, 300BLK, 380, 38/357mag, 40S&W, 44mag, 45ACP are very common everywhere! Most range people are com-ammo shooters and do not save thier brass. Works for me!

banger

[Kraschenbirn]

Another "depends" here. I've got milsurp .45 ACP with 1950s headstamps that I've been reloading to 'softball' levels since the early 1970s and I've got some Remington "match" that was purchased new and has never been loaded with anything but IPSC "major". Occasionally, I'll toss one out for a crack in the case mouth but, otherwise, I tend to lose 'em rather than wear 'em out. Same with my .38s, .357s, and .44s.

Rifle-wise, I sort my brass by which gun it was fired from and neck-size for my bolt-gun and single-shots. While I do get an occasional split neck in the thinner-walled cases...32-20s and .22 Hornets...almost all of my .30 cal. discards are due to loose primer pockets from being reloaded so many times with mil-spec 'hard' primers. On the other hand, back in my IHMSA days, I did have one of J.D. Jones' wildcat 7mm barrels for a Contender that was good for only 3 or 4 full-power reloads...parent brass just couldn't handle the pressures generated by J.D.s 'recommended' loads.

Bill

[Hick]

In my experience it depends on the type of case. 30-30 and 32WS I have over 20 reloadings and going strong. BUT-- those cases headspace on the rim, so that case length (and shoulder position) don't have to be perfect. These I always fire in the same rifle and only neck size. 30-06 headspaces on the shoulder, so I full-length resize, and I've seen some splitting in as few as 6-8 reloads. Another parameter is whether or not you are using an M die to open the mouth for lead. The cases where I don't use an M die seem to last longer before I get neck splitting. I haven't done extensive research, but I think the key is that the more cold-working you do (resizing or expanding) the quicker it will work-harden and fail. The less you do the longer they will last.

[wv109323]

I think the answer to your question depends upon several variables. Pistol brass is "low maintenance" and requires little attention. Life is good. Rifle brass is much more sensitive to stresses during reloading and pressures generated during firing. With neck annealing and case trimming rifle brass can last several reloads, as mentioned in threads.

[FISH4BUGS]

Bolt rifles with neck sizing only - 10 or more easily
Semi autos are nororiously hard on brass - maybe 5 if you are lucky
Pistol - until it cracks.

[jcwit]

I have .223 cases that have been reloaded 70+ times, they are not loaded hot at all, they are loaded for pinpoint in a Rem. 700 vls.

30/30 Not sure yet, have reloaded 6 or 8 times, with no issues.

the .223 get neck sized only and bumped back every 10 to 12 reloadings, all depends on how the chamber when shooting.

the 30/30 gets neck sized every 3 reloadings, then full length sized every 4th reloading.

45ACP till I lose them.

All other pistol either till I lose them or they split.

[lightman]

Like the others are saying, it depends. It depends on the brand of brass, the chamber its fired in, the reloading dies and how hot you load it. Most straight wall pistol cases maybe 10 or 12 times. Auto pistol cases about the same or until I loose them. Bottle neck cases maybe the same. Federal rifle cases seem to get loose primer pockets after 3 of so loadings if loaded moderately. Winchester rifle cases seem to get split necks after a few loadings, maybe on the first one. They are the main reason that I bought an annealing machine! I load 6.5- 284 cases for my match rifle and shoot the same cases all season (12 times) and I load them hot. My H&K is hard on cases. So it just depends.

[bullseye67]

Normally I don't jump in...but I have read the replies and....Here is what I have found with brass.
1) I avoid bright silver plated cases. I used to reload everything I could pick up. Now I can be picky. Your resizing dies will last longer if you stay away from Nickel plated cases. I also found if a case split after a couple of reloads it was silver.
2) A small bit of case lube on pistol(straight) cases makes dies and brass happy. More so now that I use Liquid/SS pins. I put 500+ in a plastic container with a lid(I have a small used food container) and 2 short sprays with case lube and shake/shake...Make your own spray case lube, lots of recipes on this site.
3) Proper die adjustment. The flare crimp cycle is a delicate process that can split a case faster than anything else.
4) I only wash/clean brass when needed. I shoot indoors most of the time now and use a brass catcher all the time. Shoot..reload..shoot reload repeat until I decide to wash/clean about once a year.
5) Build up large amounts of brass. The more you have the less each is reloaded. This was my bullseye 38 system. Shoot factory in match. Reload for practice. Pick up as many once fired brass as I could. After several seasons I had 5 gallon buckets of 38 brass to reload. The range I am a member at, I could fill barrels with 9mm and 40 cal, 45acp and rimmed pistol not as much. More rifle brass than they know what to do with several 5 gallon buckets a day.
I have 38s that I have been reloading regularly 30+ years. I also have 30'06 and 308 brass about that long.
Two years ago, I purchased a custom 35 Whelen and it came with 50 loaded and 50 once fired brass all Hornady. In working up loads and just having fun shooting. I have reloaded those 100 over 20 times now and they should keep going. Mid and light cast boolit loads makes brass last a long time......of course someone will have a different experience.....
When I was first shooting Bullseye an older shooter said something that I didn't believe. He said "I doubt most of these guys reload there empties, just ask them", so I did, he was right maybe 1 in 4 wanted their brass. Now when I walk down the line at the range I might see 1 in 30 with their own reloads. Weekends no reloaders shooting. Ask if you can have their brass and don't worry about how many times it can be reloaded.

[Geezer in NH]

I am 64 years old and started loading at 14 years old.

I have never had a case head separation, neck splits in rifle and handgun, body splits in straight walled pistol but that is it and they caused no problem.

I even load the big case head breaker the 303 British. Learned 30 years ago neck size only and keep cases for each rifle separate. Since then I expect 10 shots per case.

Never load all max loads for any cartridge. Shoot the nice under max loads. For hunting use 1 time fired cases and load up to your best accuracy up to max. Then keep the cases for under max loads like cast boolits.

I found using 50 round boxes of ammo and keeping records lets me get many loads from a rifle case.

I like to get at least 2 length trimmings from them and at the second use a sharpened paperclip to see if any incipient case head separation is eminent.

Being old I use a single stage press for rifle rounds.

Handgun reloading I do not trim any auto loading rounds and only trim full mags in 357 and 44 mags.

When a mouth splits I crush the case and put it in the Junkyard brass sale bucket.

[Frank46]

Once took the same RP 308 cases and loaded and fired them ten times. Actually 11 times as they were fired from factory ammo. Only reason I scrapped them were the primer pockets were starting to get loose. Frank

[Moonie]

I've heard some of the old timers here claim their 45 acp brass is so old the head stamps are no longer readable...

[BD]

There are no hard and fast rules here. Loads are different, chambers are different and dies are different. Each and every gun/die/brass combination adds up to an individual story. You need to start at the beginning and read it all the way to the end a couple of times to truly know that story. I've loaded somewhere near 180,000 .45 cap. Pretty much all the same load, or within a short hair of being at the same pressure level. Those cases can last 40-50 reloads, (at which point the head is pretty dinged up, but I can always still tell what it is). Or, occasionally could split at 10 reloads or sooner. i think I loose more in the grass than I split. Usually they split in the press, not from firing. Some head stamps last better than others, (WW), but not all of the cases in the lot will last the same. I also load a fair amount of .223. The LC from the 70's seems to go 8-9 loads easily if annealed every 3 loadings. 20 years later I might have 1,000 out of 5,000 left in service. I have some Black Hills Match that TonyB sent me 10 years ago thats on it's 14th loading and I still have about 200 out of 800 or so he sent. On the other hand I've loaded FC .223 that split necks on the third loading. I've been loading .270WBY "hot to hunt" for better than 20 years. I get 10 loadings out of the WBY stamped brass, by neck sizing only and annealing every third loading, before the primers start to get a little loose. I'd bought a bunch of nickel plated Federal .270 WBY 20 years ago that split on the second firing. .44 mag WW I can load max three times, and then if I don't down grade it to plinkers I'll split about 50% on the fourth max load. Brand doesn't matter. I think this is about the 55,000-60,000 psi in a straight walled case more than anything else. As plinkers, (10,000-15,000 psi), it seems to last forever, or until a mouth splits. In 30 years I have yet to retire a single piece of Norma or Lapua 6.5x55 brass. It's neck sized only and I've never annealed any of it. Can't explain why, but the 45,000 psi operating pressure in a necked rifle case probably has a lot to do with it.
So, go forth and use up some brass! Pay attention along the journey and you will earn the wisdom to continue.

[dave524]

In my experience it depends on the type of case. 30-30 and 32WS I have over 20 reloadings and going strong. BUT-- those cases headspace on the rim, so that case length (and shoulder position) don't have to be perfect.

Not been my experience, .303 British, .218 Bee, .22 Hornet, if you want the case to last and not fall victim to case head separation , your dies have to be adjusted so you are not setting the shoulder back, just as critical as a rimless case. I set my dies as if they are a rimless case, little candle soot on the neck helps setting up the die.