How many times can you reload before you have to replace the brass?
Is nickel better?
I am just getting into reloading, but they guy that is helping me says, till ya loose it or it splits.
Depends on a lot of things. Cases like 5.56/.223 from Lake City I can load between 15 and 20 times and anneal twice, as long as they are not hot loaded. Federal commercial brass is made of softer material and will show loose primer pockets at 8 to 10 uses. The hotter you try to push the load the less brass life you will see. My 22-250 gets loaded hot and 6 to 8 loads are all any brand brass will stand. Chamber size and headspacing also affect brass life greatly.
No! Nickel is not better. Just the opposite. The nickel will tend to split due to work hardening much sooner than the underlying brass and you will have to discard the case sooner. Split nickel will also play havoc with your fingers and destroy dies.
Colt45er; you need to get someone else to help you before this guy gets you killed! Read your manuals and learn about incipient head separation, work hardening and some other factors before it's too late. A split case can take your head off.
If i do recall he did just say that about .45.
WOW Those are high numbers. I was taught by my father and I follow this. I load brass no more than 5 times for pistol cartridges and 3 times for rifle cartridges. We would sometimes load the heavier walled military brass 5 or 6 times. I am sure you might be able to get away with 7, 8 or even 10 times maybe more. But when you weigh the risk/ savings factors is it really worth taking a chance. IMO the savings incurred is not worth the risk of injury or damage to your firearm.
Even with 45ACP you don't want to run the same brass until it splits. Most 45s don't fully support the case head and that is where a problematic failure can occur. Like Cordex, I have 45 brass that no longer has a headstamp, but the brass still measures good and I will continue to use it.
Again, the manuals advise proper procedures for defining reusable brass from scrap. There is also a difference in the brass of recent years compared to older stuff many of us old guys used to use which brings up the old wives tale of military brass being heavier. Compare by volume 5.56 LC 02 or newer to any comercial brass available today, especially Lapua. Keep in mind the alloy of the brass used also makes a difference in the strength of the case and not just the thickness of the material used.
After shooting 10 to 15,000 rounds a year for the last 40 years, I've had a grand total of 1 case failure, aside from some minor split necks, and it was a factory 30-30 round. Please guys! Buy multiple manuals and study them for yourselves. Word of mouth is good, but proven facts in print from verifiable source are better.