How many times can you reload

[repair]

How many times can you reload before you have to replace the brass?

Is nickel better?

 

[colt45er]

I am just getting into reloading, but they guy that is helping me says, till ya loose it or it splits.

 

[cordex]

Depends on the cartridge and depends on the load. If you're talking low pressure pistol cartridges like .45ACP, Colt45er is correct - you can reload it until you lose the brass or until the case splits. I have some brass that no longer has legible headstamps it has been reloaded so much.

I would not recommend the same strategy with hot .22-250 loads, however. What caliber are you reloading and what is the load you plan on using?

I know a lot of people who like nickeled brass for reloading, and I've heard it is better for higher pressure loads because of the slickness afforded by the nickel coating. On the other hand, I believe it has a shorter lifespan than regular brass. It has been some time since I've read up on this, so I might be incorrect.

 

[Old Syko]

How many times can you reload before you have to replace the brass?

Is nickel better?

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.

I am just getting into reloading, but they guy that is helping me says, till ya loose it or it splits.

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.

 

[townmarshal]

I've used nickel for 17Rem, 38, 357mag, 45acp, 22-250, 308, 308wm. Generally after just a few reloadings some minute flaking showed up for all but the 38spec. In all the above cals. the brass had noticeably more resistance to resizing than plain brass. Also theoretically, for rifles anyway, you want some case adhesion of the case to the chamber wall during firing case expansion to lessen the pressure on the bolt somewhat. (what a sentence)

 

[colt45er]

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.

I am glad you guys pointed this out to me. If i do recall he did just say that about .45. The other he loads is .44 mag but I haven't asked him how many times because I dont have a .44

Thanks guys.

 

[Chefcook]

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.

 

[Old Syko]

If i do recall he did just say that about .45.

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.

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.

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.

 

[Drail]

I have been reloading the same Winchester match brass in .45 ACP since it was new in 1979. None have split and the dimensions are still SAAMI specs. I have .41 Rem. Mag brass that has been loaded fairly hot since the late 80s. Still perfect. If you don't over flare or over crimp it's pretty hard to wear it out. Nickel plated brass was designed for one high pressure loading and firing. If you keep reloading the plating will start flaking off and it does seem to split after 5 or 6 reloads. It doesn't seem to do any harm but I don't want the flakes getting stuck in my sizing dies so I never use it.

 

[Chefcook]

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.

The military brass I was referring to was 7.62 that we picked up at Fort Dix in the mid 80's and it was heavier brass. I have been out of the reloading game for some time since maybe 2001 so I am not currant on today's specs. My statement was just a guideline my father instilled in me. It always at least to me seemed reasonable, and safe. I was pretty young when pop taught me to re-load 11 or 12 so he may have been playing it safe out of fear that I might not inspect the cases thoroughly enough. I think at least for a beginner those are good guidelines to follow. There's no substitute for experience and no reason to take any risks when dealing with these sorts of pressures. Just my ....JC

 

[slow1911s]

Research, read, and understand what the signs of high pressure are and adjust your practices accordingly. You will need to understand how your rounds and your gun effect your components.

Get a good reloading manual, or several, and read it.

 

[m_deaner]

I load range brass for 9mm and 45ACP without any care of how many times it has been loaded. If the case looks good, it is good. Never had a problem.

 

[kludge]

+1 m-deaner.

For low pressure pistol rounds you can probably get at least a dozen.

High pressure stuff is less, and super magnums (.454 etc) just a few. for expesive .454 Brass I reload twice (three times fired) and even if it looks OK, it gets put into a bag for "low pressure" plinkers with TrailBoss/Unique/etc... I don't shoot the .454 much so I haven't loaded any plinkers yet.)

For rifle it depends somewhat on whether you're full-length sizing or just neck sizing... neck sizing on target/varmint guns you usually go until the neck splits... on autoloaders and repeaters that need full-length sizing, you have to inspect each case and watch for a line near the head... once you see a line throw it out.

(Just so I'm not misunderstood... regardless of whether you neck size or full-length size I always inspect each piece of rifle brass before it is relaoded. For pistol brass that is not a .454, I "inspect" each piece, but much more casually, just looking for split cases. I also inspect each piece after it is loaded.)