30BR brass life

[Bat Rastard]

How long do you expect your 30BR cases to last?
Legend says forever, but when do you know it's time is over?

I recently had a 6Grendel case fail in a spectacular fashion, so I am a bit nervous going forward.

 

[Bill Norris]

How long do you expect your 30BR cases to last?
Legend says forever, but when do you know it's time is over?

I recently had a 6Grendel case fail in a spectacular fashion, so I am a bit nervous going forward.

I have some Lapua with 7 firings on them that are still shooting great and look good. I only bump the shoulders .001 and never anneal. These are turned down to .098 thickness for a tight-neck .0330 chamber.

 

[JEFFPPC]

I just retired the first 150 pieces of brass I made in 2007. On second barrel, total of about 8000 plus rounds. No problems but they have rebated rims because I started out with a PPC bolt face. I anneal everything. Always full length resize. I just decided to match the rims and bolt face.

 

[OmegaRed]

When do you know? When they crack or primer pockets get loose. In practice for 30BR, that means never.

 

[JEFFPPC]

When do you know? When they crack or primer pockets get loose. In practice for 30BR, that means never.

That's what I would be looking for O.R.

 

[JMayo]

I've heard the same thing. "Forever"

I ran 200 cases 20 + reloads last year. They've not changed. I screwed up some case mouths, they became anneal testers.
I did get more and now I'm shooting them to catch em up before the mix.
Ultrasonic cleaned the old 180.
Some matches i go to i need 200.

 

[jackieschmidt]

The 30BR might be the most forgiving case ever invented. Not only is it phenomenally accurate, case life seems to be off the charts when it comes to longevity.

Just inspect the necks periodically for any cracks or separation.

 

[Bill Norris]

I just broke my 30BR record today with Lapua brass with 7 firings on them. 5-shot group was .037 over bore size. Never annealed.

 

[boltfluter]

I just broke my 30BR record today with Lapua brass with 7 firings on them. 5-shot group was .037 over bore size. Never annealed.

Bill, that's some great shooting. 30 BR just plain shoot, with a good driver of course!
Paul

 

[P1ZombieKiller]

I retire my brass when I retire the barrel.
I have 200ish pieces in rotation. I keep the ammo boxes marked with firings (1 box has 4X and the other 3 have 5X firings). When I go to shoot, I shoot the 4x fired first making sure to keep them separated from the 5x firings.

Once I get to 18x - 20x firings, I retire the barrel and the brass that winter. Sometimes I donate the barrel and brass to a new shooter so they can get accustomed to shooting the 30br. Sometimes I rechamber the barrel into a 300 BO for a hunter. My son's first 300BO was the barrel I used in 2009, and it shoots GREAT as a 300BO. My family has killed many a deer with that rifle.

I always start with new fresh virgin brass when I have a new fresh virgin barrel.

 

[AlNyhus]

50+ firings for mine with a light 'draw back' every 6-7 firings.

The only time I've ever hurt a case in all the 30BR's I've owned was when I got a bit to aggressive with the powder measure and H4227.......

Good shootin' -Al

 

[Bill Norris]

Bill, that's some great shooting. 30 BR just plain shoot, with a good driver of course!
Paul

Thank you Bro. I have to give credit to my builder as well. Zack Donovant builds shooters.

 

[jackieschmidt]

50+ firings for mine with a light 'draw back' every 6-7 firings.

The only time I've ever hurt a case in all the 30BR's I've owned was when I got a bit to aggressive with the powder measure and H4227.......

Good shootin' -Al

Yeh, Al, we have all experienced that 4227 phenomena that occurs when it goes from shooting “zeros” to suddenly not needing a primer decamping tool. LoL

 

[AlNyhus]

Yeh, Al, we have all experienced that 4227 phenomena that occurs when it goes from shooting “zeros” to suddenly not needing a primer decamping tool. LoL

Being of German descent, my solution was to blend H4198 in with the H4227 to get around the 4227 traits...... -Al

 

[JimPag]

50+ firings for mine with a light 'draw back' every 6-7 firings.

The only time I've ever hurt a case in all the 30BR's I've owned was when I got a bit to aggressive with the powder measure and H4227.......

Good shootin' -Al

That's funny Al because the only one case that I ever hurt was my first year of shooting back in 2013. I was screwing around with 34.4 grains of Winchester 680 with a 116 grain Euber. 3309 FPS and the primer popped our when the case ejected. A little too warm I guess.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Yeh, Al, we have all experienced that 4227 phenomena that occurs when it goes from shooting “zeros” to suddenly not needing a primer decamping tool. LoL

That stuff can be "spikey", especially the Canadian variant. It lures you in, too...Seemingly, the more ya add, the better it shoots. But trust me, that's a powder best avoided.

Per the question, I've had 50 hot firings from Lapua 6.5 Grendel brass(Viht N120 powder)
(30 Major) with one annealing at midway, before accuracy went away on it. It started double grouping.

It had more than paid for itself and I saw now reason to continue my torture test for that brass...and I was tired of losing. I formed new brass and it was like I had just put on a new barrel. Shoulda done it sooner!

 

[Bat Rastard]

I am using 4227 in my 30BR.
How much is too much?

 

[jackieschmidt]

I am using 4227 in my 30BR.
How much is too much?

With a 112, Set up a chronograph and slowly go up untill you hit 3000 fps, then tune from there.
it is very accurate if you find the sweet spot before cases give up.

The lot I used several years ago was the Canadian stuff. Jut too volatile.

 

[JimPag]

That stuff can be "spikey", especially the Canadian variant. It lures you in, too...Seemingly, the more ya add, the better it shoots. But trust me, that's a powder best avoided.

Per the question, I've had 50 hot firings from Lapua 6.5 Grendel brass(Viht N120 powder)
(30 Major) with one annealing at midway, before accuracy went away on it. It started double grouping.

It had more than paid for itself and I saw now reason to continue my torture test for that brass...and I was tired of losing. I formed new brass and it was like I had just put on a new barrel. Shoulda done it sooner!

Ya Mike I don't care how much you keep annealing and reusing old brass nothing shoots like new brass. It's expendable and it doesn't cost a whole lot.