Brass Life

[4xforfun]

This is kind of a sorry excuse for a question, but.....

300wsm....norma brass.....62 gr h4350 210match at 2825 fps out of a 2" BAT "L" Heavy gun . I have 200 brass that has 5 firings on them. Primer pockets are like new...no case stretch, been annealed after the 4th firing. no hot loads......I was at 63 g but got a very slight hitch at the top when I ejected the cases at Pella last year when it got warm...backed down to 62G.

I will probably have 7 firings on the cases after this year. I am probably going to have Spencer set the bbl back and re crown after this season, as I will have between 1400 and 1500 rounds down the tube.

Should I buy new brass for next year? How many firings are you guys getting with the Norma brass? Like I said....the primer pockets feel "as new" and no case stretch. I would think that they should last forever. OK, not really forever, but a lot longer. I am new the the WSM and not really sure about brass life.

What say you?

 

[cmillard]

i thought that nosler was made by Federal not Norma. anyhow, in my 6BR, Lapua brass lasts much longer than the Norma that i have tried.

 

[4xforfun]

I guess I am looking for guys who shoot the WSM. 264 and 6mm brass are a totaly different animal.

 

[Dave T]

Sometimes these threads go in a direction that you're not really wanting 4xforfun as you can see, it tends to stray from your point. I have a 300 WSM and am wondering about this very same question, how many firing before I should toss my brass. I have 50 pieces of brass I use for testing and 50 I use for hunting. I have shot the 50 test brass the exact amount of times that you have and I also see no signs of problems, but how far do we go? My brass always seems to fit snug when closing bolt after re-sizing and I see no significant stretch and I intend to keep shooting them until primer pockets get loose. Hopefully with this thread you have started someone with more knowledge will help us with this question.
Dave T

 

[mikecr]

The brass has the potential to outlast many barrels. Your use of it comes down to what you do to it.
With this, much depends on your pressure, your chamber fit to brass dimension, and how much you size it each time.

With initial culling/preps, a minimal clearance chamber, minimal body sizing, partial bushing neck sizing, rational load pressures, I could make a WSM case last forever. Seriously, I could burn out barrels with a single piece of that brass, reloaded at the range.

But if your best load is hot & you're forced to FL size & with that you're trimming it away & fighting donuts & tension variance,, loosening pockets? Well, it's pretty hard to predict it's use for you.
Long as your best load is still your best load I guess..