Due to shortage I'm shooting brass until it breaks

[JMayo]

I've been shooting this 30br brass near 3yrs. I guess you could say i got caught with my pants down. I should have bought some when i could have..
Anyway i decided to run it through a mandrel. Hum it seems to have gone through some changes.
Donut inside, thicker neck in areas.
So I've spent the day turning it again... I can only hope this isn't for nothing.
My game this year has gone 180° from last year .... No longer am i in the top 5 or middle . I've gone to the bottom.
I've about worked myself into not liking what I'm doing anymore. Tried this tried that ... Until I'm at my whits end.

Just a PSA about old very used brass ...

 

[6.5 forever]

I have 200 Lapua 6.5 CM. Amp annealed every firing, sized 1 thou in a Whidden die. Small primers still make a snap when decapped. 22 loadings now. Still shooting .4moa.

I used to scrap the 200 when I changed barrels. Not any more!!

 

[SG4247]

Same here!

 

[mgunderson]

I have used this opportunity to expand the companies that I support. Shooting some Starline brass next year. Hoping I learn something and refine my load development process. Time will tell.

 

[Chris Edmondson]

I have 200 Lapua 6.5 CM. Amp annealed every firing, sized 1 thou in a Whidden die. Small primers still make a snap when decapped. 22 loadings now. Still shooting .4moa.

I used to scrap the 200 when I changed barrels. Not any more!!

Thanks for that, I was about to retire my 12x fired Lapua 6.5 CM, think I'll run them a bit longer.

 

[JMayo]

Try 50 times and that being the minimum...

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

I've been shooting this 30br brass near 3yrs. I guess you could say i got caught with my pants down. I should have bought some when i could have..
Anyway i decided to run it through a mandrel. Hum it seems to have gone through some changes.
Donut inside, thicker neck in areas.
So I've spent the day turning it again... I can only hope this isn't for nothing.
My game this year has gone 180° from last year .... No longer am i in the top 5 or middle . I've gone to the bottom.
I've about worked myself into not liking what I'm doing anymore. Tried this tried that ... Until I'm at my whits end.

Just a PSA about old very used brass ...

Been there too, buddy. Brass is cheap...when you can get it. Good brass is anyway. It's not a contest of who can make their brass last the longest either. Kinda been there too, when I was intentionally pushing it. It bit me and took a while to diagnose, like you.

I wonder how long before this becomes more commonplace, with people not being able to buy Lapua brass. That said, it might cost ya but if you look around, you can probably find someone on here or otherwise with Lapua brass. Don't try anything else is my 2 cents worth on that. Not unless you just wanna test something else out.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Try 50 times and that being the minimum...

That's about when I started having my problem with it too, fwiw.

 

[Homerange]

Been there too, buddy. Brass is cheap...when you can get it. Good brass is anyway. It's not a contest of who can make their brass last the longest either. Kinda been there too, when I was intentionally pushing it. It bit me and took a while to diagnose, like you.

I wonder how long before this becomes more commonplace, with people not being able to buy Lapua brass. That said, it might cost ya but if you look around, you can probably find someone on here or otherwise with Lapua brass. Don't try anything else is my 2 cents worth on that. Not unless you just wanna test something else out.

One must not overlook what is happening in that part of the world.
Maybe if we went to Ukraine there would be plenty of once fired Lapua brass to be collected.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

One must not overlook what is happening in that part of the world.
Maybe if we went to Ukraine there would be plenty of once fired Lapua brass to be collected.

That's a whole nother subject but you're right there. I'm just saying...nothing else comes close to Lapua, that I've seen. Maybe in some disciplines but not at the pressure we load at in sr br. In fairness, I haven't tried the Peterson yet and rumor is they may be bringing something out soon. Time will tell. I'd love for there to be a real viable competitor to Lapua that is made here.

 

[Ccrider]

Lapua 6mm br brass has been showing up the last few days.

 

[L.Sherm]

..nothing else comes close to Lapua, that I've seen.

ADG in my opinion does if they make the caliber your looking for

 

[Mulligan]

ADG in my opinion does if they make the caliber your looking for

If only they made BR brass

CW

 

[Tim Singleton]

This definitely doesnt help with cost and having large amounts of new brass is for sure the best option
But having an AMP will keep old brass shooting like it’s new until the pockets won’t hold the primers anymore

 

[jackieschmidt]

I've been shooting this 30br brass near 3yrs. I guess you could say i got caught with my pants down. I should have bought some when i could have..
Anyway i decided to run it through a mandrel. Hum it seems to have gone through some changes.
Donut inside, thicker neck in areas.
So I've spent the day turning it again... I can only hope this isn't for nothing.
My game this year has gone 180° from last year .... No longer am i in the top 5 or middle . I've gone to the bottom.
I've about worked myself into not liking what I'm doing anymore. Tried this tried that ... Until I'm at my whits end.

Just a PSA about old very used brass ...

I have 30BR cases that I probably have 40 or more firings on.

I decided years ago to just keep shooting them, no annealing, re-turning, worrying about the do-nut or anything else, aside from checking the OAL.

I have grown to believe that a 30BR case that was made from Lapua is worn out when the neck finally cracks.

 

[20PPC]

I've been shooting this 30br brass near 3yrs. I guess you could say i got caught with my pants down. I should have bought some when i could have..
Anyway i decided to run it through a mandrel. Hum it seems to have gone through some changes.
Donut inside, thicker neck in areas.
So I've spent the day turning it again... I can only hope this isn't for nothing.
My game this year has gone 180° from last year .... No longer am i in the top 5 or middle . I've gone to the bottom.
I've about worked myself into not liking what I'm doing anymore. Tried this tried that ... Until I'm at my whits end.

Just a PSA about old very used brass ...

Like you Johnny I have been experiencing the exact same situation with my shooting.
I used to think I was pretty good but the last couple years has proved otherwise, every match down at the bottom.
Lisa has been doing well and having a good time so this helps my "I don't care attitude".
The one thing I have found is no matter how bad I shoot the time I spend with my shooting family yourself included Johnny is priceless and that is what keeps me attending the matches.

 

[Damon555]

I've always shot my brass to failure....Split necks, case/head stretching/cracking and cracked shoulders get caught with visual inspections long before they hurt anything. Haven't had any primer pockets get too loose on me yet....I've got some Norma 6XC brass that's probably got 15 loadings in them.....I only annealed when the batch had another split neck, shoulder or case head issue....usually get 3 or 4 loads before the need to anneal again. I think I have 85 of my original 100 cases left from that batch....10 year old brass.....Luckily my .223 AI loves surplus, mixed head stamped brass so I don't worry about losing those.....have unlimited supply of once fired .223 brass!

 

[Doug Casner]

I dont push mine too much. When they get to going hard , I try to be real careful. Probably cull them too quick. Dont want to burn one off and leave it in the chamber. Never done it but heard old shooters talk about it. Doug

 

[1K6BRA]

I never had a borescope until just a couple of months ago. I had a two day event this past weekend and when I got home and was inspecting my 6.5 x 47 cases I noticed three of them with the telltale sign with a beginning of a separation line in the web area. I was telling a friend of mine about this, and he said just get your borescope and stick it down in there and inspect some cases that look fine from outward appearance.(Good thing we have thinkers instead of just stinkers) I did, and found none of them with the beginning of a separation line. I inspected 8 or 10 of them. I looked at the ones that had the separation lines and you could easily see the line inside the case also. To be on the safe side I will probably retire this lot of brass after my next shoot next month. Close to 20 reloads on this set of 80 Lapua brass. I feel I got my moneys worth out of them.

 

[Link]

I stretch em til they brake, I can't afford new.
;]