How long do you keep your brass?

[dreever]

We put a painstakingly amount of time into our brass. We weigh sort it, turn the necks, constantly check the concentricity and everything else and treat it with kid gloves. So after all of this naturally we hate to throw it away.
Obviously, if you start to get split necks, or heaven forbid a case head separation it's time to deep six it, but before that happens how many loadings do you call enough?
I have a friend who put 72 loadings through one batch of PPC brass before he got the first split neck. Another friend tosses his PPC brass,twenty pieces)after one weekends aggregate. Two ends of the extreme, with most of us somewhere in the middle

Personally, I feel that brass is at it's absolute best for the first couple of loadings, and then slowly degrades from there.
I start to get antsy at the ten loadings mark. Considering I weigh sort in batches of 100 that's 1000 rounds down the tube using that particular batch. Since I feel 2000-2500 rounds competitive life is about all you can ask in your average 6BR barrel going thru two "batches" of neck turned brass seems reasonable, so I'd have to say 10-12 loadings then it's trash can time.

How about the rest of you? When do you go to new brass?

Danny

 

[ReedG]

Well, here's one side of the story. I have 300 6BR cases that have a combined total of 5,600 rounds on them,some more than 25 loadings). All Lapua's, of course, necks turned enough to take off high spots with .270 necks. I anneal them regularly, keep them trimmed to length, keep them clean and in five years have not lost a single case to any kind of shooting incident. Primer pockets are fine. Lapua brass is the best-of-the-best, and though expensive still well worth the price.

Tell your buddy who tosses his cases after a weekend to put them in a box and I'll pay the shipping. What a waste.

 

[Preacher]

With all the work involved,and I surely don't mind doing it) I'll keep shooting them until they croak.
I don't compete but I try to shoot every day that I can and I have not noticed that they shoot any better new than after 15 times out.
I do keep a very close watch on them and anneal them after 4 times out, now that I have the BC1000 annealer I may start to anneal them every time they have been fired to see if that will make a difference...
When I wear the barrel out I'll start with brand new brass again, until then it will be the same old stuff...
With a good set of dies matched to the chamber and annealing, and US cleaning they should last forever.......

 

[Cheechako]

Danny

Good question.

About 10 years ago I ran a little experiment with a point blank Benchrest rifle and brass longevity. I made 20 new cases for a new barrel,6PPC) and shot those cases an entire season. At the end of the year I had 15 left. ,The 5 that I tossed were mostly in frustration when I shot a 4 and 1. I never FL resized or bumped the shoulder but I was shooting a moderate load and never had a need to. As I remember I put close to 1500 rounds thru the barrel that year so each case was fired somewhere between 75 and 100 times. The neck tension was still good, primer pockets were still tight, and they had not grown a bit after the final trimming. I recall that I won just as many trophies as in any other year,not many) and in hindsight I may have done even better than usual. I never tossed the last of those cases. They are somewhere mixed in with all the other live varmint cartridges made from discarded brass. there's no telling how many times they have been fired by now.

My point? I don't know if I have one. If I was a really good Benchrest shooter I might say that using those cases over and over cost me some trophies. I know,knew) many good shooters who would discard brass at the end of each day and they beat me more than I beat them so maybe there is something to it.

Ray

 

[dreever]

Ray,

I think your moderate load is the key. I know short range guys that are running loads with accompanying pressures that make me turn pale just thinking about it. That's why they toss the cases after a weekend. Jackis Schmidt is one of those. I guess you can't argue with success.
I'm more into long range where I don't hear of too many guys running insane velocities and pressures.
Perhaps Lynn will jump in hear on that score.

Danny

 

[Forum Boss]

Tom Sarver set the new 1000-yard 5-shot Light Gun record,1.403" 50-5X) with Lapua .338 Lapua Brass that had been fired 58 times.

These cases had initially been formed into a wildcat,"300 Hulk") that pushes the shoulder down about 1/2 inch. Tom anneals his cases after every firing, so that can explain the longevity. But still, considering the spectacular nature of Tom's group, one has to acknowledge that old brass can be capable of great performance, if it is annealed regularly, and not abused with excessive loads.

 

[Cheechako]

Danny

I shoot Long Range also and my approach to brass is different from what I did in my point-blank days. When I make a new barrel I buy about 200 new cases, prep them all, and shoot them for the life of the barrel, which can be pretty short even with mild loads, as you know. When the barrel is gone, the brass is gone also unless it's something like a 244 Ackley that can be used for long range varmiting and such. I think many LR shooters do the same or a similar thing although I do know some who will completely re-do the old brass for a new barrel.

BTW, asking Lynn about moderate loads is like asking a virgin about sex.

He's never seen a primer pocket that could not be made bigger. Are you there Lynn old buddy?? He may be shooting this weekend.

Ray

 

[Cheechako]

Danny

Your comment about Benchrest shooters and HOT loads reminds me of Skip Otto, one of the premier brass burners of all time.

I was in Phoenix tuning some loads. I had my chronograph set up to shoot groups and chrono at the same time. Skip came over to the bench and asked if he could put a 6PPC round or two over the screens. I said yes. He set up his rifle and fired one. I looked at the chrono and said, "Holy Crap!" Skip said, "What does it read?" I said, "3620." He said, "Perfect." Got up and left.

Ray