what's the true number of times you can reload a case????

[yamahaman36]

yes, i would love to know how many times you can reload a once fired casing????

 

[treeman]

yamahaman36, your question depends on quite a few factors. like brass quality,hard or soft), pressure of the load, loading dies. if brass is not hammered too hard or worked too much by the sizeing operation it could be loaded 20x or more. as long as the primer pocket is not loose and the necks are not splitting load and shoot. if the necks are splitting and the pockets are still snug, anneal the rest of the cases and keep going. the easiest way to anneal casses is to heat the neck shoulder area with a propane torch turning the case in your fingers to heat evenly and drop in a pan of water when it just starts to glow. holding it in your fingers keeps you fropm getting the case head too hot thus annealing it. after doing this I've gotten 5-6 more firings out of a set of casses. LOL, treeman

 

[alf]

There is no true number. Way too many variables.
A long time ago, I used 15 cases to wear out my first PPC barrel. They were never annealed or full length sized, just neck sized with a Wilson die.
I figured they had been shot a minimum of 150 times each.
Proves what happens when your brass and chamber matches, along with moderate loads.
Your true number now will be somewhat less.
Glad I could help.

Al

 

[Jeffvn]

I use a 7WSM and have got close to 10 loads out of my cases so far; I anneal them every two firings, and they are going strong. Only time will tell how long they will last woth my moderate loads.

JeffVN

 

[M700]

Once. If things don't work out well.

I sacrificed a nice batch of Lapua .308 brass to over-expansion of the primer pockets by firing a match on a warm day, with loads I'd developed during cooler weather... The loss of that nice brass hurt, but made me a smarter handloader. Just one of many lessons over the years.

Regards, Guy

 

[Cheechako]

yes, i would love to know how many times you can reload a once fired casing????

Only once. After that it is no longer a "once fired" case.

Seriously, about 10 years ago i conducted a test virtually identical to what Al described. I started with a new 6PPC barrel and 20 Lapua cases. I shot those same cases one full season at the end of which I had 15 left. The 5 that were gone were either ruined while neck sizing or tossed down-range when the shot went out the group - way out. From my barrel log I figured that they were fired between 100 and 150 times each. The primer pockets were still tight and neck tension was still acceptable. When I retired the barrel I tossed them into my bucket of live-varmint brass and I may still be using some to this day as far as I know.

Moderate loads, minimum neck sizing, tight chamber.

Ray

 

[Forum Boss]

Joe Entrekin won a Score Benchrest National Championship with brass that had been fired at least 40-50 times by his reckoning. He does anneal very often.

Expect long life with moderate loads, minimal resizing, and Lapua or RWS brass. Some of the Norma stuff can be pretty darn good too.

 

[Twud]

I shoot a pretty warm load in my 22-250. My original Remington cases have been reloaded about 5 times and are just showing signs of age. The necks are getting real hard and I've had some split. This is Remington brass so I guess I can't expect much more. I have some new Noslers that I'm gonna' load up, I expect they will last a bit longer.

 

[Ackman]

Til for whatever reason you don't want to use the brass anymore. Only very occasionally I'll get a split neck. Mostly brass is used until the primer pockets get too loose, and that can vary quite a bit with headstamp and your loads.