Life of Metallic Cartridge Cases

[dovehunter]

All this snow has kind of kept me around the place so I have been trying to catch up on some long overdue reloading. In checking over some of my (handgun) cases I noticed that some of them had been reloaded 5-6 times. Short of having split cases is there a point where you guys say these cases have been reloaded enough and should be thrown away? I always inspect my fired cases very carefully after returning from the range and discard any that appear to have either actually split or appear to be starting to. Since I usually always load light loads I usually keep those that look okay for future use. What do you guys do in this regard?

While we're on the subject have any of you noticed that one brand (or brands) of cases that seem to hold better than others or conversely have you run across any brands that the cases don't seem to last through repeated reloadings?

[jimiowa]

It's pretty hard to make a definitive statement. There are so many varibles to consider.
I have had real good luck with Winchester cases in both my .223 & Hornet. The Winchester are going 5 reloads in the .223 and they were loaded pretty hot and show no signs of failure yet.
Remington cases not so good. I bought couple boxes of Hornets ammo (have no idea how long it sat on the shelf?) but have had about 40% split on first firing. I'm not pleased, bt maybe should be anealed before reloading?
When I bought 100 pcs of Hornet Brass, I got Winchester but have not loaded it yet.
Handgun I don't have a centerfire to reload for.

[jmarriott]

Hornets are famous for short case life. might not be the best cartridge for a general comparison.

straight walled Handgun rounds about 10 give or take a few. My reloading buddies been reloading the same 500 rounds of 38 for me for about 10 years. I go though about 500 a year of so. They are mixed headstamps so I would say there all about the same.

[dovehunter]

I am hoping my Hornet cases will last pretty well since I am only loading them to essentially .22 LR or .22 WMR velocities and am using Lee's collet die to neck size them only. Incidentally I really like that collet die as no messy, yucky case lube is necessary.

Regarding the longevity of straight wall handgun cases, I'd probably have to say that my Winchester generally hold up longer with fewer case splits than my Remingtons. The Federals seem to hold up pretty well too. It may just be my imagination, but it seems like the nickle-plated cases seem to develop the longitudinal splits sooner and/or more often than the plain brass cases.

Regarding bottle-necked rifle cases, come to think of it, I don't recall ever having experienced a split. Of course I usually don't reload them as often as my handgun cases. That may be the reason.

[Jack]

There's no quick answer to this question other than: it depends.
In handgun ammo, I expect to get 20 reloadings out of 38 Special brass that's used for wadcutter loads only. After 20 or so reloadings, you start to get mouth cracks where the belling and crimping has worked the brass. At that point I throw the whole batch out, on the theory that once the cracks start, lots more cases will begin cracking, too. I get about the same out of 45 ACP brass.
If you load to higher pressures, you'll get less loads per case.
In rifle cases, I figure 10 loadings is about all I can expect from full power loads. I figure, once they've been trimmed twice, I throw em when they need trimming a 3rd time.
Hornet brass is notorious for short case life- that stuff (any brand) is hardly thicker than aluminum foil.
As to brand, I get Winchester whenever possible. I've always had bad results from Remington brass, so I only use it as a last resort. In handgun brass, Winchester or Starline are my choices. I've had some real good luck with some surplus 45's headstamped WCC (Western Cartridge Corp), too.
Rifle or handgun, it's important to keep your brass all together by batches, so you know how many times the case has been fired.

[dovehunter]

Feb 12, 2010 0:16:59 GMT -5 Jack said:

...Rifle or handgun, it's important to keep your brass all together by batches, so you know how many times the case has been fired.

This is something I have always done since my first stint into reloading. I have a little load data sheet I worked up that I stick in each box of newly reloaded shells. One of the things I document is the number of firings.

[twomoons]

When the brass splits it's time to throw it away, past that brass lasts forever if you anneal it. When i was working up duplicate loads for 45-70 military rifles I used brass dated from 1887 to 1892 and got from 4-7 reloadings and still have the brass. I just annealed a batch of W/W brass in 30-40 dated to the 1930's and I have 4 loads on them. The limiting factor in older brass was deterioration from mercuric salts. If you get cases that are still primed and use modern primers age alone makes no difference. If you get FIRED cases pre 1950 they may be deteriorated from primer salts and need to be WASHED in water and inspected before annealing.