Skip to main content
Help Center Community Shop

Rifle brass

eric.hofmann
Hello Experts,

How many times can high-powered rifle brass be reloaded? Thanks!
0

Comments

5 comments

Date Votes
  • spike449
    I was just reloading some 6MM Remington Norma cases that I got with a Remington 40X. I use the thing for woodchucks and probably doesn't get shot as much as I would like. Those cases have been reloaded at least once a year. When working up a new load or trying a new bullet, several times a year. Tight match chamber and MAX loads seem to shoot best. Trimmed who knows how many times. I KNOW the cases are 26 years old. Will keep going till I see a problem...

    Now, are you talking HighPower competition. Small base dies and WORKING the brass to fit a semi auto? Won't go 26 years. Let the competitors tell you their story.
    Jon

    Good judgement comes from experience.
    Experience comes from bad judgement. Gen. Omar Bradley
    0
  • oldammo
    Hello, I loaded some .308 military brass over 30 times to see what will happen. I finally gave up trying and threw the brass away. This was a normal load that I used for Chucks.

    Old Ammo, have lots always looking for more.
    0
  • mrmike08075
    6 times is a good rule of thumb, but it differs from rifle to rifle, case to case, and there are a lot of factors that can impact and influance the resultant lifespan of your cases.

    i have a sporterized ENFIELD "T" SNIPER RIFLE in .303 british, and while its a MOA tack driver, it has a sloppy chamber and ruins brass.

    you should always inspect your brass for signs of incipiant case rupture, seperation rings, splits, pinhole burn-throughs, primers backing out, and ghost rings or discoloration.

    its better to err on the side of saftey.

    best regards, mike.

    What other dungeon is so dark as ones own heart, what jailer so inexorable as ones own mind.
    contact me at the shop at waltsgun@aol.com best regards, mike.
    0
  • jonk
    I got some USGI M2 brass dated from 1903 to 1947 at an antique store a few years ago... some of them i have reloaded 20X with no trouble, no real streching either... from a 1903 springfield. And i find it's pretty good brass too. That said, if you see loose primer pockets, a ring around the case just above the base from streching, any cracks or holes, etc... trash it. Otherwise, unless you are in a match, I would say good pretty much forever, until you see a problem.

    "...hit your enemy in the belly, and kick him when he is down, and boil his prisoners in oil- if you take any- and torture his women and children. Then people will keep clear of you..." -Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher, speaking at the Hague Peace Conf
    0
  • Iconoclast
    I would concur with the above comments - there are so many variables in terms of the chamber, age / mfg of the brass and the choice of handloads, it would be impossible to predict. But as Jon noted, the only real answer is "until you see a problem." I have .220 Swift brass which has been loaded at least ten times and is still going strong . . . now that is a round with a reputation for being hard on firearms and brass, but you can't prove it by me!

    "There is nothing lower than the human race - except the French." (Mark Twain) ". . . And liberals / DemoWipes" (me)
    0

Please sign in to leave a comment.

Recent Activity