i load for a 270 win and have been using r-p brass im on my probably 5th or 6th loading now with really no wear signs how much longer will these last? and is there any ways to tell when its time to throw them out?
thanks

I've got some 308 brass on its 23rd loading

Blake:

Funny you should bring something like this up.

I am in the process of doing the same thing, testing to get an idea of the life span of brass, when being reloaded without pushing insane velocities and wearing out the primer pocket in short order.

How I am doing it, is in my winter testing or different loads and target shooting at the range, I took 25 new pieces of brass or once fired brass. I put them in a sealable plastic sandwich bag, and then with a 3 x 5 card in there, I am recording my loads, and then how many times that brass has been reloaded.

I have another 3 x 5 card that I keep track of casualties. Such as a neck split or a primer pocket becoming too loose or screwing up seating a bullet and trashing the case.

Several cartridges are on their 5th reloading so far. One group of Winchester 22/250 is on their 11th reload right now.

Of course for the test, each group of cases is dedicated to one rifle. I am neck sizing and then full length resizing every 3rd or 4th reload.

The cases are also getting tumbled in walnut media, and when the necks get a little black, I have been cleaning them with Brasso, which works wonders quickly.

Some real old brass that was given to me, had about 3 reloads then I had 5 out of 25 necks split and then the next reload I had 4 more necks split. This is also 22/250 brass but is older Remington brass. I really think the necks have become brittle with time.

Don't know if this give you any insight, but it is keeping those interested on the progress of this experiment.

Cheers and good shooting
seafire

Barring any split necks or other problems, it should be good till it needs it's fifth trimming. When it is in need of trimming #5, scrap the brass.

Ten years ago or so, I had some Federal brass for a .270 and I got 23 loadings out of it before I had to chuck it. According to my notes, I did anneal the necks once around loading #11. I didn't have any other problems and the reason for scrapping that lot of brass was it needed it's 5th trimming.

Opinion

Many handloaders discard brass based on how many times it needs trimming. Case length growth has long been associated with either cartridge shape and/or hot loads. My experience has been that case growth is often (not, always) caused by the resizing button and the force needed on the press down stroke to move the resizing button back through the neck of the case.

To see if this is the situation, use calipers to measure the case prior to resizing, then after resizing. Carbide resizing buttons tend to minimize the problem, but, eliminating the sizing button altogether is another approach. This can be done be turning the neck and/or in conjunction with dies that have the ability to use neck sizing buttons of various sizes. Another item recently introduced is the RCBS X Dies. So far, they work as advertised on four rifles I have (three 220 Swifts & one 6/284) and totally eliminate case growth.

So, if case growth is limited then there is less tendency for brass to be displaced from the case head and as long as the primer pocket remains acceptably tight, then theoretically (my theory) is there is no need to replace brass regardless of how many firings. Annealing the brass will keep the mouth from getting brittle and eliminate split case mouths; I do this every fifth reloading.

My Swifts gets a lot of use this time of year. The standard load is 55gr Nosler, 41.5gr H414, WW Brass, WLRM primers. Brass has been reloaded 16 times on one batch with no trimming required during its life, after the initial trim and debur. The 6/284 brass, WW, has gone 14 reloads so far. While neither is loaded to max, they are approaching the max in several manuals.

On standard brass( 30-06, 270 Win. etc.) why stretch it (no pun intended)? The only time it try to get maximun reloade from my brass is when I have hard to find/rare brass. Even then I discard it after 3-4 reloads.

blakeroth,

See my comments at the very end of the post on the third experiment with 9.3x62. If you are worried, take a dremel tool with a cutting disk and section the case to see if it shows any signs of case separation. If you are shooting the same load in all the cases, it should be representative. If it is OK, proceed, and in about two reloadings, do another one.

My experience with R-P brass is that after about 7 - 8 reloadings the necks will begin to develop very small cracks. Trash it because of the impact on neck tension and accuracy. Ku-dude