How many times can/should 45-70 brass be reloaded?

Until the neck splits, which, depending on the level of load pressure you are using, could be a lot. A few times to more than that; eight, ten; too many factors like chamber diameter, original brass temper, how much you size it. Don't worry about it, load them until they are broke. In the old days they had everlasting cases which they loaded for the life of the rifle. No sizing though. Starline brass is the thickest and seems to last the longest.

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How many times can/should 45-70 brass be reloaded?

I´m reloading .45-70 brass only from Remington. There´re some brass, I reload since 10 years and more. Min. 20 times. The brass is after this time "ugly", but OK.
But I have a "system" for reloading .45-70 brass. "New" or one time fired brass I use for "full house" CIP loads. After 5 or 6 times I use this brass only for reduced loads with cast or copper plated lead bullet.
But .45-70 brass isn´t very rare and so I don´t "worry" about this.

Martin

DPCD nailed it. I load cast bullets in mine so I need to flare the necks a bit which causes them to work harden prematurely. But even not doing so the necks splitting will be the first mode of failure. Makes it easy to know when they have outlived their usefulness. I wish bottlneck cases were that easy to determine.

I have one box of WW brass that has been used in 4 or 5 different rifles since 1972.

I think the number of loads is between 20 and 30.
I long ago quit keeping track. I have had 4 of the cases fail. There have been no cracks of the mouth or "neck" area because I lightly anneal the cases. I have had 3 body splits about halway between the head and the base. I have had one pin hole burn through in the same area. All of the cases have loose primer pockets from having seated so many primers in them.

Since that time I have also shot many other rounds of 45-70 and 40-65 (using 45-70 brass) and have yet to lose a case due to any reason but then I have a lot more brass now and I do not bother to count the number of times reloaded.

Most of my brass is WW but I also have a lot of RP and about 100 Federals.
I have a few old WRA and UMC that look like they are 75 years old and they still work ok after I annealed the case mouts a few years ago.

Yes, I forgot to mention that, like SR, I have some WW brass that I got in 73 and it is still going but I have no idea how many times I have fired it, and how many of them I have converted to 40-65, 38-56, and 33 WCF. Basically, it will last damn near a lifetime, Unlike bottleneck brass.
I have some 1884 dated Frankford Arsenal, inside primed that....wait, now you are going too far.

I still use some 45-70 cases from my first brass purchase in 1975. I retire the cases from full power loads, a case full of IMR 4064 and a 445 grain cast bullet, after 10 or 12 loadings.
I use these retired cases as plinking rounds with 13 grains of Unique and a 255 grain SWC.
It's great fun fire 50 to 100 rounds in an afternoon with paying for it the next day.
These light loads are also a good way to introduce people to large caliber shooting.

Jim