I'm very new to reloading and under supervision have just started into reloading for the 308. I got myself 100 Lapua cases and am wondering how many times it will be possible to reload them before they need replaced? It is my intention to load them with fairly light "plinking" loads, at least to start with, so I shouldn't be pushing them too hard.

As you might imagine part of my reasoning is to save a little money and while I am currently using mostly "borrowed" gear I have no capital investment so most of my expenditure is in brass, power, heads etc. Once I get up to speed then I will hopefully advance to buying my own press and starting to load for accuracy and hunting but the plinking load seems a good place to start.

Barring a mistake on your part, they could last up to 25 reloads. Learn how to anneal a case properly and they have the potential to last indefinitely with the loads you're planning on using. What will happen if you don't anneal the case neck? They work harden (contraction/expansion) during the resizing cycle, and eventually the neck will become overworked and split.
FWIW, I've cases that have been fired and reloaded so many times the case head can no longer be read.

That's one of those "how long is a piece of string" questions. If you are not motoring your cartridge too hard and you are not full length resizing your brass to go back into a factory chamber, they will probably last until you are sick of reloading them. I can't give your a number of times you may reload the cases. I don't keep that sort of records.
As you fire and resize your cases, they will grow in length and occasionally need to be trimmed back to specs. This growth is caused by brass flow from the walls of the case forward. Most reloaders feel that when you have to trim a case the third or fouth time, it should be discarded.
As you learn more about reloading, you will learn about the advantages of neck sizing your cases to fit a specific rifle. This gives you gains in case longivity as it works (flexes) the brass much less and usually gains in accuracy.

I recently read on another Forum of a 1000 yd shooter that set a new 1000 yd 5 shot record of 1.4". I forget the cartridge, some big .30 cal wildcat, but it also said his cases were on their 58th reloading. He anneals them after every firing.

Thanks for the replies, I should have asked my guru but didn't think at the time and so once more AR comes up with the goods.

At the minute the technicalities of all this resizing and so on are a bit beyond me so I'm starting with simple ambitions and at the minute I'm going to be happy to shoot a few of my creations down the range. Once I've got a feel for that and for the variables involved then it seems likely that I will move on to considering other stuff that currently seems a bit abstract to me.

It must be said that for someone such as myself who is new to shooting, new to reloading and who doesn't really have any close friends or family involved AR is a wonderful resource and everyone is great at answering even my most basic questions.

Can anyone recommend a good reloading book? Are most of the manuals produced by the bullet companies only listing loads for their bullets or do they list loads for a range of heads? My intention is to load the Hornady V-Max 110 grain head as a plinking load for the range. As a beginner I've found there is no substitute for shooting a lot so I want something relatively light in terms of recoil and not too expensive but relatively accurate. Once I'm happy and getting into the swing of the reloading then I will start loading for smaller groups and also for deer.

As an aside I have been shooting mil surplus ammo and have found that the difference between boxes (boxes of 20 rounds) even with the same batch and lot numbers can be quite remarkable. Some weeks back I was shooting at 200 yards and was managing reasonable groups when I opened a new box and found it shot 4 inches higher than the previous one. I have also found that some boxes of the mil surplus stuff can produce horizontal strings. Of course sometimes it is me at fault but when I'm shooting tight (for me) groups, open a new box and find myself shooting horizontal strings 4 inches higher I can only think that the ammo is suspect. Anyhow, that partially explains why I'm keen to reload.

quote:

Originally posted by caorach:
Can anyone recommend a good reloading book?

I like Lyman. Always "Harping" on safety, it is a book suitable for both the advanced and beginning hand loader. As a bonus Lyman lists several brands of bullets and powder, so it's the least proprietary of them all IMHO.

Until they split or separate ?. Then you can't reload them any more !.

Several factors come into play . The upper limits of loading pressures ( Hot Loads ) excessively dirty brass , full length or neck sizing , your weapons chamber tolerances On and On .

I'm not about to argue with a K Yd. grouping of # 5 into 1.416" or something like that .

How ever annealing after even 5 reloads let alone 1 is totally unnecessary IMO.

I've gotten 15 - 20 with out any problems what so ever . I generally anneal after 15 but some cases I've never annealed and their going on 30 reloads now . After 35 I generally scrap them .

How ever with the price of SOME brass manufactures products now , I may be annealing after 15 firings !.

Shoot Straight Know Your Target . ...

I also like the Lee manual for a general manual, but it does pimp their own products a bit. If you do much reloading, you will likely acquire manuals from the various bullet manufacturers---I sure did. Also, most of the powder companies offer some information on their websites. That's worth a look.
Hodgdon's website

LWD

if you don't get 5 reloads from new cases, you are loading too hot

you will find out what that makers brass will do, when you first split/crack necks, if you are getting at least 10 reloads...

some brass is harder than others, and will need to be annealed at 5 times.. learn how to do this, as it is easy to F THIS UP and get yourself killed

one day i, using mild loads and some handdies, loaded a piece of 257 roberts 30+ times.. that was a LONG time ago, so i don't remember if it was 32 or 38 times before i got bored and went home.. but even a 257 roberts will eventually kick you pretty good after a number of shots!!

5 loads at least, no more than 15 without annealing, and eventually the pockets will loosen, or the necks will thin, or you will have lost enough by smashing them that you'll toss them out.
jeffe

If you have bushing dies at .331" or a Forster sizer honed out to .330".....

If your .308 reamer has a .337" [no turn] neck.....

If you push the shoulder back .001" only occasionlly....


If you are not shooting a stretchy actioned Ishapore....

You will get tired of looking at the brass before they wear out.

I like the Lyman 48th. Hornady ain't bad neither.