I have been reloading for a little over a year.
I have read and re-read several loading manuals. All of these loading manuals give belted magnums three-five loadings before they say to discard them.

I look for the warning signs and I haven't had to trim but one case before the third load and have had a couple with "possible rings". But to be on the safe side, three loads is all they get- then I throw them away. I am loading less than max loads on a .458 win mag.

Is this the experience of you "Reloading Veterans" or do you find it false?

ps/ where can I get a headspace gauge for .458 win mag.

Forster and others sell headspace gages.

I made a gage by soft soldering a tiny spot of solder just at the forward edge of the belt on a case, filing it to fit, and closing the bolt on it to get a crush fit.

From memory the chamber headspace is .220"-.227"

Belted magnums that have a shoulder sharp enough to headspace on have a problem: although the headspace is set on the belt only, the shoulder behaves with the case as any other shoulder does. That means that if you set the shoulder back much each time that you size your cases, you could shorten case life. It has been a pain for rifle and die makers to really standardize on shouder to head length, as every manufacturer has just a little different version of what is acceptable. In some rifles, the difference is enough to produce the dreaded head separation in 2 or 3 shots. In some rifle and die combinations, it will never be seen.

The solution to your problem is to buy a special set of dies for your rifle--you probably have done that already. Then, by experiment, set the die up so that the shoulder-to-head dimension is only moved enough to give good feeding. You could stop at a couple of thousandths. Smoking the case, start with the die backed off about one turn. Then advance the die about a smidgin' of a turn at a time until the cartridge just barely allows the bolt to close freely. As you go down you will go from free to binding to free again. The second free stage is what you are after. Size as little as possible. Set the lock ring on the die and us them for that rifle only after that. That should allow for maximum case life and you already know how to check for the thinning ring inside the brass.

Don't waste your money on a headspace ga. No commercial reloading dies alter the belt-to-head dimension (headspace) anyway, unless you order special dies cut for your rifle..

Maybe that's a help. Geo.

I get about four loadings from my 338WM. I necksize only, and the neck gets small cracks lenghtwise in the neck.

I'be been loading the same 7mm Remington Magnum brass since 1968. I quit counting the number of times it had been loaded when it reached 10.

Wow, good info,
I appreciate the responses, it looks like what I guessed is correct. That is you can get more loadings but it is a little tricky (possibly dangerous) on a DG rifle. I am one to err on the side of safety so I will stick with the three loadings and then out they go.
Hot Core,
it was purchased for and will be used on DG. I have settled on a load (for now) and the rifle has been bloodied on Three deer so far (gasp)
I found that careful shot placement results in minimal damage and I get good practice with it.

(Another p/s)
I have settled on a load for now but if anyone has a favorite DG load for 500 - 600 gr bullets I would be very interested. NO max loads please, I love my CZ 550 S/M and want to keep her.
Thanks again,

I have reloaded cases for my .338WM four times, but I have not continued further. I only size the neck, and set the die with a fired-once case that has been fired in the chamber I plan to reload for:

I dip the neck/shoulder in powdered graphite (which is charcoal color), then run it through the neck sizer die, and look at the line of graphite on the neck (this line will be very clear). I dip the case again, and continue adjusting the die and running the case through it until the graphite line has moved exactly on the line between the shoulder and the neck. Remember to dip the case in graphite to make sure it will leave a line behind. You may also want to double-check the die with another fired-once case if you like.

Since .338 cases are so cheap nowadays, I fire them a couple of times, and then throw them in the trash after crunching them with pliers.

If you're throwing away properly resized Mag cases after 3 firings, you're tossing a bunch of good cases. they should load about ten times before the necks crack, possibly more. If the magnums aren't overly resized, they'll last as long as any other case, anyone who says otherwise is leading you astray. I've fired enough of the various magnums downrange myself to know I'd sure be glad for you to ship me your 3rd fired cases, as I'll load them. I wouldn't hunt dangerous game with them, but they'll sure do for practice.

If you have the resize dies the right size, you should be able to reload 458 Win or any other
well built straight sided cases(IE, not old balloon head cases) dozens of times.My first 458 Win dies made resized cases .008 smaller than case
specs at the base(.504 instead of .512 called for
just ahead of the belt.So I honed sizing die
bigger so that after resizing it measured .512.
Able to load cases 40 times using 400 gr bullets,
and 25 times using 500 gr.Measure your resized cases and if they are smaller than needed, you are overworking brass, which is what really causes
separations more than firing.If your brass doesn't measure undersize after esizing and you still get to much stretching then chamber is oversize or belt headspace is to long. You should
check headspace.Brownell has guages as well as
the reamer makers around the country..Ed.

I seriously doubt if you'll ever get case stretching in the .458 Win., because it is essentially a straight case! However, it is easy to check this case by just looking inside! You won't even need a bent paperclip to do this with the .458.

I seriously doubt if you really have to scrap your .458 cases after three reloadings!!

[ 11-25-2003, 17:28: Message edited by: eldeguello ]

"I seriously doubt if you really have to scrap your .458 cases after three reloadings!!"

Dummy

Proper answer is 'Yes they are probably junk after 3 reloads. After 3 reloads, send the brass to me for inspection and future instructions."

I've reloaded .257 Wby cases now over 4 times without any problems. Performed the paper clip excerise as per the Hornady manual to determine if there was head separation on the case and they are fine.

I plan to get at least 10 reloads out of them before I start worrying about case problems. Of course I'll use a guage to measure the thickness of the case head area once I reach about the 8th reload. Since they are always fired from the same gun, I only neck size the cases.

As the others have stated, I think you're throwing away good brass.

[ 11-24-2003, 06:39: Message edited by: mjolnir2thor ]

OK, OK
I'll reconsider the third load throw away policy. (except for DG- they get new everything)

With dies that are properly set, magnum cases will last as long as any other case if loaded properly from a pressure standpoint...

I set my dies to my individual rifle by resizeing the neck a bit at a time until I get a loose crush fit when I close the bolt, the same as I do with an 06 or any other case, forget the belt...

I usually have to trim every 4 loadings and about 3 trimmings is all I get so thats 12 reloadings, then I toss them sometimes sooner depending on the brass...

I always hunt with new brass trimmed and loaded or perhaps once fired and full length resized for Dangerous game...function takeing precedence over all else...

I only own one belted magnum rifle, a 7mmRem. Mag. It's rare that I have to discard a case. I use mostly Remingtons. However, I only neck size unless a particular case is hard to chamber.
Then again I don't load to maximum, close sometimes but not actually there. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

I have lots of 7mm Rem Mag and .375 H&H cases that have been loaded more than 17 times. I anneal a batch whenever I get a case neck cracking, or every 6 loadings (whichever is first).

I use a Lee neck-sizing Collet die -- this really helps prolong case life (very important for those expensive .375H&H cases!).

If I load won't let me load a case at least 5 times (because the primer pocket is loose), I reduce the load because the brass is exceeding its elastic limits. Another 50fps won't make any difference -- I go to a bigger caliber!

jpb

[ 11-26-2003, 21:38: Message edited by: jpb ]