I'm up to the fourth loading of my lot of .458 Lott brass, and I'm curious: How many loads should I expect to safely get out of these? I'm not seeing any bright rings, and I'm not feeling any thinning on the inside with a paperclip. However, I'm new to loading rifle cartridges, and I've never loaded a cartridge to the point of failure.

Dare I load them a fourth time? A fifth? Until I see bright rings? I'm being a bit paranoid, I think, but I would like to keep shooting the gun, and I'd like to maximize the life of this expensive brass.

Thanks!

Pertinax

How often and how much have your cases needed trimming? I have some rifles that I only fire a case two times, some rifles have cases that have been used fifteen times. If cases stretch a lot with each firing, case life is usually short. You should see a ring start to develop near the rim of the case as it becomes thinner in that area. However even if I am getting multiple firings from a certain lot of cases in a particular rifle I never use cases that have been fired more that twice on a big game hunt. But I will use them for practice and plinking as long as they are safe. That can only be determined by test using the lot of cases you have in the rifle you have. Hope this helps.

I used to get 8 loadings out of mine.

Todd E

450 NE: I've only needed an initial trimming (with the first load). I just measured a few, and some (maybe 20%; I did a small sample) have grown .002". Some haven't moved. I probably won't trim them this go round either.

Todd: What caused you to stop loading at eight times? (Eight is very encouraging to me, btw!!!)

Pertinax

Straight walled cases do not stretch much.

I would be shocked if you did not get 12+ loadings out of the brass, unless you fireformed it from 375.

Case life is quite variable and really depends on how much your chamber and reloading dies work the brass. If you want to anneal the brass after 4 reloadings or so you could probably get 10 or more reloads per case. I ususally throw the stuff away after 5 reloadings just to be on the safe side.-Rob

In all honesty, everything being equal, case life is going to henge on loads. If you are running max loads (let's say 55,000+) then you are going to have shorter case life, especially with softer brass. Keep the loads sane (45K) and you can shoot until you are bored with the rifle. I've got 358, 416, 257, 300 win that have been reloaded LOTS of times. 20+ in some cases..

on the 257 (using book loads) I did an experiment at the range, and with a hand loading tool, shot the same brass 50 times... as that's when I ran out of bullets from that box. After 10 times, and between everyone after that, I ran a bent and stiff wire inside to feel for a case sep ring. Didn't have one.. got bored, went home.

Next outing, I took some stiff but safe loads, with a new case, and got only 11 shots before I could feel a ring. Quit there.

BTW, what started me to do this experiment was that I had a case seperate in my reload press, after about 15 reloadings.

So, just like the reloading book says, if you run max pressure, you'll have short case life. Remember, if you are hunting in Africa (i've read) it's hotter, and your pressure will be a tad higher, so max loads arent any good for that.

In my opinion, brass hardness will also make something of a difference, but I am assuming you'll be using the same case lot for you Lott. In my experince, brass (not nickled), from soft to hard, runs

bertram (softest)
federal
remington
hornady
winchester

gi and norma vary, but GI is usually thicker (kinda out of context here, but just the facts)

Harder brass seems to live longest, under sane pressure, but that might be just because I am a little nicer to my winchester brass.

Nickled brass (like pickled, it's a joke)
is HARDER THAN A WHORES HEART, and just as unforgiving. I usually have to back off 2 grains on the small stuff to not over pressure. The first time I over pressured a round, and got a primer leak, was on 708 with a load I had shot a million times in brass... (42 gr varget under a 139 hornady).. 3rd shot in nic-remington the primer feelout.

So, if you keep your loads below the max book, you should be able to shoot alot (in a bolt gun) and if you neck size... Shoot HOT and full length resize, it will be shorter, ETEBE
good hunting
jeffe

I stopped at 8 reloads because the primer pockets had worn out. These were hot loads, as most are in a Lott, if you are after 2350 fps with a 500 grain bullet.

Todd E