A question for those of you that reload for double rifles. How many times do you reload your cases before you discard them? Right now I am using Bell cases for my 450/400 and the last thing that I want to do is take a chance on reloading them enough times to take a chance on case separation.

Mike Chamberlain

The quality of brass for the flanged nitros is highly variable, so there's no rule of thumb. Just watch for the bright ring. I've been shooting the same .400 for 18 years. With A-Square brass, I got a number of complete head separations on the second loading. Both old and new Bell is extremely durable and I've never had to toss any of either, nor have I ever had a head separation with it.
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"Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."

I'm on my 9th reloading for my 470 with new Bell. I had a Bell case split on my 400 the first time. Not any issues with that batch after and I'm on my 5th or 6th reload.

400 Nitro and 470 Evans

Thanks guys for your info. I'll check my cases for defects and keep using.

Mike Chamberlain

I have some Bertram 450 No2 cases that have been reloaded 25 to 30 times. Still using them.

Norma cases in my 9,3x74R, load them twice and I throw them away, they will seperate on the third firing.

I have not tried the newer heavier Norma cases, made since RUAG took over.

I've had two case head seperations with Bell .470 brass one at 5 loadings the other at 3.

I'll load them full power twice then they go into the reduced load pile from now on.