# How many times to you re-load?



## Hick-From-Hell (Mar 18, 2008)

How many times do you guys re-size a shell before you consider it not safe?


----------



## hypno (Mar 3, 2009)

It depends on how the brass looks after each firing/resizing. Once my necks start splitting or the base of the cases start getting stretched and thin I'll toss em, then again this all depends on if you FL size, neck size, or shoot fire formed. How hot are your loads, do you have a tight or loose chamber, and what brand of brass is it?

All of these factors come into play when it comes to brass life.

Tom Sarver broke the 1000yd international bench rest record with his .300hulk rifle (.338LM necked down to .30) with a 5 shot 1.403" group. He shot this group with annealed lapua brass that was on it's *58th* firing.


----------



## darkgael (Feb 10, 2006)

It depends on the brass and the use. I have some .45 ACP cases that I know have been reloaded 40+ times. I load them until they split. On the other hand, I have some FN 5.7X28 brass that didn't make it past six reloads.
Pete


----------



## bearhunter (Jan 30, 2009)

some of my 22-250 loads are going on 9-10. but i don't fully resize


----------



## tumblebuck (Feb 17, 2004)

darkgael said:


> It depends on the brass and the use. I have some .45 ACP cases that I know have been reloaded 40+ times. I load them until they split. On the other hand, I have some FN 5.7X28 brass that didn't make it past six reloads.
> Pete


Where did you find dies and load info for the 5.7?


----------



## Wyomingpredator (Oct 16, 2007)

I try to keep all my brass used in the same batch so I know how many times I have reloaded them when I have 2 or more split on the neck on the same reload I throw the whole batch away. 1 splitting could just be a weak shell. most of my pistol brass is going in the upper teens, and most of my rifle is around 5, I stat really scrutinizing rifle after about 5 reloads, or less if its magnum type calibers


----------



## darkgael (Feb 10, 2006)

Tumblebuck: Load data for the 5.7X28 is available from Accurate and from Ramshot. IIRC, the Lyman #49 manual includes this info.
Dies are available from Hornady, Lyman, Redding.
The 5.7X28 is an extremely finicky little cartridge, very sensitive to small changes in powder charge or bullet weight. Not for beginners.
Pete


----------



## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

There are a number of things that will determine how many times you can reload your brass. First the hardness of the brass as it comes from the manufacturer. Second how hot your loads are. Third and perhaps most important is your rifle headspace. SAMI (small arms manufacturing industry) specs allow for .005 inch variability in your chamber size. For example I had a Remington Model 700P that I could only reload once. I lapped the bolt lugs to even those up, then sent the rifle to a smith with a lathe. He set the barrel back two turns and recut the chamber to .001 inch over minimum spec. I don't know how many times I can reload now, but I am up to eight on some of my brass. I have some 300 Winchester Magnums that have been reloaded ten times.

The first problem you will have is split necks. There is an easy remedy for that. Use a cake pan with about an inch of water in it. Set your brass on end in the water. In a semi darkened room put a propane torch to the neck of your brass until you can see it begin to glow. Then with the end of the torch tip it over into the water. This will anneal your brass. Annealing makes it soft and you will first notice it when trimming. Rather than the brass chattering off in pieces it will peal of in strings. Hard brass splits, soft brass doesn't. If you begin to have neck splitting anneal again. It will work harden when you fire the brass, but newly annealed brass should be good for five or six reloadings before it needs it again. All Lapua, and all match ammo has annealed brass. Well, nearly all ammo is annealed, but some not so good. Annealed brass swells and seals your chamber better even on lower velocity loads. That equals better accuracy too.

The second problem that you can do nothing about, and will end the use of your cases is incipient head separation. For most people it isn't a problem because their necks split and they throw away their brass. If you anneal you will get maybe twice as many loads from a brass, but then you need to devise a way to check for incipient head separation. What happens is just above the head the brass stretches. Each time you shoot that point on your brass stretches. Soon the brass will come apart at that point. You may see a bright right around the outside of your brass at that point, or you may not. You have to check the inside with a bent piano wire. By sliding a bent wire up the side you will catch the ring forming on the inside if it's there. You need to do this because you do not want 80% of the forward part of you brass stuck in your rifle.

If you fail to find incipient head separation you will get your brass stuck in the chamber. Often I have pushed my luck and found an ejected brass that has actually split, but not come apart. I will throw in a photo of such a brass, and the wire I use to check for it. If you have questions after that I will try to answer them.










That was a 308, here is a pic of a 223. Notice the different cartridges tend to split in different places.


----------



## Hick-From-Hell (Mar 18, 2008)

Any tricks for keeping track of how many times thew have been reloaded? Do you mark everyshell or just remeber?


----------



## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

I kept track in the past, and do it now just out of curiosity. Most of my brass I have no idea how many times I have reloaded them. I check for head separation every time, and there is no need to do anything else in my opinion. It would take one heck of a lot of stretch to change the cartridge powder volume. Your brass would have come apart long before that changed enough to open your group at 100 yards. Now if your a benchrest competition shooter disregard what I just said.


----------



## People (Jan 17, 2005)

Hick-From-Hell

I do my brass in lots. Then when I lable it with load data I just put the times loaded on the sticker. That is only for my ammo that I truly want max accuracy.

The show Survivor had the original premise of putting people on an island with Chuck Norris. There were no survivors, and nobody is brave enough to go to the island to retrieve the footage.


----------



## bryan_huber (Aug 3, 2008)

i do the same. i dont do 5 or 10 rounds at a time, i do the whole box whether it be 20, 50, or 100 rds at one time. I record date, components used, seating depth, times loaded brass, and any other data that is important is wrote down. If i lose a single brass i just load the remaining 49 or whatever is left. The more records you get, the better youll do. I am throwing 5 shots at an outside to outside group at .561" at 100 yards. could do better, but im happy where i am at.


----------

