Brass Life

[neal]

Wanted to find out how many firings some of you are getting from your brass. May have been discarding mine premature at times. I shoot a .308
model 700 with 43 gn. of IMR 4064 and 168 gn bullet. As of now I full length size
but but may order a die and start neck sizing.I also am going to make a tool to feel inside the case for a ring starting I understand you can do this with a paper clip or small wire with a small bend at one end. I am using Winchester brass.

 

[alinwa]

Using fitted dies I expect to get 50-100 hot firings from a case. Without trimming.

Basically my cases last until I screw up.

For your comparison, I shoot this way with 5 chamberings based on the .308 case.

al

 

[Montana Pete]

I rarely get the "theoretical" maximum number of reloads out of a case.

The main trick as I am sure you know is to treat each case in a batch in the identical way. Fire up the entire batch at one setting. Any operation performed should be performed on all. Etc.

I probably get about 7 or 8 reloadings out of a batch. I know I could keep going. However, for me brass is not all that expensive. Every once and a while I just get out a fresh batch and start over.

 

[Larry Elliott]

Depending on how hot the load and the size of the rifle's chamber brass could last one firing to many tens of firings. In a 700 Rem factory chamber, and if the cases are properly sized (shoulders bumped 0.002" to 0.003" max) it would seem to me that you could easily get a dozen or more firings from a case. It doesn't look like 43 gr of 4064 with a 168 gr bullet is a hot load, so you could get a lot more firings.

I only keep track of the number of firings so that I don't have one batch of cases that have been fired many times and another only once or twice.

Cases will let you know when they're done for as well. The primer pockets will open up, necks will split (the most common failure in factory chambers in my experience due to oversize chamber necks), or head separations will occur from excessive FL sizing. The necks can be made to last longer by using a bushing sizing die equipped with a bushing that sizes the necks the minimum amount required. Head separations can be eliminated by adjusting your FL die to just bump the shoulders the minimum amount for ease of chambering. The factory instructions on all the FL dies I've ever seen lead to excessive sizing of the cases.