Case life with 38 special and 357?

I loaded the same 500 Win 357 cases over and over for about 10 years. Only had a couple split.

357 Mag can probably go a dozen or more time depending on how hot your loading it. 38 Special can go several dozen. I have 38 Special cases that I am using that have the Peters head stamp on them that hasn't been produced since probably the 1930's

Unless you load .357 on the bleeding edge or .38 Special +P+, they should last years and many, many reloadings. When I was learning to reload, I abused many 38 special cases by flaring the case mouth way too much, roll crimping way too tight, and loading unnecessarily heavy; and I’m still using those cases today.

When I had only 100 cases I use to track it. Now I measure my empty pistol brass by the pound. I don't care. They split. They split. Trash them and move on.

My rule of thumb is expect 10 reloads. HOWEVER, that just a ROT. I tracked my 357Max brass back in my IHMSA days and quit caring after they went past 10 reloads.

I do try to even out the wear. I have two sets of containers for each caliber. One labeled "dump". It's where I dump the just fired brass when I get back from the range. When that container is full I start using it for reloads and start another Dump container.

As long as you do not hotrod the loads or go crazy working the case mouth flare, the cases will last a LONG time. I have some 38s going on over 20 years old with dozens of reloads through them. Now and again, I get one that splits. Brass will last longer than nickel-plated brass.

I've reloaded some 38 special brass 20 times and am still reloading it. I will admit that I don't hot rod 38 special loads. I've develope a 38 special load that shoots almost to the same point of aim as 38 special+P loads with far less recoil and it is very easy on the brass. I going to try for 30 + reloads on that brass.

Hi...
I have been reloading .357Mag brass since the early '80s that I am still using.
I have never had one split yet after many loadings.
I have had a few .45Colt, .44Mag and .41Mag pieces of brass fail after many reloads but I quit counting number of reloads after 10 or so. I probably have had less than 10-15 fail out of about 1500 total cases across those three calibers.

My mid range load brass has never failed and it is loaded many times. I segregate the brass I use for near book maximum hunting loads and those are the only ones that ever failed and most of those have been reloaded 2 or 3 times a year for 2 or 3 decades.

Sorta depends on how old the /shooter/hand loader is. Life maybe.

If I get less than 10 firings out of a batch of magnum revolver brass, I’m exceptionally disappointed. If I get more than 25, I’m exceptionally pleased. My general expectation is 12 without seeing splits, and around 20 before a sufficient count has split to cause me to scrap the entire batch.

For my milquetoast 38spcl plinking loads, I have some batches over 30 firings.

Philosophically, revolver brass lasts so long, it is a negligible expense in the cost of your reloaded handgun ammunition - until it isn’t. When a “near zero value” variable cost item has to be replaced, its relative cost skyrockets. Realizing a ~$100 replacement cost for 500pc of 357mag suddenly during one fiscal period after having a zero dollar brass expense for several years is always a hard pill to swallow. Unless a guy is saving a penny or two along the way for every round they fire and actively reminding themself of the fact they are depreciating an asset, that sudden $100 outlay feels like a heavy burden.

The only split cases I've seen are nickel plated!

In my experience, it depends on the crimp....roll crimp will see case mouth split sooner than taper crimp. Each has its place and use.

A nealing would help, but noone anneals handgun brass.

Like most of the members above I've reloaded 38 and 357 cases many, many, many times. Now I may be mistaken, but I may have some 38 Special brass from my reloading in the '70s that are still in rotation (I can't throw away any thing related to reloading!). For the last 25-30 years my loads nave been mid-range with cast bullets. My 357 Magnum handloads started out "hot" mostly with 125 gr JHPs over near max loads, with an occasional max.+ charge. Again, many trips through the process with only a very few split necks. I have reloaded nickel plated brass so many times the plating has worn off in spots. So, it's possible to reload some 38 Special cases over 20 times, if you count...

Load 'em till they split, that's what I do.

I'm sure the primer pockets will fail before the brass will.

Nickel will split at some point, brass rarely does. The split shell will sound very low pitched/flat compared to non split brass if you move around a handful of brass.

I actually just started loading 38 and 357.
Had been loading 44mag for about 15 years. Never had a case split or wear out that I can remember. I would toss them after I had lost track of how many times they were reloaded.
Winchester brass seems to be the best.

deadeye dick said:

I'm sure the primer pockets will fail before the brass will.

Click to expand...

Never saw that with any primer pockets, the brass rim always split but it's alway contained in the revolver's cylinder so it's not going anywhere and really doesn't hurt anything.

I have .38s that have been loaded over 50 times.

I have .38 Spl headstamps from known WW II .38 Spl. loads, original Super Vel, Peters, S&W, WCC (military), Speer, PMC, etc. The .38 cases will last for ages, especially if you get a couple of coffee cans full and rotate them between loadings.

I’m more likely to lose a case if one slips oddly from the feed tube and gets the case mouth scrunched on the edge of the decapping die than to have a case split from use.

.357 lasts for a bit fewer loading cycles If they’re loaded up with my H-110 magnum loadings. My 158 gr coated LSWC over 6.6 gr unique are very accurate, don’t push the cases too much, but more importantly don’t lead up (or beat up) my .357 mag revolvers or Rossi 92 16” rifle.

Unlike a .30-30 or a .303 cartridge case fired in their traditional rifles that can stretch a lot with every shot, you’ll be amazed at how much these two cartridge cases stay in shape and keep coming back for more.

Stay safe.

I'm still loading brass in .357 magnum from the early 1990s and I shoot 50 rounds a week, not every week, but almost every week. And I've been doing that since I bought it.
I load these to upper mid range .357 and am just now getting loose primer pockets to where I am pitching one or two every time I reload them.

.38 special will last for just about forever. The only .38 spl brass you may wear out would be the Wadcutter brass because they are thinner, a lot further down to accommodate the long wadcutter bullet that is mostly all inside the case when seated. And I think wearing them out would be a stretch.
Some of them will split long before the primer pockets wear out. Some will never split and you will wear off the headstamp before they are scrapped.
The early Winchester headstamps I am still using, is barely legible.

Besides load, I believe the amount of belling and crimping is also a major factor in case life. Those are cold working processes and should be minimized.

Nearly all of my .38 and .357 cases were bought used 30 years ago. I don't try to keep up with load counts. I just toss it when it splits.

I keep loading them until they split too, rare to get a split case though hdbiker

rfwobbly said:

Besides load, I believe the amount of belling and crimping is also a major factor in case life. Those are cold working processes and should be minimized.

Click to expand...

^^^I tend to agree, especially when it comes to the mouths cracking and splitting. Still, the life one gets from good .38/.357 brass is long compared to many other calibers.