Brass life

Rifle? Pistol? What caliber? More info?

Until the case mouth splits or the primer pocket becomes too loose to hold the primer securely, whichever comes first.

Jimmy K

I have 45ACP brass that has well over 20 loadings (I quit counting at 20). I have 40SW that is around 10 loadings. I just shoot them til they split. If you are shooting near max, then you will get fewer loads.

What Jimkirk said, many many reloads, 100 Plus? It will depend somewhat how hot you load them. If you load in the mid range they'll last for ever, well almost anyway.

Hope this helps
jcwit


One more thought, does the firearm have a fully supported chamber? If not you'll get a buldge and that will cut into the case life.

What 10MM are you shooting ???

I load 10mm. I start with new Starline Brass.

1. With 'low loads'--say a 180 at 1000+ fps, probably ten rounds.

2. With 'medium' loads--start watching for case splits at ten rounds.

3. With 'hot loads'--splits may show up at 5 rounds, and watch for loose primer pockets.


The 10mm is a high-pressure round; there's no way to compare low pressure round case life (i.e., .45ACP) to 10mm case life.

Jim H.

The 10mm is a high-pressure round; there's no way to compare low pressure round case life (i.e., .45ACP) to 10mm case life.

Click to expand...

So you're telling me one can not load them down to less pressure?????????????????????

For a 10mm a lot will depend how hot you load them and what gun you are loading it in. The 45 ACP brass will last dozens of times if you don't over flair the mouth for seating. The 10mm runs at higher pressure so they will wear out sooner. If you are shooting the 10mm in a Glock, I believe it has an unsupported chamber (I know the 40 S&W in Glock does) and this will shorten the life of the brass some. You can buy an after market barrel from a supplier like KKM which will be supported and help the life of the brass.

jcwit - what you say is correct. However, when you do, you have the same ballistics as a 40 S&W.

That may well be, so what would that hurt for practice/target ammo?

Ever notice the mild recoil of pistols on the TV shooting shows. This one reason for Wolf offering different recoil springs, NO?

I shoot an awful lot of mild loads for practice, saves my arthritic wrists, fingers, shoulders, ect., ect. Yes I do reload 10 mm.

jcwit: sure you can load them down--IIRC, I've seen loads as low as 26,000 psi.

That, however, is a lot hotter than .45ACP--isn't the hottest SAMMI pressure for .45ACP+P set at 22,000 now?

I doubt the brass metallurgical characteristics have changed between the two cartridges, even if the physical dimensioning has--consequently, the cases 'wear out' faster.

Jim H.

Good grief, I'm sorry I even jumped into this discussion.

jfh-- Go back and read the posts, I'm not even the one who brought up .45ACP. This last sentence is the first time I typed that caliber in this whole thread. Lay off!

my apologies for ruffling your feathers, jcwit.

Although my reply suggests it, I certainly wan't pointing at you. I too download 10mm now, and for exactly the same reasons you do.

Jim H.

I did a test with this rig once and its a lot but dependent on your load.



The cooler was empty before I ruined the brass but they were light loads.

On pistol rounds, like the 357 or 44 magnums I usually get over 20 reloads per case. Straight walled rifle cartridge brass usually lasts so long that I never fails. I sold my 45-90 and had over 35 reloads per case. A friend was approaching 65 reloads. With bottlenecked rifle cases 15 reloads can be the upper limit sometimes.

I've never trimmed a pistol case yet, and haven't had any issues as a result.

Rifle brass would be a different story, just fyi.