.357 brass lifespan - low pressure loads

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anothernewb

anothernewb

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With target loads (700-900fps), and mild crimp - anyone got a reasonable expectation of lifespan of the brass?

Most of my loads are 2.5 or 2.8gr Trail Boss and 148 swagged HBWC.

Will be working up some loads of 231 and 158gr LSWC.

Got a deal on 1000 used brass, and am wondering if I should consider picking up a few more.
 
Useable life of those cases with low level loads---decades+++

More brass?---always good!
 
WIth those loads?

Indefinately.

I have old .38 Spl brass that has beem loaded so many times you can't read the headstamps too easily.

Eventually, you will get case neck cracks.
But it will be a long while if it is good brass to start with.

rc
 
Good question.

I've been using the same couple hundred brass cases for 158 gr LSWC over 6 gr of Unique, for a while now. I think they're on their 9th or 10th cycle.
 
Low loads, you can get many loads out of them before showing signs of real wear.

As far as a number of loadings, only the brass can tell you that, no one can say a definite answer because of several factors, manufacture, quality of brass, care of brass.
 
IME what kills 357 mag brass is resizing and crimping. If you are loading light loads the cases wont take as much abuse in resizing and you wont have to crimp as much. I have 357 cases that have seen 14.5gr of 2400 under a 158gr SWC at least 15 to 20 times and have no issues, and those get a fairly good crimp.

My favorite light load is a 158gr SWC with 4.2gr AA#2. I dont know that this load will ever wear out a piece of brass.
 
If all I had were 357 cases, at the very least I would't crimp them. Neck tension should be enough to hold the bullets in for 5 light shots. I would even experiment with loading them unsized to see if I could eliminate any additional wear on sizing them.
 
Reload them until they crack or won't hold a primer. A few cases will always fail before others. You will quit counting long before the most of the cases die.
 
I recently disposed of some .38 S&W Special brass that I had been reloading for at least 30 years and it wasn't new when I acquired it.
 
Back in the 80's Guns and Ammo reloaded a 38 Special case 100 times before the case mouth cracked.
 
I had some brass that I reloaded 20 times.
I just wasn't confident it would last much longer.

There was no evidence that it was failing, it may have lasted another 20.
With low pressure loads, brass will last a lllooonnnggggg time.

BUT - to me, more brass is good! :D
 
good to know! I've got a few 45 acp that have 15 loads on them now and are still going strong. I've heard that those last forever because a light taper crimp doesn't overwork the brass. Seems to be the consensus that most brass in low pressure loads as long as it's not work hardened lasts nearly longer than the shooter.

I've got a 2 ice cream pails of 38spl brass that I got from an estate sale too, had the .357 cases first though, so those have been my working set.

Really starting to get the feel for why the 38/357 has survived this long. really flexible range of loads, and the revolvers are just plain sweet. Have a 6" GP100 and a 4" 586 now, and a el cheapo Taurus m82 on the way (cause I just couldn't say no to less than 2 bills...) I can see myself becoming a revolver whore in the not so distant future.
 
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