45acp 51 times

[J2FLAN]

Countless times it has been asked "how many times can I reload it"
Here is what I found: Once fired range brass, mixed head stamps (200 count) that I kept separate from other brass I picked up(easy to do where I shoot).

Reloaded them for the 51st time this week, I found 12 split cases most in the last 10 reloads, (4) were Win. (1) was RP the rest I couldn`t tell because the head stamps were too chewed-up or worn. Except for some odd head stamps most were, to start with, Win, RP, PMC, Speer, S&B, PMC and Starline. The load was, 200gr lswc over 4grs of BE

Because of how bad chewed and worn the head stamps have become this batch is done. But, 51 trips ain`t bad

 

[earplug]

Nickle Plate or all brass?

I'm using a 625 revolver and have been surprised how many times I can reload the same 45 ACP brass.
45 ACP holds up much longer then my 38 spl or 44 stuff.
I ask about the nickle plate because they tend to split earlier then plain brass.

 

[greenlion]

Wow, I would not have thought they would have lasted that long, even with plinking target loads. The .45ACP is a really low pressure round though. I've never really kept track of how many times I've run mine through, but I'm sure many of them have seen ten or more. Interesting post.

 

[gspn]

Thats funny. I've been reloading 45 ACP for 2 or 3 years now and I was thinking about it the other day...I've not yet thrown one out for being worn out.

I might have loaded them 10 or 12 times now...your number really gives me some perspective.

 

[918v]

I reloaded 9mm 30 times. Guns and Ammo reloaded a 38 Special case over 100 times.

 

[fecmech]

I remember a joke sometime back about a couple of bullseye shooters picking up their brass after a relay. One asks the other,"what headstamp you looking for"?
The reply,"If you can read a headstamp it's not mine"!

 

[Winchester101]

I once ran a brass life experiment and got similar results.

I took one of my presses and c-clamped it to the shooting bench in my front yard, and I brought out my RCBS little dandy powder measure and a Lee auto prime. Everything was set up for 38 special. I brought a box of 50, 148gr DEWC, a tray of WSP primers and bullseye powder. The powder charge was 2.7grs I think. I brought ONE Winchester unplated 38spl case.

Over the course of an hour or so, I sat there and loaded that single case and fired it out of a Smith & Wesson model 10 until I had fired all 50 bullets that I brought from the house. After the 50th shot (all of which went into a group at 20 yards that you could cover with a playing card, and I wasn't exactly taking my time), the case had a VERY tiny split in the mouth, but was still reloadable.

Of course, this was a very low pressure load and I crimped the absolute minimum. Anymore, for handgun brass, I don't even keep track of the number of times a case has been fired (rifle brass is a whole nother matter), I just look at each case as I grab them from the bin to load them and any that have a crack or split go into the scrap brass bucket.

I'm planning on running a similar test on rifle brass this summer.

W101

 

[FROGO207]

With my 45 ACP brass I almost always lose them before I split one or blow out the primer pocket. I keep rotating through a 3/4 full five GAL bucket of them and found they last almost forever so far.

 

[Rollis R. Karvellis]

For every one that has split, I, have probably lost 10.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

That's amazing you actually have some .45 Auto brass that split. Like already said, I usually lose them before they split.

It's amazing how many times you can load a low pressure round like the .45 Auto. I have been using the same 1200 pieces of .38 Special brass for well over 6 years now without one being scrapped. I'm guessing they have over 40 reloads on them already.

 

[chris in va]

Can you measure the case length? Curious how much it grew.