Do you keep track # times brass is fired?

[eflatminor]

I've read a few times that one should separate brass by the number of times it's been fired. I'm going to end up with a dizzying array of plastic boxes.

What's the advantage of knowing # times fired? Is there a way to tell when brass is nearing the end, or do you just use it till it splits?

Loading .40 and .45, about 30,000 rounds/year and going up.

 

[mc223]

I keep track of my rifle brass, but not handgun stuff.

 

[Idano]

eflatminor,

I don't keep track of how many times I have reloaded my brass; with at a minimum of 5,000 rounds per caliber I would spend more time tracking them then reloading and shooting them. What I do for pistol is use a cartridge gage and check every case after resizing. You definitely don't want to shoot bellied brass or you can end up with the web blowing out like this one:

Any case that no longer fits in the gage gets tossed into the scrap bucket and those that pass are checked for splits and cracks around the neck. Rifle brass I reload until it either splits at the neck or the primer pocket gets loose.

 

[earplug]

When the primer pocket gets loose or splits develop I get rid of the cases.
I don't keep track or sort the cases.

 

[layusn1]

I find so much pistol brass at the range that I don't track them. I comb the ground before I shoot and whatever I shoot stays on the ground. I know, I have no idea how many times the brass I am picking up has been shot but oddly enough, I have never seen anyone else shooting handloads at my range and they kinda look at me funny when I pull out 20 different lots of 5 bullets to test a new load and start writing all the details on the target, etc.

For rifle, I have not loaded a single case more than once yet. I have once fired, by me, cases for 7mm Mauser and 243 Win but I have not loaded for them yet. For 223 its next to impossible to find it lying on the range. Its not because people are reloading them though because I have never seen anyone shooting their rifle handloads either...its just that people have realized that they can save them and sell them on ebay.

Anyway, I guess the short answer would be no.

 

[Guy B. Meredith]

I'm on the same program as earplug. Loose primers and split brass. Often, I will use a case with a split at the mouth if it does not extend more than about 1/8 inch. The thought is that the bullet seats so much more deeply than that and is sufficiently supported and sealed.

 

[eflatminor]

Thanks!

 

[Smokey Joe]

There's a spectrum...

of degree of record-keeping and stage of throwing out brass, I guess.

For pistol, for my use, I agree with the philosophy that says load each case until it splits; discard when it splits. When shooting bullseye league, plus practicing, you're just running through too many cases to keep a record.

For rifle, for my use, I separate the cases into lots, and keep a rather "light" track of how many times the lot has been reloaded as a whole, meaning that if some of the cases in the lot vary by a couple of reloadings, so what.

Then, when I get a number of neck splits on the cases in a lot, I deem the whole lot work-hardened, and scrap it. Or if the lot of cases gets to be 20 years old, I consider scrapping it on general principles. I've only scrapped one lot of rifle brass since I began to reload seriously.

But Guy Meredith is 'way the other side of me on the split-case issue! For me, a split case is one I'm done reloading. It can't hold the bullet with the same tension as a non-split case, which means that the pressure inside the case on firing won't be the same as that of the non-split cases, which in turn would lead to varying ballistics (read that missing the bullseye or the game animal.)

If I discover at the range that I accidentally loaded a split rifle case, it gets taken home and disassembled, not fired.

 

[atblis]

Depends

Plinking loads (low pressure), No

Brass that I use for testing and doing bad things with (10mm NUKeLER loads), Yes

My attempts at precision rifle stuff... Yes

 

[Slamfire]

Only keeping records for rifle brass. And then I have some rifle brass I just call mystery brass, but I don't use it for much other than chronograph testing.

Rifle brass basically lasts until the case necks split or the pockets open up. I have taken one set of 308 LC 64 brass about 24 reloads, tossed out stuff that cracked necks or had body splits. I sectioned cases that had brass flaws, and the later stuff definately showed a spongey internal texture near the primer. It looks as though brass is getting washed out by the pressures and temperatures of combustion.

Pistol brass, I no longer keep track of the number of times I have reloaded 9mm, 38 Spl, 45 ACP. Just reload those until they crack at the case neck. Some of the cases have the nickle worn off to the brass. Those low pressure rounds last a long time.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Do I keep track of the times fired, trimed and dates? YES...

 

[2400]

I keep track of my rifle brass. I shoot pistol brass untill it splits or I loose it.

 

[nitesite]

10mm Auto, yes.

All other handgun brass, no. (9mm, .45ACP, .38/.357, .44 Spl)

.243 chamber-formed brass shot in my bolt rifle, no. But I examine it quite closely and record the times it's been trimmed. So far I haven't loaded them enough times to worry about.

.223 thru my AR, I save for recycling after two trimmings.

 

[SiG Lady]

Better safe than sorry.

In the reloading process I have occasion to peer at the opening of the casing at least twice. Any brass that has splits or cracks of any size gets tossed before it makes it to the press. Lord knows I have enough brass casings on hand for the remainder of my life. Other than that, I just keep reloading it (in this case .45ACP) until it DOES show signs of breakdown.

 

[Redneck with a 40]

I just load'em until they split. I'm currently loading mild target loads in 40 S&W, I figure I can get a good 10 loads out of my brass and I have 2000 peices of once fired brass. This should last a loooooong time. I'm well on my way to 2500 target rounds loaded for my 40's, with another box of 1000 rainier's waiting.

 

[brickeyee]

All you need are two containers.
I have many thousands of shells of .45 ACP.
I run through all of them before starting to load them the next time.
One bucket is always running one load ahead of the other.

 

[Sam Adams]

I only track the number of firings for my bolt-action rifles (and mainly my Rem 700, because I haven't done much reloading for my milsurps-yet).

Either way, once the stuff has been fired, I watch it like a hawk.