how many cycles from 30-06 brass?

[edfardos]

I loaded some fc brass for the 6th time today, followed by loading some once fired rp brass. It was noticeably different. Primer pockets seemed very loose on the old brass and you could feel a rough surface ahead of the webbing with a dental pic inside the brass.

fc was full sized once, then neck sized five times. The primers don't fall out, and I tried to bang the rims on the bench too, just to see.

so it got me thinkin -- when do you chuck a lot of brass? After 6 reloads? 10? After a neck split? Reannealing is good for neck splits but won't help with the more dangerous head separations, or bolt-etching primer leaks.

curiously,

edfardos

 

[PCCUSNRET]

If I can push the primer out of the pocket with my hand and one of the lee decappers, the brass goes in the scrap bucket. Most of the reloading books I have read over the years recommend disposing of brass used in high power rifles after 6 or 7 reloads. I have reloaded some pistol brass twice that number of times and have loaded some .223 brass close to a dozen times, but these were mild plinking loads. Once you feel that groove on the inside of the brass just above the head, you have pretty much gotten your money's worth out of that piece of brass.

 

[medalguy]

I load a lot of 7.62 but not much 30-06 although they are pretty similar. I buy once fired brass and then load it 5 times and then toss it. I don't bother looking inside the cases or running a dental pick inside of it. After 5 reloadings I simply toss it. I don't think it's a good use of my time to bother with it after that many loadings. 5.56 I load the same number of times and toss it. GI brass is pretty cheap.

 

[788Ham]

You should be able to get 6 or 7 cycles out of the brass, course, thats depending on how hot the loads are too ! I just FL size if its factory, first time, then I just neck size after that, being shot in a bolt gun, that way you're not working the tar out of the brass, stretching it. With .223 brass, I've got some that have been reloaded 10 - 12 times, I can tell after depriming and tumbled if they're needing annealed. I've got quite a bit of this brass, .223, so if it looks like its got a slight stretch mark, or a slight split on the neck/mouth area, I pitch them.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I have loaded some 30-06 brass in excess of 20X and sometimes it will fail in as little as 12X reloads. I toss it when it fails and mine usually fails by the neck splitting rather than the primer pockets becoming too large. I'm guessing I could extend the life of the brass by annealing but I'm too lazy to do that.

Pistol brass is a whole different story. I have been reloading the same 1200 pieces of .38 Special brass for well over 7 years now. I'm guessing I have in excess of 40 reloads on most of it.

 

[GooseGestapo]

With good brass (Norma) from the .30/06 I've gotten 20+. However they were "accuracy" loads, not "hot" loads. OTH; I've seen some brass with primer pockets enlarged after 5 or so loads (.243) that I tossed them.

I've loaded some .38spl brass over 100rds before the necks split, but they were with either 2.7gr w/148gr wadcutters or 3.4gr w/158gr SWC's using Bullseye powder.

I've got some .257Roberts that have gone over 30rds, but were annealed at about 20, and are "Non" +P loads. But, very, very accurate (100gr bullet at 2,950fps).

It really depends on the brass, the loads, and guns they're fired in. I've even had some .22Hornet last 35+years..... but last 30 or so loadings were with cast bullets duplicating the old black-powder .22wcf (or less powerful than the .22wrm).

 

[tightgroup tiger]

I'm with Arch Angle. I don't throw any brass away until it slits. This practice has never caused me a problem since I started loading in 1970. I would hate to guess how many times some of my 30-30 brass has been reloaded. Some of it was used when given to me in the 70's. My 30-06 shells have been reloaded dozens of times, I can tell when they have a problem when I run them through my press, like others have said here, I have thrown more away due to loose primer fit then probably any other reason.

I don't load to maximum pressure though, usually upper mid range. I think if I were you I would follow the other posters advise if you are loading maximum loads and ditch them after you don't feel they are safe anymore.

I do re-anneal my brass when it gets hard to resize.

I use all lever action rifles so my brass is all full length resized everytime I load them. My model 81 Browning has an undersized chamber so I can't shoot factory loads out of it anyways. All my loads for it are hand loads. Maybe the tight chamber has something to do with the longevity of the brass.
My neighbor has a newer Rem 700 and his shells are so blown out oversized after firing that I could barely get them to start in my resizing die. I don't load shells for anyone else and also won't take his empties. Talk about overworking brass.

In his case I would think his reloads would have a very short life and would have to be watched very carefully.



I do a pretty good inspection on them before I re-load them because of how old I know they are.

 

[ranger335v]

Ever since I got a case gage to help me properly adjust my resized shoulders to match the fired case shoulders to avoid case stretching, and anneal my case necks every 5-6 cycles, they last at least twenty cycles before I even start to get body splits.

 

[edfardos]

interesting that you mentioned a remington700, as that's what I'm using in 30-06. And ya I guess head space will determine brass life. In my rem700 however, the chamber is tighter than other two rifles I've tried (I can't shoot friends reloads in my rifle... Bolt won't close).

I have tons of brass.. Maybe I'll just chuck'm when I feel no resistance inserting primers.... Mark the box for death after I'm done loading them. ... Or 8 firings, whichever comes first.

cool,

edfardos

 

[gamestalker]

My slow powder loads for 30-06 brass obviously produce up in the max range for pressures, yet I still average any where from 7 or reloads to as many as a dozen. But every chamber, brass, die is some what different and can offer longer or shorter life spans.

The best thing to do, and what I've been practicing for many years, is to use a very sensitive piece of wire to feel for internl signs of impending separation, as your doing. I use a piece of .011" guitar string with a 90 degree angle at the end, works quite well.

When the catches on the rough texture near the web, that brass gets added to my scap. It's much better to be safe than sorry I think.

GS

 

[soloban]

Depends on the gun. My M1 Garand tears up the brass. I don't do more than say 5-6 loadings, then it becomes fodder to get converted into 8mm

 

[Flatbush Harry]

I typically get 4-5 loads from FC brass...it is a bit soft and I notice stretched primer pockets, while I get 6-10 from WW. I haven't gone past 6 cycles yet with Lapua but have not chucked any.

FH

 

[FROGO207]

ED F----- I run mine till the primer will push out by hand or I get neck splits. I use a Lee military crimp hammer type deprimer rod to see if I can push out the primer. After 5 reloads I start checking for head separation and then don't bother to isolate or keep track of number of reloads anymore. If the primer pockets get loose enough to push out I will prime that round with a Wolf/Tula primer as they are slightly larger and will still be able to run them for one more cycle. I have a wide black magic marker and I color the head of those to toss after firing them again. Saves on sorting when cleaning.