How many times can you reload a. 45acp casing?

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JohnnyB

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I am curious, does any one out there,have any suggestions on how many times you can reload a .45ACP casing.? I lose track of how many times I reload my cases. Recently, I had a Winchester case split at the base by the rim, which caused the charge to blow out towards the mag well, and destroyed the mag spring and follower. The right side grip also split down the middle. Needless to say, it scared the crap out of me. No damage to my Ruger SR1911 (great gun) . This made me start to wonder how many times my cases have been reloaded. I load towards the lower end of the spectrum. Question : what is a general rule for max amount of reloads for cases?
 
Wish I knew but I've got some that you can barely read the head stamp on.

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At one point, I was curious and had the same question.

I decided to keep 100 pieces of brass of: 9mm, 40S&W, and 45ACP.

From the new to me, assumed 1x fired brass, this is what remains:

9mm - 100 pieces originally in the ammo box - 64 now remain - I have personally loaded these casings 14 times.

40 - 100 pieces originally in the ammo box - 78 now remain - I have personally loaded these casings 12 times.

45 - 100 pieces originally in the ammo box - 82 now remain - I have personally loaded these casings 14 times.

So of the original 300 pieces of brass, I now have 224 remaining. I should also note that all of the pieces I no longer have, were lost through the course of firing (grass, others picked up, grates, etc.)

I guess what I am saying is I agree with the above reloaders. I shoot pistol brass until I lose it because all the brass from above is still holding strong. I'm sure I'll lose the greater majority of it until I find the end of its life. Perhaps I'll get bored with the project and will call it quits before I even lose it all!
 
45 acp

The rim diameter gets larger with many maximum firings. This may slow feeding as the case head slides up the bolt face. The brass used for Max loads in a 645 had problems in the tight Gold Cup bolt face. Unknow how many times fired.
 
I had a Winchester case split at the base by the rim, which caused the charge to blow out towards the mag well, and destroyed the mag spring and follower. The right side grip also split down the middle.
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That doesn't sound like a worn out case, it sounds like an over charge.

I haven't worn one out yet. The .45 ACP works at a relatively low pressure and is easy on cases.
 
JohnnyB said:
I am curious, does any one out there,have any suggestions on how many times you can reload a .45ACP casing.? I lose track of how many times I reload my cases. Recently, I had a Winchester case split at the base by the rim, which caused the charge to blow out towards the mag well, and destroyed the mag spring and follower. The right side grip also split down the middle. Needless to say, it scared the crap out of me. No damage to my Ruger SR1911 (great gun) . This made me start to wonder how many times my cases have been reloaded. I load towards the lower end of the spectrum. Question : what is a general rule for max amount of reloads for cases?
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Are you inspecting your cases before each reload? The case may have had a crack or seam developing & that last loading caused it to let go.
 
Ages ago a writer for Guns and Ammo wanted to see how many times he could reload a 38 special case. Using a 144 gr wad cutter over 3.5 grs Bullseye. To the best of my recollection the case split after being reloaded in the area of 160 times.
 
I almost never have had a 45 ACP split for any reason. I also usually loose them first. I have a batch of TZZ that I know they have been reloaded over 50 times and none that I have not lost have split. I started with over 400 cases and still have most of them. I agree that an overcharge or a bullet setback was probably the most likely cause of your problem. Actually I cant even remember the last time a straight wall auto pistol brass casing has split on me. Revolver brass----that is another story in itself. I don't even want to talk about any 44-40 brass splitting problems.:p
 
Recently, I had a Winchester case split at the base by the rim, which caused the charge to blow out towards the mag well, and destroyed the mag spring and follower. The right side grip also split down the middle.
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I agree with Wakalong in post #7. Sounds like an entirely different issue. A double charge will do exactly what you describe (ask me how I know). The failure is not a lengthwise split but will a circumferential blow-out at/near the rim.

Low pressure rounds such as .45 acp and .38 spl can be reloaded almost indefinitely.
 
I tried to find out many years ago, kept track of 50 new or once fired cases, most makes including WCC G.I.

Loaded to or just below std. ball equivalent using NRA data with 200gr cast lead bullets.

Gave up at 21 loadings each. I did lose a few but none failed.

What I did find is that eventually the cases work-hardened to where neck tension got iffy - bullets became fairly easy to push down into some of the cases.

So ever since that's what I look for to retire a case.

PS I once had a batch of new Federal 9mm cases nearly every one split along the entire length on first use in a well proven Browning HP.
 
:D about the same as the number of licks it takes to get to the center of a TootsyPop. The world may never know.
 
gbw said:
What I did find is that eventually the cases work-hardened to where neck tension got iffy - bullets became fairly easy to push down into some of the cases.

So ever since that's what I look for to retire a case.
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I have some 45acp like that. A mix of Aguila and some really old mil-surp brass. I discovered they would crimp into the groove of a Missouri Bullet IDP#4-XD. So lots of extra life on them if you sort them out.
 
I too have some that you can no longer read the headstamp, no telling how many times they have been reloaded.
 
I always chuckle at posts on brass longevity, especially when it comes to autoloaders. I have never seen a failed piece of brass from an auto loading handgun caliber, and doubt that I ever see more than a handful in my lifetime. Everybody loses brass long before it is "used up". That's why I told my wife when I got my 10mm that I wanted 5 boxes of ammo so I could have 200 cases to reload.

With that already said, there are some exceptions. Unsupported chambers and bottleneck rounds both have areas of the brass that have to be worked significantly on reloading and this causes work hardening in those areas which will lead to cracking in those areas much more quickly than in normal setups where you are doing a simple resize.
 
It varies with the brass. I've reloaded some so many times the nickel was worn off. Magnum calibers are another story. I get a lot of split necks but I don't keep track of how many times I reload them. when I see a split start, I trash them.
 
Enough times that it's a non-issue. I have so much brass the chance of me "wearing out" any is impossible.
 
I don't know how many times you can load a .45 ACP case but just like everybody else, I don't remember ever having a .45 ACP case that split or one that I was unable to load for some reason. I also don't keep track of how many times I loaded a particular case. I don't segregate my cases in any way. I just toss them in a bag of empty brass and load them up again.

I do disagree with some other posts in that I have seen 9mm cases split including one I saw this past Friday night, but it is rare. I have had many .38 Special cases split, but they were loaded many, many, many times. Having split cases in .357 mag is not uncommon. .357 cases are the ones I see split the most frequently but again, they were loaded many times.

I have no way of really knowing, but I would bet that some of the brass I am loading today (all calibers) I have probably been loading for 30 years. And I am a very active shooter. I have a LOT of brass, but I bet most of my handgun brass gets loaded at least a few times every year. When I load, I typically load at least a thousand rounds and I go through that several times a year in each caliber I shoot regularly.

FWIW: I don't nessessarily advocate this, but once in awhile I am shooting and go to load my gun and I see that a case is split. I didn't notice it when I reloaded it and I reloaded a split case. I just shoot it and absolutely nothing negative happens as a result. I have done this probably a hundred times over the years.
 
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I will agree on the 38/357, lots of cracks and splits but they are always longitudinal. Loaded quite a bit of 44 spcl and mag and can't say I've seen much in them or 45 LC. Nickel cracks and splits much sooner than straight brass.

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