Life Expectancy of Brass

[papajoe222]

I’ve been reloading for a few years, bottleneck cartridges mostly. I recently bit the bullet and purchased Lapua brass. I had been using Fed. Premium for my .223 loads and was on my 14th reload when I switched over to Lapua.
Seeing as I load on the light side, how many reloads can I expect from the Lapua brass?I anneal on a regular basis and only experienced a handful of failures using the Fed. brass. I’ve noticed that I’m trimming the Lapua brass more frequently than I did the Federal, so I assume that it won’t last as long.

 

[thump_rrr]

I’ve been reloading for a few years, bottleneck cartridges mostly. I recently bit the bullet and purchased Lapua brass. I had been using Fed. Premium for my .223 loads and was on my 14th reload when I switched over to Lapua.
Seeing as I load on the light side, how many reloads can I expect from the Lapua brass?I anneal on a regular basis and only experienced a handful of failures using the Fed. brass. I’ve noticed that I’m trimming the Lapua brass more frequently than I did the Federal, so I assume that it won’t last as long.

My 308 Lapua brass has 24 firings on it.
It was retired along with the barrel.
I still have it and used 30 pieces of it last weekend to test some Berger 185 Juggernauts.
I have not had any brass failures such as split necks but I have loosened a few primer pockets when my powder charges became a little stout.

 

[MEHavey]

noticed that I’m trimming the Lapua brass more frequently

Are you minimally resizing (re-checked on the newer LAPUA brass) to barely bump the shoulder?

 

[Bobaloo22]

Also, do you anneal?

 

[AJC1]

There are to many factors to give a solid number. The biggest factor is how close your die matches the chamber, which is the largest contributor to brass movement. If your trimming a lot of brass that means you have a lot of brass movement, reducing brass life.

 

[jmorris]

I am with the too many factors crowd.

I can dig around in my fired 45 ACP brass and find brass that’s 50 years old or older.

The closer fitting a sized case is to the chamber it is to be fired in, the longer it lasts, 40+ firings isn’t out of the question with bottle neck cases, without any annealing.

“Lose” chamber to case fit can destroy a case upon the first firing.

 

[Charlie98]

There are to many factors to give a solid number. The biggest factor is how close your die matches the chamber, which is the largest contributor to brass movement. If your trimming a lot of brass that means you have a lot of brass movement, reducing brass life.

+1

 

[Varminterror]

Shooting a bolt gun or AR?

 

[papajoe222]

Also, do you anneal?

Yes, as mentioned, I was doing it around every other firing. Now I do it every time prior to resizing

Shooting a bolt gun or AR?

Bolt gun for bench rest competition and working up new loads.

 

[Varminterror]

Bolt gun for bench rest competition and working up new loads.

I'd be disappointed if I'd lost more than a few out of a hundred pieces of quality 223 brass before 20-25 firings.

Naturally, it depends how hard you're pushing your loads for BR competition. There may or may not have been a time in my life where I was very comfortable with the idea that I had a rifle chambered for 223rem which was also built for 308win, and since a .383" bolt face and .377" body diameter means the steel is THICKER in a 223rem than in a .473" bolt face and body diameter - so I may or may not have been convinced that the 52-55kpsi pressure standard for the 223/5.56 wasn't applicable for a bolt gun capable of withstanding 62kpsi cartridges, especially with all of that extra beef around the cartridges... My cases may or may not have met early demise back then...

If you're getting a lot of trimming, recheck your sizing die adjustment so you're not sizing the shoulder back too far, and mushing brass out of your case bodies into your necks, making your case walls thinner and thinner with every firing and sizing.

 

[JFrank]

It may be that pesky expander ball pulling the necks upwards that leads to extra trimming.

 

[hdwhit]

I don't shoot most of my 223 at a range, but in the field, so my recovery rate is low.

I assume that no cartridge that I load will be in the reloading stream after three rounds. Still, it seems to me that if you're experiencing case failures, you are pushing your brass too far and should set an earlier point where you retire the case.