45acp Case Longevity Update

Most of us get so many firings per pistol case we just don’t care how many it is and simply don’t keep track. We know it’s a bunch, just not how many.

I do hope you keep keeping track of these.45 ACP cases, and I hope we’re still alive to see the end of it.
 
Walkalong said:
Most of us get so many firings per pistol case we just don’t care how many it is and simply don’t keep track. We know it’s a bunch, just not how many.

I do hope you keep keeping track of these.45 ACP cases, and I hope we’re still alive to see the end of it.
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It's funny, I began because having heard all the stories, I was curious and just wanted to find out the reality. That was about two months before I read the Florida Reloading article with his 54 firings.

Had I known that number beforehand I cannot say I would've started this thing. But since I did start, I'm now just going to chug along until the cases are too short or whatever else makes them unusable.

Maybe it will actually be your latter point that ends it all--I'm no spring chicken either.
 
CQB45ACP said:
the Florida Reloading article with his 54 firings.
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As I recall he quit because the primers were starting to sit proud. You have uniformed the pockets so that shouldn't be an issue for awhile at least.

I wouldn't worry about the extractors in your guns. The higher end guns should have very good extractors, vs. my Kimber which may be MIM.

Thanks again for keeping with it and updating us.

chris
 
ballman6711 said:
As I recall he quit because the primers were starting to sit proud. You have uniformed the pockets so that shouldn't be an issue for awhile at least.

I wouldn't worry about the extractors in your guns. The higher end guns should have very good extractors, vs. my Kimber which may be MIM.

Thanks again for keeping with it and updating us.

chris
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Yes proudly proud. You're correct, I did uniform once but have decided to not do it again should a case need it. I'll just declare any such case dead. (At some point I need to get a life.)
 
CQB45ACP said:
I'll just declare any such case dead. (At some point I need to get a life.)
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But if you uniform it yet again you could declare yourself another batch of 45 brass richer? :D

In the spirit of the case blowout thread going on next door, have you ever noticed poor neck tension over the firings? Have you ever annealed (I know, it's pistol but that's a lot of loadings) them? I have some old 45 mil brass I've reloaded many times after being gifted from the guy who taught me reloading, who got them from another reloader yet so they've been around. And many fail the press against the bench test. Not sure now if they spring back against sizing or don't spring back after expanding...
 
SingleActionAndrew said:
But if you uniform it yet again you could declare yourself another batch of 45 brass richer? :D

In the spirit of the case blowout thread going on next door, have you ever noticed poor neck tension over the firings? Have you ever annealed (I know, it's pistol but that's a lot of loadings) them? I have some old 45 mil brass I've reloaded many times after being gifted from the guy who taught me reloading, who got them from another reloader yet so they've been around. And many fail the press against the bench test. Not sure now if they spring back against sizing or don't spring back after expanding...
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Yes I thought about that, it's like the energizer bunny...but seriously, without any evidence, I'm concerned repeated uniforming could weaken the bottom of the case.

No I haven't noticed any poor neck tension and I do press test occasionally (now I will do it more). But I do think about it. I've never expanded much (and with some bullets, not at all) so beyond the necessary resizing they don't get much work. But NO, you're not going to goad me into annealing but I confess to having wondered about it:)

What I really wonder about is how and when failure will reveal itself. Because eventually it really has to, no? I mean beyond the steady shortening. I hope it's nothing dramatic and is like 9mm that just weakens and splits.
 
@CQB45ACP Got busy but here's a pic of a random page from my logbook. This page has load data for .223, 45acp, 45 Colt, and .357 mag. At the top left you can see it says 2xxx rounds, that's how many rounds I'd loaded not counting this page. You can also see where I have notes on some of the loads. I don't write notes all the time, only when I have something I want to make a note of, but most of my early pages have detailed notes. Actually staying disciplined enough to write it down is the hardest part, lol!

IMG_5427.JPG
chris
 
ballman6711 said:
@CQB45ACP Got busy but here's a pic of a random page from my logbook. This page has load data for .223, 45acp, 45 Colt, and .357 mag. At the top left you can see it says 2xxx rounds, that's how many rounds I'd loaded not counting this page. You can also see where I have notes on some of the loads. I don't write notes all the time, only when I have something I want to make a note of, but most of my early pages have detailed notes. Actually staying disciplined enough to write it down is the hardest part, lol!

View attachment 1208614
chris
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And such fine penmanship!
 
When they are shot through a tight and fully supported chamber, the expansion is minimized and life is extended. They are like springs, expansion and compression cycles are what cause wear. The farther they are stretched either way, the faster the cases wears. Cases should always be inspected before reloading, wether used once or many times, even 1 case in a batch of 100 can fail prematurely and it would be unwise to assume the whole batch is safe to reload based on inspection of a few from the batch. Every cases should be inspected. I inspect mines when depriming and case prep. Actually, I inspect them whenever they are handled at any point during the reloading process. If I am seating a bullet and it feels like the bullet went in easier than the others I will do a thorough inspection including case neck tension(test for setback), measure the dimensions and compare to several others. If it still doesn't feel right, I pull the bullet, powder, and primer and toss the case.
I appreciate the experimentations you conduct.
 
In 50 years + of loading .45 ACP, I've yet to have a case neck split nor a loose primer. I use the government load for FMJ 230's (~820 fps) and a 750 fps reduced load with H&G #68 (200 gr LSWC). I don't keep track of the # of reloads per case, but at a guess, it's well over 25 for some of them. I do shoot exclusively on my own outdoor range, and lose several from each box int the meadow grass however. Best regards, Rod
 
Rodfac said:
In 50 years + of loading .45 ACP, I've yet to have a case neck split nor a loose primer. I use the government load for FMJ 230's (~820 fps) and a 750 fps reduced load with H&G #68 (200 gr LSWC). I don't keep track of the # of reloads per case, but at a guess, it's well over 25 for some of them. I do shoot exclusively on my own outdoor range, and lose several from each box int the meadow grass however. Best regards, Rod
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Thanks have heard many stories like this which in part launched me on this journey. I want to know.

And I will know and have already shown (and as was mentioned in referenced article) they shorten. We'll see how short. And we know primer pockets apparently do not loosen. They get shallower. We may see how shallow.

I'll keep reporting and anyone interested can read...or not:)
 
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