.308 Win - How Many Reloads Before Case Failure?

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Load Master

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Had this happen after just three loads. Lake City brass, .308 Winchester.

How may reloads do you typically get from your .308 Win cases?

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I have fired LC brass 6 times and it still looks good. Milder loads and minimal shoulder bump (.004) for my RRA LR8
 
how many licks to the center of a tootsie-pop?
It depends on many factors including, but not limited to, age of brass, brass manufacturer, the pressure developed by the load, the rifle it's fired from, number of times the brass has been fired....
 
Lake City 2013 date. I full length resize. I'm thinking it is just one bad case. Well, at least for now. I'll see if any others end up doing the same thing. I have 250 of them.
 
I got 10-25 usually. I've had a few that didn't last but one shot but its rare. I've never used LC .308 brass tho. Sometimes you just get a bad batch.

Had a new box of factory 300 Weatherby that almost all cracked.
 
with that case head failure, you will want to start checking for that. Straighten out a paper clip, file the tip a bit, then bend that tip into a hook, about 1/4 inch so. Insert the hook into the case down to the bottom then scrape the inside, feeling for a little groove at the case head. If you feel a channel, toss it.

Double check you load data, make sure your recipe and your procedures are in spec.
 
AR 308 DPMS. Auto loading parts guns may have other issues then just cartridge/chambers headspace?

One may be the action opening to soon? This would allow the brass to stretch.

Buffer springs and amount of gas may be something to check?

Light loads may let the brass head to datum measurement get shorter on firing. The next full pressure loading may stretch the brass on firing.

Brass can be damaged on the very first firing, if headspace is excessive. May take 2 or 3 loading till there is a separation.

Could be just 1 bad brass. Time will,tell.
 
AR 308 DPMS. Auto loading parts guns may have other issues then just cartridge/chambers headspace?

One may be the action opening to soon? This would allow the brass to stretch.

Buffer springs and amount of gas may be something to check?

Light loads may let the brass head to datum measurement get shorter on firing. The next full pressure loading may stretch the brass on firing.

Brass can be damaged on the very first firing, if headspace is excessive. May take 2 or 3 loading till there is a separation.

Could be just 1 bad brass. Time will,tell.
Yes to the time. I'm pretty confident on the system setup. The rifle has over a 100 rounds through it with zero operation issues. This is the only case to split. I am thinking the issue is the brass. I purchased this as "Once Fired". I now believe that this brass, or some of it came from an auto fire gun. Original sizing of some of the brass was difficult. I won't make that mistake again.
 
I purchased this as "Once Fired"
The damage may have been done on that first firing, and just showed up after you fired it a couple more times. I would still measure where my shoulder is on brass fired a couple of times with full power loads, vs after FL sizing, just to be sure you are not sizing a little too much. So you are shooting these in an auto?
Original sizing of some of the brass was difficult. I won't make that mistake again.
I bought some LC LR brass that was said to be fired in bolt guns, but I had some cases that were so resistant to sizing I scrapped them. They could be sized, but I had to adjust the sizer down more to do it, which made it unusable with the softer brass without re-adjusting it.
 
I load for three, 7.62x51 chambered rifles, one being an FN-49, so FL it is, even with the others when I'm lazy. The other rifles are an Israeli 98 with an FN action, and nice snug chamber, and an Enfield 2A1 Ishapore... It would really swell/bulge cases a lot. Even then I could get around 6 or so firings loaded to an M80 spec, even with commercial brass, but I never pushed my luck. In the Israeli Mauser, I'm sure it could have easily gone 10 or more firings.

I attached a photo from a G&A piece, showing how dramatic a .308 chamber vs a 7.62 chamber fired piece of brass looks. both cases were from the same lot of ammo.
 

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  • 7.62 chamber L .308 Rt same ammo.jpg
    7.62 chamber L .308 Rt same ammo.jpg
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If I don't get 20 loads on 308win, I'd think something was terribly amiss. There are always those few fluke cases in any batch which will split or separate early, but if I had a high percentage of cases within a batch of 308win separating at 3 loads, I'd stamp it immediately as "not right," and be looking at the brass, my resizer, and my rifle.
 
Buying once fired lake city brass pretty much assures it was fired from a machine gun. That alone will stretch the brass a lot more.

If you have a case gage and you still have some you haven't sized yet check them to see if they stick way out of the gage (more than ~1/4". If so, they may have been really blown out and stretched to the point that you won't get many firings out of them
 
I use PPU and Lake City in my PTR91, which is very, very hard on brass. The chamber fluting to aid in extraction is the most visible indicator, but the extractor, while not Hakim-level destructive, is pretty rough and the deflector dings case bodies and causes case mouth deformations that are pretty brutal. I have never reloaded LC brass to failure. The most I have reloaded the brass is four times, ie 5 firings. I now bin the brass after two reloads given the abuse, but, in my opinion, LC brass should be capable of many reloads in a less brutal firearm, provided it is in properly functioning order.
 
If I don't get 20 loads on 308win, I'd think something was terribly amiss. There are always those few fluke cases in any batch which will split or separate early, but if I had a high percentage of cases within a batch of 308win separating at 3 loads, I'd stamp it immediately as "not right," and be looking at the brass, my resizer, and my rifle.
As I mentioned earlier, this was purchased brass and I am certain that some or all were originally shot from auto fire guns, ex military brass. It was difficult to resize and maybe I shouldn't have. I won't do this again if I run into it. The brass from other sources and that I have fired from my gun all size with very little effort. I have all the suspect cases market and I'll inspect them for signs of separation before reloading. I may scrap them after a couple of reloads or sooner and get something totally different.
 
Buying once fired lake city brass pretty much assures it was fired from a machine gun. That alone will stretch the brass a lot more.

If you have a case gage and you still have some you haven't sized yet check them to see if they stick way out of the gage (more than ~1/4". If so, they may have been really blown out and stretched to the point that you won't get many firings out of them
You are 100% correct sir. I will not do this again. I learned a lesson on buy brass I didn't know before this. I've manage to pick up some brass from my local range that was good stuff compared to what I purchased.
 
Good advice from "Splattergun" about checking for a groove with a paper clip. I have been doing that for years on 30-06 cases and have found plenty that I disposed of before reloading them.
 
I purchased some "one fired brass" in 308 at a gun show. No telling how many times it had been reloaded. It all failed to the point I recycled it all. I now have so much Lake City 308 brass that I don't think I will ever have to reload it a second time, let alone a third. The same for 30-06.

Forgot to say, how much you ask? I keep a 30 cal can filled with load 30-06 for the Garand and another for the 1903. And a five gallon bucket 2/3 filled with empty brass.

For the 308, I keep a 50 cal can filled to the top with 150 grain bullets and a 30 cal can filled with Match Ammo. And another five gallon bucket 2/3 filled with empties.
 
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