How many times can this brass safely be reloaded? (223 question)

[RavenVT100]

I'm almost to the point where I've reloaded my full supply of empty Federal LC, and shot it all. This brings the number of times shot (for this batch) up to 2 total.

I use a small base, full length X-Die. According to most of the publications, FL/Small Base sizing will reduce brass life. That's ok, but I would like some guidance on how many times I can expect to safely reload this brass. One more time? Two more times? Thanks.

 

[Blakenzy]

I think that it's more of a function of how many times have you trimmed the brass, and as a consequence, how much material has been lost and therefore how thin your case wall has gotten, all of which must be viewed under the light of how much pressure your loads generate.

 

[mc223]

The easy answer to your question would be untill the case mouth cracks or primer pockets wont hold a primer anymore. There is no set number of times brass can be reloaded.
Annealing will increase the useful life of brass greatly. And unless the use of the small base sizing is absolutely the only way to get the brass to fit the chamber, a standard full length sizing die should be used. For a bolt gun, neck sizing only will increase the number of loadings you can get from brass.
With regular annealing, I have some LC brass in its 20th load cycle. And right up till the primer pockets get too loose, I'll keep using them

 

[ilbob]

It seems to depend on how stiff of a charge you use as much as anything. with lighter loads, you can shoot them many more times than with heavier loads.

I concur that there is no reason not to keep reloading and shooting them until you get some kind of obvious defect in the cartridge case.

 

[Caimlas]

How do you go about annealing brass?

 

[RavenVT100]

How is brass annealed?

The LC .mil brass always has a heat mark near the cartridge bottleneck. I'm going to guess this is from annealing. How do you do it on your own without damaging the brass?

I may pick up a normal FL die down the road, but unless I can't get four reloadings out of this brass, I'm fine. It's for a semiauto anyway.

 

[mc223]

Here is a link to annealing. The method I use is a little different than the methods described, but works very well.


http://www.gun-tests.com/performance/jun96cases.html

I also load for a semi, AR with Wylde chamber, but never had a need for small base die.

 

[Sunray]

"...How do you go about annealing brass?..." Put the cases in a pan of water up to just below the shoulder. Heat them with a regular propane torch until the brass changes colour and tip 'em over. There's no need to heat them red hot.
Case life depends entirely on how hot your load is. Hot loads will need trimming more often and that will lessen cases life. Crimping will work harden the case mouth. When you get one cracked case, pitch it and anneal the rest.

 

[Steel Talon]

+1 sunray..

Do it in a darkened room also easier to see the color change of the neck being heated. also insted of "Focusing" the butane torch move it back and forth over the necks dosnt take much to glow em.

Also for case life dont worry to much, just inspect closely during case prep. You can take a paperclip straighten it out file one end down to a point, bend a 90 below the point (enough to allow entrance into the case neck) rub it as a feeler guage up and down the inside case wall if seperation is starting to happen you will feel it.

Peace
Steel Talon