How many times to reload shells?

[school of mines]

I know this is a wide open question, but what criteria do you use to determine how many times you reload a shell. What I'm getting at is that I find that after trimming my cases twice, the neck thickness is getting such that I'm concerned that the bullets won't be held tight and slip into the case. So I was wondering if I could determine a case neck thickness measurement that I could use to determine to scrap a case or use it one more time.

Please share your experienced conclusions!

Thanks!

[Toney]

For my hunting load i only load them once, my load is max but i only shoot a few a year.
I have not measured the necks, i always check the bases, they get a little fat i scrap them.
You should be able to load them 4-5 times if the load is'nt to hot.

[versifier]

I think the best answer is: It depends.

They say that you should toss a rifle case after five trimmings, as long as you haven't split he neck or loosened the primer pocket. With annealing, this is usually possible in a bolt action or single shot rifle. I have never found neck thickening to be an issue with a production rifle, and in BR rifles with extremely tight chambers where you'd think it would make a difference the brass lasts forever without neck issues.

When I can get range brass, I don't usually load more than 10 or fifteen times, but I have loaded certain lots more than 20 times with no problems. Expensive or hard to find brass I will squeeze every last loading out of them that I possibly can. I load for accuracy, not velocity, so I don't stress the cases pressure wise and I neck size as much as possible to increase case life.

Hunting ammo I always load in either new or once fired/neck sized cases.

Some rifles eat cases, some don't, and some rounds are known for either great or poor case life.

[runfiverun]

my criteria is primer pockets if they are too big done.
i can anneal, turn and trim forever if the case won't contain the gas it's junk.

[mvp25560]

In pistols, load light and they will last forever. I also belive in what Runfiverun says,
my criteria is primer pockets if they are too big, throw them away.

[7of7]

I would say, it depends upon your loads. If you load hot or max loads, they won't last as many cycles. If you neck size only, this will increase the life. I load for best accuracy, not max velocity on all my ammo. I have a friend who has two loads, a hunting load, and a load he uses for target.. two different loads, one is for max velocity, the other is for max accuracy. My thought is if you can place the bullet where it needs to go, it will do its job... a couple hundred fps, won't make that much of a difference.

[geargnasher]

+1 7of7.

Gear

[school of mines]

How do you tell of your primer pocket is too large? I mean, I would like to know if a case is junk or not before I resize and then go to put primers in and they won't stay seated.

[versifier]

You can tell if you decap first with a single operation die, or when you are neck sizing as the primer comes out much too easily, but fl sizing requires too much force with a bottle neck cartridge to be able to feel it. Sometimes I can't tell until seating a new primer when it goes in much too easily. Then I will mark the case head with a sharpie marker and load a light target load, then discard it after. I find that most of the cases in a batch will loosen up at the same time, and I usually only see it when I've been loading very hot loads. Only one of my rifles likes them that way and brass life in it is much shorter than my other rifles, only six or eight loadings. With my normal loads in all the other rifles I seldom have to deal with it and toss the cases when they have lengthened enough to require a sixth trimming.

[kodiak1]

How hot your loads are, the make of brass and the biggest how much time and care you take with it.
I have some 308 military that has to have been reloaded ten times but every third reloading give them an anneal. I don't load to max all the time either. The stuff I load hot I do pretty much the same as stated by Toney make sure it is my top stuff and once it has been used then it gets set over for paper punching.

Keeping good records of your brass and know what you have done with it is the biggest thing. Treat the brass well and it will usually treat you well.

Ken.

[Tom W.]

Geez guys. I don't have any specific time frame to go by. If I don't like the looks of the brass, it's gone..... And I have some handgun brass that's mighty old...

[Perkbilt]

I have made a habit of miking the cases just above the base area. a decrease in size of more than a few thousands before resizing is a sign of impending case separation. other than that any obvious flaws send them to the scrap can. I mostly neck size only and neck annealing keeps them healthy for as many as 10 loading cycles. JMHO