How Many Times WIll You Reload Pistol Brass?

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Re: How Many Times WIll You Reload Pistol Brass?

Post by m-saunoras »

I've got 357 mag brass that was shot in my Rossi 92 that will not go in my tight chamber contender barrels. The base is too swelled up and the die can't quite iron it out.

As for my 10mm glock I switched it over to a KKM barrel which has better chamber support. I do have a GRX die but I haven't had to use it yet. I think my record is some magtech 44 mag brass that has 8 firings on it. Haven't lost any yet.
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Re: How Many Times WIll You Reload Pistol Brass?

Post by Handloader109 »

Does the lever action tend to cause more damage to the brass than a revolver. My thoughts are Yes, but enough to cause harm. I see some on my new 92, but it may just need a few hundred run thru it to take off edges.
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Re: How Many Times WIll You Reload Pistol Brass?

Post by Ohio3Wheels »

If you're talking cosmetics yes probably. Just all the extra mechanism will be likely to produces scratches etc. Structural damage depend on many more factors. For instance I know that my Rossi chambers are larger than my Black Hawk chambers so cases from the rifles get worked a little more than from the pistols and the additional cold working undoubtedly shorten case life. If brass gets in short supply again that may become a factor, then again if I want to use them I've got load for them. Brass is a consumable. I inspect and discard any that is showing sign of wearing out.

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Re: How Many Times WIll You Reload Pistol Brass?

Post by Handloader109 »

Yep, I made up a couple of more dummies with different bullets and they worked well. Going to range tomorrow I expect.
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Re: How Many Times WIll You Reload Pistol Brass?

Post by OldGringo »

Just noticed this old thread and thought I might liven it up a bit. I have a Ruger, a Uberti and a SW Governor that all take 45 acp as well as 45 Colt. Elmer Keith and Jack O'Conner are both reported as saying that he weak link in reloading was the brass--their comments not mine. I read an article about reloading steel ammo in one of the gun rags so I tried it. I took 50 new Tullamo 45 acp brass and 50 new commercial brass ones. I loaded them all the same, 225 round nose cast and 6 grains of Unique. I fired and reloaded them 3 times each. NONE of the steel cases split or showed any case damage. Three (3) of the brass ones split. I have reloaded them a 4th time, just have not shot them yet. Pretty cheap way to reload as you can just walk around any range with a magnet and pick them up. Any that have even a spec of rust, I throw away, and I am careful to keep them very clean. We shoot thousands of steel cased rounds in our ARs and Hornady and Winchester are now loading factory steel. And no, they do not have Berdan primers in the pistol loads. I plan to try the Tullamo loads in my 357 Rossi next. So, if there is another ammo shortage, steel cases might come in handy. I have a Rossi 44 mag, 2.5 inch handgun. I am thinking about reloading some of the CCI aluminum 44 special cases for it, perhaps a plinking level load or maybe even a round ball load which I like quite well in both 357 and 44. I have lots of brass just Anybody else do this? FYI
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Re: How Many Times WIll You Reload Pistol Brass?

Post by akuser47 »

I've been shooting alot of bulk steel lately and have debated reloading some to see how they performed thanks for sharing. I've reloaded some in 9mm but was unable to recover the cases for another loading. +guns
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Re: How Many Times WIll You Reload Pistol Brass?

Post by Ohio3Wheels »

The advice I got on steel cases some time back was don't do it, but to each his own. I shoot steel in 7.62x39 for two reasons - 1) it's cheaper 2) the sks beat brass up and I don't need to chase and fix the steel.

As to the original question I load it until it either wont hold a bullet (neck splits - usually) or a primer. Truth be know I probably loose more in the grass than I retire because it's shot out with the auto loaders. In the carbines with the 357, 45 Colt and now the 44 Mag (just starting) I've yet to wear any out. As with in reloading venture YMMV.

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Re: How Many Times WIll You Reload Pistol Brass?

Post by mr surveyor »

Just to add my 2 cents worth to the original post, I'll add a picture of some of my brass that records were going to be carefully kept. This was from the last box of factory cartridges I bought in early 2011 when I started my (late in life) reloading adventure. The first 4-5 reloads were put together with a Lee Classic Loader and cleaning was done with a 1983 mfg drafting pen ultrasonic cleaner using vinegar/water. Beginning with their second year they were treated to standard Lee dies and a Hand Press, and still cleaned with the old US cleaner. The load data card on the box was the 9th re-load and dated 2015, and by that time another "several hundred" pieces of .357 brass showed up so the "original" brass was set back for future continuation of the durability experiment. This brass was loaded anywhere between semi-mild up to not-quite wild with Unique, A2400 or AA#9 - but never full blown wild as they were being shot in a 3" Ruger SP-101. This brass was never loaded to max loads so I'd imagine it would be good for at least another 6-8 go-rounds with the same type moderate loads it had in the past.

By 2015 I finally recognized the fact that my old mentor tried to drill into me - just shoot revolver type brass until either the case mouth thins so much it splits or if the primer pocket takes enough abuse that it refuses to hold another primer. So, in 2015 this little batch of brass was set aside for a later date when I might be bored enough to keep what could be considered unnecessary records. Since then I've loaded a few thousand 357 mags a little bit hotter to shoot in a 16" R92 that showed up in late 2015. I have no idea how many reloads on some of that brass since giving up the detailed record keeping. I still don't recall having any brass failures with the .357 brass.

Pistol brass (bottom feeders) is a different story considering my limited reloading for them. I only reload for 9mm and .45 acp for the semi-autos, and it probably only accounts for 5% of my overall reloading. I know some of the brass in my stash has been reloaded 3-4 times, but at a normal loss rate from the bottom feeders of about 20%, the odds are that I may loose the brass before the brass looses it's ability to work. Besides that I'm getting old and lazy. Nice, long, straight walled revolver brass is much easier to re-load and has a much higher percentage of reloading savings than most semi-auto rounds .... and it's so much easier to keep up with your spent brass at the range.

I'm by far NOT an expert and I don't have the empirical data to support the claim, but my guess (due to the obvious mechanical differences between revolvers and semi-autos) is that semi-auto brass would possibly have only half the useful life span of revolver brass.

Sorry for the long, drawn out rambling. My wife and I have spent the last two weeks either at the hospital or the nursing home with my 91 year old mother, or at the funeral home (as of Tuesday) making arrangements for her Saturday funeral. Sometimes spouting a little useless drivel helps.
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Re: How Many Times WIll You Reload Pistol Brass?

Post by Archer »

Talking about steel cases.
I have seen several folks reloading them. I even saw one fellow who told how he converted Berdan primed steel cases to Boxer primers.
I'm not too concerned about wearing out my stock of .45 ACP brass. I've probably got a 5 gallon bucket of it or more. A lot of it hasn't been reloaded yet since I tend to reload the odds and sods headstamps for plinking stuff and that gets reused more often than not. Almost the same thing goes for most normal pistol or revolver calibers.

During the Obama ammo drought a friend of mine picked up some steel case 45 ACP ammo from one of the local shops. After firing a few rounds of it and getting inconsistent reports and recoil I discontinued using it. I didn't recognize the brand but it was white box with black lettering.

I've had decent results with Tula in AK ammo but since it uses a steel jacket and the ranges around here disallow steel jackets or core I probably won't be shooting much more of it and it's doubtful I'll buy much more than what I have.

I have shot quite a bit of 7.62x25 steel cased ammo over the years. I've noticed more cracking of cases in this caliber than in any other particularly steel cases as most of the brass I've shot out of guns in this caliber has been fine. I have two CZ-52s in decent condition. Some of the cartridges in this caliber have the bullet crimped in place with a couple circular divots in the case neck. I suspect that these are the cases that show 'cracks' most often as the case forming process probably work hardens the steel plus the divot on top of that may just make the case brittle in that area.
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Re: How Many Times WIll You Reload Pistol Brass?

Post by techiej »

I stopped tracking how many reloads except for bottle neck brass. In 308 & 30.06 I would limit my reloads to 5 times - 6 if I started with new brass.

I end up tossing pistol brass when it splits or there is too much rim damage or there was no pressure when seating the primer.
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