Case Life??

The next round of loading will be my fourth on the batch of .338 cases. How do I tell if I'm getting to the end of these cases 'life'?? How many reloads are typical for this cartridge? Thanks for any and all input.

I have over 15 reloads on my .300 winmag cases... You will see stress cracks around the mouth of the case , once you see these toss them. I noticed that on my .300 winmag. that the mouth will sometimes crack(thats when I toss them). Otherwise I just look at the case, if it looks good I use it.


Delw

Del your my hero

Whats your secret????

I only get 2 reloads out of my 270 before they split.

you only get 2 reloads out of a .270? what are you shoving in there a .308 neck tube? LOL

My 22-250 on some brass I only got 5-7 reloads... My 25-06 with once fired winchester factory ammo I got 2 reloads.. with winchester brass I got more than 10 reloads. Havent shot the brass since...

Any more i just neck size all my loads.


Delw

I use Barnes X bullets...140gr

IMR 4350 @ 53.5gr and CCI primers


I use once shot factory hulls and only get 2 reloads out of them before they split.

In this particular load, by my reload charts, this is the max load I can use and is the best load for my rifle.

Except I do not know the psi of this load....it is very hot and kicks like my new 300WSM

Flipper, try resetting your sizing die. Start by backing the die off 1/4 to 1/2 turn. Then size a fired case and try it in the rifle. If the bolt closes with no strain, back the die off another 1/2 turn. Keep doing that until the bolt won't close on a sized but not reloaded case. The take the die back in 1/8 turn at a time. Keep taking it in until the bolt will close, but gets tight about 3/4 of the way down. Lock the die in place and leave it there. It sounds like you are working the brass too much when you resize the cases. I have 6.5-06 cases that have been loaded 12 times. I usually throw them away becuase the primer pocket gets loose.

1 Pointer, another tell tale sign of cases ready to give out is a bright ring around the base of the case. This is called a stress line. If you take a piece of stiff wire and cut the end sharp, then bend it in a short hook, you can slide the hook end into the case all the way to the bottom and drag it out toward the mouth while you push it against the side of the case. When you cross the bright ring, you can feel the hook catch in the stress line. This indicates that the base is likely to separate from the rest of the case soon. This is sure sign of over pressured loads or cases that have been loaded too many times.

1 pointer, make sure you check the overall length. My .338 streachs em after two loadings and I have to trim em back.

SD, isn't that essentially what I said? I told Flipper how to back out his sizing die and reset it so that he didn't work the brass any more than necessary. What part do you disagree with?

"This is sure sign of over pressured loads or cases that have been loaded too many times."

Your last sentence is the one I disagree with Dan . A case separation may be due to those causes , but in my opinion anyway , it is more likely due to setting the shoulder back excessively over several firings of the case .

At least , that has been my experience.

OK, Now I understand better and can explain my conclusion. If it were just a matter of the shoulder being set too far back during sizing, every case that is fireformed and has the shoulder moved forward during that process would suffer the same result. One instance of setting the shoulder back too far, I don't believe will necessarily result in head separation. Repeated movement of the case, which results in overworking the brass will result in head separation. That's pretty much why I explained it as I did. If you think about it, which ever way you interpret the cause, the fix is the same. You move the sizing die out until the bolt won't close on a sized case, then you turn the sizing die in about 1/4 turn until the bolt closes almost all the way. Then lock that puppy down and size and load your brass.

I have to disagree with Dan's last statement . If you are seeing case head separations , it is likely from setting the shoulder back too much when resizing , thus creating excessive headpace , so to speak . This can occur with either belted or rimless cases ........