Reloading Brass Life – Reuseability
You might reload for lots of reasons, including better ammo quality, loading components not usually found in factory ammo, for the enjoyment of the process or to save money…and shoot more!
For the budget-minded reloader, the longer you can make your brass go, the more you’ll save. Read on to learn why your brass becomes unuseable, some common places to check to make sure your brass is still good to be reloaded, and some tips on extending the life of your brass, as well as your budget.
Why Brass Becomes Unusable
The biggest cost savings to reloaders is being able to reuse the brass casings. How many times a case can be loaded depends on several factors. First, we need to understand where and why brass becomes unusable. The biggest points of failure? Typically the thinnest/weakest areas of the brass case, primer pockets or case necks.
Failure Point: Primer Pockets
Primer pockets are usually the first thing to fail in rifle cartridges. The primer pockets stretch each time the case is fired. Eventually the primer will not fit tight in the pocket. When this happens, the brass is no longer useable and should be recycled. Chamber pressure is a major factor in life of the primer pocket. A rifle cartridge operating at max pressure of over 60,000 psi may only last 3-5 firings while something like a 45-70 Gov. may last a couple dozen.
To reload the same case more, consider buying high quality brass. This area is where brass quality really shines. There are different alloys, and premium brass may last several times longer than cheaper brass. Brass thickness or weight is not always the determining factor. In this instance, you get what you pay for.
Failure Point: Case Necks
Case necks are another area of concern. Resizing the brass hardens the neck and makes it brittle. This is known as work hardening. One way to soften the case neck and extend the life of your brass is annealing.
Annealing heats the brass case neck to a certain temperature and restores malleability which extends case life. This is easily done with rifle casings, but handgun cases are a bit tricky. We only want the case mouth to be softened, while the case head should remain as hard as possible. (Due to the previous topic, primer pocket life.) Annealing also helps with consistency in velocity and helps the brass seal off the chamber.
There are many different methods and equipment available today to help perform the annealing process. Anything from a handheld propane torch, a battery powered drill, or a purpose built induction heat machine such as the AMP are all available.
Failure Point: Case Head
Another area of concern for extending case life is the case head. The case head is the area where the case wall thins down from the forming of the cup when the brass is drawn.
When a case is fired, it stretches to fit the dimensions of the chamber. Naturally it will stretch at the weakest point. Not much can be done about this potential failure point in autoloaders, lever guns or handguns as you will need to full length resize your cases for the sake of reliability of feed, function and fire.
However, you can extend the life of your brass’s case heads with certain reloading techniques for bolt action rifles.
To do this, you can set your sizing die to limit the stretch in the case. The camming of the bolt offers enough force to allow for this. Following this method also helps cut down on the amount of trimming that needs to be done. Remember when you are trimming, that brass is coming from somewhere. A bolt action should be plenty reliable with a shoulder bump of .002-.003. The RCBS Precision Mic can help with this process. Below is a link to a short video on this helpful tool.
Conclusion
Knowing how and where your brass is likely to fail helps keep you safe reloading, and gives you a roadmap to improve the life of your brass so you can reload better ammo, save on budget and shoot more.
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