brass - The Firearms Forum

thunderchild223 · 04-22-2012, 09:50 PM

how many times can you safely reload .308?

jack404 · 04-22-2012, 10:00 PM

i've some here ( ex mil brass ) been 5 times through, only some showing wear, so they got tossed into the scrap with the .22 to be sold , civilian brass is better though , but i dont reload much of that as i've a ton of surplus ammo to go through

woolleyworm · 04-22-2012, 10:36 PM

There isn't any number of times you can specially reload any brass, regardless of caliber. It all depends on how hot your loads are and how tight your chamber is. best thing to do is always pay close attention to any warning signs and document your specific loads. You will most likely get 4ever-5 reloads with mid range loads.

Hammerslagger · 04-22-2012, 10:50 PM

In part it will depend on the type of rifle it is being fired in. Light loads in a bolt action rifle stress a case less than heavy loads, or service loads in a military type semi-auto rifle.

Experienced wisdom for use in a rifle like the US M-14 design, is no more than five total firings and scrap the case or relegate it to manual bolt action service. M-14's (and likely some other gas operated rifles) are notorious for jerking the heads off of cases when you try to get more than five shots per case. Some rifle and case combos may have trouble after 4 or even 3 firings.

One final word of caution: As a bottle-neck case flows forward and grows longer with each firing, its neck wall also typically grow thicker while the case wall near the cartridge head gets stretched thinner; which causes semi-auto head separations when fired too many times. You can easily trim the neck to adjust case length. However, increased neck wall thickness is another matter. Bottom line, if you are going to continue to shoot cases that you have to trim for length; measure the neck diameter of each loaded cartridge to insure that it does not exceed maximum blueprint dimension. Failure to do so can and has blown up rifles.

Be safe, not sorry.

04-23-2012, 05:48 AM

I have some I have loaded over 6 or 7 times. I anneal after every two firing.

I know some guys that get only 2 loading out of Laupa brass cause they are trying to get as much speed out of their 308 that they can with a 210 gr bullet. So because they are running as hot as they can then tend to expand primer pockets. Of course these guys also call Laupa and get for brass anytime they want.

For a normal loader using moderate loads you should be able to get up to 8 or 10 loadings out of good quality brass.

04-22-2012, 09:50 PM	#1
thunderchild223 Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Miss. Posts: 21	brass how many times can you safely reload .308? -->

04-22-2012, 10:00 PM	#2
jack404 Former Guest Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Australia Contributor Posts: 17,622	Re: brass i've some here ( ex mil brass ) been 5 times through, only some showing wear, so they got tossed into the scrap with the .22 to be sold , civilian brass is better though , but i dont reload much of that as i've a ton of surplus ammo to go through

04-22-2012, 10:36 PM	#3
woolleyworm TFF Moderator/Host Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: SW Fort Worth Contributor Posts: 4,888	Re: brass There isn't any number of times you can specially reload any brass, regardless of caliber. It all depends on how hot your loads are and how tight your chamber is. best thing to do is always pay close attention to any warning signs and document your specific loads. You will most likely get 4ever-5 reloads with mid range loads. __________________ . What are you gonna do, talk the alien to death? -- (on Sigourney Weaver's worry about Guns in Aliens) "Safety is something that happens between your ears, not something you hold in your hands." "I carry a small gun to compensate for my huge Blue press." .

04-22-2012, 10:50 PM	#4
Hammerslagger Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 1,099	Re: brass In part it will depend on the type of rifle it is being fired in. Light loads in a bolt action rifle stress a case less than heavy loads, or service loads in a military type semi-auto rifle. Experienced wisdom for use in a rifle like the US M-14 design, is no more than five total firings and scrap the case or relegate it to manual bolt action service. M-14's (and likely some other gas operated rifles) are notorious for jerking the heads off of cases when you try to get more than five shots per case. Some rifle and case combos may have trouble after 4 or even 3 firings. One final word of caution: As a bottle-neck case flows forward and grows longer with each firing, its neck wall also typically grow thicker while the case wall near the cartridge head gets stretched thinner; which causes semi-auto head separations when fired too many times. You can easily trim the neck to adjust case length. However, increased neck wall thickness is another matter. Bottom line, if you are going to continue to shoot cases that you have to trim for length; measure the neck diameter of each loaded cartridge to insure that it does not exceed maximum blueprint dimension. Failure to do so can and has blown up rifles. Be safe, not sorry.

04-23-2012, 05:48 AM	#5
cpttango30 Adnanced Senior Member Posts: n/a	Re: brass I have some I have loaded over 6 or 7 times. I anneal after every two firing. I know some guys that get only 2 loading out of Laupa brass cause they are trying to get as much speed out of their 308 that they can with a 210 gr bullet. So because they are running as hot as they can then tend to expand primer pockets. Of course these guys also call Laupa and get for brass anytime they want. For a normal loader using moderate loads you should be able to get up to 8 or 10 loadings out of good quality brass.