How many times has this brass been shot?

[Graham Smith]

OK, here is another one that I'll bet there is an easy answer for. Starting with new handgun brass, does anyone have an established system for marking the brass as to how many times it has been loaded (other than the obvious one of putting a number on it with a felt pen)?

A number of prior posts indicate that some people just keep reusing it until it "goes bad", so I'm guessing that the older the brass, the more closely it needs to be inspected. But I also guess that after about 10 loads it's probably a good time to retire anyway. Reliability is more important to me than cost, but I'm not going to throw out perfectly good brass after one use.

One fellow I talked to at a local gun shop says he uses colored magic markers and has a system of marks and anything shot 6 times goes into the recycle bin.

P.S. I figure if you're not going to be at least a little bit anal about these things, you should just go to Wally World and buy the white box special stuff and bang away.

[GentlemanJim]

The caliber and the loading have a lot to do with how long the brass will last.

I shoot major 9mm and it is very hard on brass...I could load it more times...but I discard after about 3 relaodings.

45 ACP can be loaded MANY times 10-20? who knows..discard when it splits.

Some guns with sloppy chambering will swell the base reloading will WORK the brass so much..it will fail early.

This is one of those things that have NO exact answer.

Your oun experiance will dictate when you stop relaoding and replace.

I shift brass from one bucket to another with each use after 3 it goes to scrap

Jim

[Viggen]

Its sort of depends on what you are shooting.

45 brass lasts a long time but in matches mine and others get all mixed up and I really don't have a clue as to how many times it gets reloaded. If the case looks bad or it won't case gauge when loaded or if it has a split or a crack on the side or generally looks nasty it gets tossed. That also goes for 9mm,38 Special, 40 S&W.

But if you are running Major 9 or 38 Super(lots of pressure) it's not so simple.

I know some people who marke their brass. They are generally disappointed with how little of their own comes back to them.

[AlamoShooter]

Ok First Big tip is...never admit to talking to "the guy" at the gun shop.

OLD = the headstamp gets hammerd out so you cant read it,

, The lips crack open, The side splits. & = # 1 when you size it the new primer falls out.

I mark my new stuff to make it easyer to pick up at a match.

But I probably don't know nothing about nothing

[robomanusa]

I have 45acp brass that I still use where I cant tell what brand it is the headstamp has gotten so worn, I shoot it until it splits or the resize crushes it from being so thin...my guess is I have reloaded it 25 times or more

I do the same with 38special.

Alot of factors play a part in how long brass lasts.

[Crusher]

I reload my brass untill it splits or I loose it (normally I loose it long before it splits), I have found 2 or 3 split cases in the last 3-4 years, the sound they make is identifieable, and there are also some cases where the headstamp is un-readable and is still being reloaded.

[Graham Smith]

First Big tip is...never admit to talking to "the guy" at the gun shop. I mark my new stuff to make it easier to pick up at a match.

Would it help if I said that "the guy" is the owner? But I see your point.

I was mainly thinking in similar terms - that I would like to be able to pickup my own stuff. I know that in one place I shoot, I should be able to recover about 75% of it. In another, it would be more like 30%.

Do you mark the headstamp or the wall?

[XRe]

I mark headstamps - and I put a label in the ammo box, if its important to me (ie, like new or once/twice fired brass). I keep things separated appropriately, as well - new brass not mixed w/ well used, etc. After a few firings, it becomes unsuitable for match brass, so it goes in the practice brass bin, and then I stop keeping track. That stuff gets used until it gets lost, it cracks (only cracked two, so far), or the primer pockets get really loose (I can tell by feel when I seat the primer).

Any brass that I get that's not mine (say, when I'm working a match or something) goes in the practice bin right away, cause there's no reliable way to tell how old it is, or how its been loaded.

This is for .38 Supercomp, but would apply to just about anything. Obviously, w/ low pressure cartridges, the tolerance for "match quality" goes up... Heck, you can shoot some .45 loads with totally split cases and get away with it, I'm told, so...

[TonyT]

I mark the box with the number of times the brass has been reloaded. i segregate both recently fired and cleaned brass by the number of reloads. I discard brass from high pressure calibers such as 9mm and 40 S&W after four reloadings. With low pressure 38 Special and 45 ACP calibers, I use the brass untiul the case either frays at the edge or cracks.

[maineshootah]

I load major 9, and I do not mark each round.

Every reload goes into a ziplock with the following info on the bag.

Date reloaded

Charge & type

# or reloads on the brass

# of rounds in the bag

I shoot until the bag is empty and then collect the brass in the same bag.

Then it gets dumped into the tumbler, cleaned and ziplocked again (with a increase on the reloaded #) before it goes to the shelf and or the press.

Yeah.. a bit anal.. however, keeps me safe.

As far as major 9, I can get 4 reloads before the primers start falling out.

[SiG Lady]

"...I shoot it until it splits ..."

Pretty much sums it up. I do keep a close eye out for even TINY splits or if the edges start looking/feeling a little thin. Then it goes into the metal salvage bag. I reload very light .45ACP, so I imagine I'm not really brutalizing my brass all that badly.

My gunsmith once said he reloaded his .45ACP brass (using the same load/powder as I do) until he can't read the headstamp any longer. But, he said, the sides usually split long before that.

[JFD]

I don't keep up with it for .40 and .45 brass.

.45 brass is something I've been using for decades, so I know it lasts almost forever. Before it gets to the stage where the headstamps are worn off it will be used at a match and left there for the brass bandits. Oddball brand brass or Remington brass gets used for matches immediately. I used to reload my practice brass over and over to see how long it lasted. After 15 -18 loadings of basically every well known brand, none of it was failing and I gave up on these tests.

.40 brass doesn't last as long im my limited experience, but the last year or so I've been mainly using nickle brass for our Limited guns. After 8 or less uses it is getting to the point where splits are not unexpected. All my nickle brass will now be used at local matches and left for the brass bandits. I'll stick to non-nickle after that. Winchester has lasted the best, followed by Federal (including FC marked brass), with Speer being the worse. I haven't used enough Remington to decide anything.

I always mark my brass. Used to be so I could find it at matches, but the freedom gained by leaving it on the ground more than makes up for the small savings from picking it up (Unless I'm shooting .38 Super). Now my marks basically indicate the ammo has passed my QC checks and should warn brass bandits that it has limited life.

[foxtrotuniformlima]

When I use to pick up brass, I shot nickle plated only, same hesadstamp. Easy to distinguish from everyone else.

I'd load all 1000 then shoot all 1000. Reload. Once I started seeing problems I put it he entire batch in practice only bin and start over.

Since swicthin to 9x19, I rarely shoot new brass - once fired mostly and never pick it up.

Edited July 6, 2007 by foxtrotuniformlima

[Glen]

I use ammunition boxes with labels made from pasters. New brass

is not in a marked box. Fire the new stuff, clean it, and put it in a

pail with a paper having the number 1 on it. The number in the pail

of brass waiting for a reload is the number of times it has been

fired.

At some point you're getting low on new loads, so load some of the

1 brass and put it in an ammo box with a 1 on it.

Use up the new loads and segregate the brass in a zip-lok bag. Now

shoot the 1 loads and also segregate them in a zip-lok. When you get

home, clean the new loads and dump them in the 1 pail waiting for reloading.

And so on. Often you will have two numbered loads in your possession.

Shoot the lowest ones first and segregate the brass. Then shoot the higher

numbered loads.

This is for 38 super brass at 180+ power factor.

Glen

[dajarrel]

........Heck, you can shoot some .45 loads with totally split cases and get away with it, I'm told, so...

I have found a couple of split cases loaded in my .45 moonclips. I go ahead and shoot them and make sure I throw them away when I'm unloading my moonclips.

When I'm separating my brass ( i sometimes shoot .40 and .45 in the same trip to the range) if I notice one that the primer is missing on, I'll throw it away.

FWIW

dj

[ryan45kim]

Wow all that segregating sounds like too much work, but I don’t shoot open. I’m in the camp that says load it until it splits or will not hold a primer, and for 45acp when they split you load them one more time and use them when hiking and don’t pick them up.

[shred]

I have once-fired brass and 'all other' brass. Once-fired gets used for big matches. 'All other's get used for practice and local matches until they get lost, mangled or crack. I mark my brass so it's usually all mine I get back, and they do crack every once in a while after a lot of firings.. with a little practice, you can jingle a handful of super brass in your hands and hear if there are any cracked ones or 9mm's mixed in. With my loads it's very rare to get loose primers.

[rishii]

for supercomp, I've got 2 kinds of brass, match and practice. my match brass starts with a 1000 new, goes in a bin and I use it for 2 years. I don't keep track of it, probably load them around 10-15 times. it then goes into my practice bin, those I may load maybe once or twice a year, and they stay there until I lose'm, crack, primers fall out etc. I may still have brass I bought at the 98 nationals in there

everything else I just shoot them until they crack or get lost

Edited July 7, 2007 by rishii