I shoot relatively mild loads in my 357 mag – 4.3 grains of WW231 with a 158 grain SWC coated bullet.

I load in batches and keep detailed records of how many times the cases have been reloaded. My cases are now getting up to 25 reloads. I inspect the cases for cracks and splits and so far, have had only two neck splits and that was around 18 reloads.

When I shot 45 ACP exclusively this was never a concern. The brass never stayed around long enough to split. With a revolver they go gently into the hand rather than flying all over the place, getting banged-up, stepped on or just plain lost.

When should I retire them?

Related to this, I used to clean the primer pockets after each reloading. I stopped and after about 10 reloads, I started to get an occasional light strike. They went off after the second hit. The primer must not have been seated deep enough. I never had this problem when I cleaned the primer pockets every time. Now I’m wondering since I reload the brass so long, that maybe after X reloads I should clean the pockets on some periodic schedule – say after every five reloads. I cleaned them for the last batch and some appeared pretty dirty.

Thoughts and opinions are appreciated.

Thanks for your input.

Your load is pretty mild.Don't worry about when to retire them;they'll tell you.Generally,they'll tell you with a crack in the neck portion.
The pressure of your load is so mild,I wouldn't be surprised if your brass would last around 35 to 50 reloads.The expanding/belling cycle will actually be the toughest thing to sustain for the brass(work hardening).Not the firing.
Qc
P.S.:I never clean primer pockets but then,I don't use the same powder as you are.Probably somebody is using it and will give you their findings about it.

JMO:

If a batch of cases held 25, 2 split cases at 18 reloads might have prompted me to throw the batch out . . . if all the cases were new when I got them and were the same headstamp and load. If 2 out of 1,000, not a concern. If mixed brass and the 2 splits had the same headstamp, I might cull out their siblings and discard them.

Otherwise, my own feeling is that 25 reloads is nearing end of life for the batch, so I'd watch more carefully. But since it's been 7 reloads since any split, I'd probably keep using them if only out of curiosity lol.

As for the light strikes, again the answer seems common sense to me.

Maybe the firearm needs some work, or maybe your primer seating has lost uniformity, or maybe the pockets need cleaning. I might look at some random pockets, might clean them out, or if the light strikes are harmless given how and why I am shooting . . . I might do nothing. But I would watch for a potential corollary issue . . . primers seating above flush. For me that's a needless safety issue.

But the bottom line is, if the splits bother you throw the batch out. You got your money's worth lol. If the light strikes bother you and the firearm checks out, clean the pockets and wait until it starts happening again.

I don't clean primer pockets either, and I'm not nearly as meticulous as you about keeping track of how many times a piece of brass has been reloaded. I just keep reloading it until it splits - either at the mouth or on the side - and then discard it.

But I reload on a turret - not a progressive - so I get a chance to give each piece a quick looking over as I put it into the press.

With light loads, pretty much use the brass until the case mouth develops a crack.

Primer pocket cleaning? For rifles loads, especially precision rifle loads, absolutely. For handgun cartridges, I've never found it necessary.

I inspect the cases after they come out of the tumbler (dry) and again after they have been reloaded by running them through a Wilson Case Gauge. This latter step is where I found the splits. They split during reloading. The splits did not occur in the same batch and exactly the same number of reloads. But both were close to 18. The brass is Starline bought new.

I never experienced a high primer and all the primers were at least flush. I think if it was the gun I would be having more light strikes. I'll see if I have anymore after cleaning the primer pockets.

The only reason that primer cleaning may be an issue is because of the number of times the brass is reloaded. I noticed no difference in accuracy in whether they were clean or not. The issue is reliability.

It certainly won't hurt you to clean the primer pockets every 5 to 10 reloads and might give you a little peace of mind. As for how long that brass will last, it will tell you when to retire it. When I start to see 5-10% brass failure for my brass which I've been keeping separate, I will retire that lot of brass. But with the load you are making, I wouldn't think it will wear out very quickly. As Qc Pistolero said, the belling/crimping process will put more wear on the brass than the actual shooting cycle with that load, and neck splits aren't dangerous.

With 38 specials I just toss them when they split, until that happens I keep reloading them. With 357's they don't last as long but the same goes. I do think the nickle plated cases split sooner and don't last as long. As others have said your load is pretty mild so the cases should last a long time.

Im still using 200 .44 RM cases I started with a few years. Have several more now. Those 200 have mostly seen mild loads, and have been used at least 30 times. I have never cleaned primer pockets either. I only trash a case if it splits.

Bought my first batch of 500 Starline .38 Special cases some time around 1995. Topped up with another 500 a few years later. I still have over 800 of these cases and I am continuing to reload them.

My load for most of that time was 10.5 gn H4227 over a 150 gn LSWC, or in later years after H4227 was not manufactured the Mulwex "equivalent" AR2205, set off with small rifle primers for more reliable ignition with he slower powder. This is a +P .38 Special load. The last batch I loaded proved to have at least 1 light primer strike every cylinder. Never had any such problem before this. I still have a couple of hundred of these loaded and they go 'bang' when fired in my Henry Big Boy .357 rifle.Pity they don't feed too well in the lever action.

In the last few years I've changed to 4.2 gn Tightgroup and small pistol primers.

I agree, the brass will tell you they give up.
Split case mouth usually go first, followed by loose primer pockets. With cannelure cases, I get many giving up regularly by blowing out through a cannelure dot. I have even had cases blow out in the extractor groove.
Very light paper loads in .38, 2.7gr of Bullseye and I have loaded my trimmed cases in the 50 neighborhood. I also clean my cases after every firing with the wet method, which cleans to pockets.
I toss each of the above into my recycle bucket.

I use all my.38 Spl as a huge single lot, only segregating into lots for consistency when new or known once-fired. After that, I load 'em 'til they split, some heavy, some light, mix headstamps and only clean primer pockets when they appear especially crusty. I generally reserve nickel cases for .38-44, and like the others, only chuck 'em when they split. If I were still shooting bullseye competition, I might be a bit more particular.

Larry

Odd I always thought you were supposed to retire 357 brass when accuracy falls off. Typical groups with brass that has been reloaded too many times.



Differences in case neck tension causes this.

I get the occasional light strike when shooting my .38 special loads. It has happened in 4 different S&W revolvers so it’s not the guns. Never has happened in my Ruger Service Six, but the hammer is heavier and I think that makes a difference. When it first started happening, 3000 loads ago when I first started loading my own, I was told it was probably not a fully seated primer. I keep my loaded rounds separated by number of times loaded. Today, I will fire my last 61 rounds of those first generation reloads. The stuff I have loaded for a second time is waiting to be shot, and I know I made a concentrated effort to firmly seat those primers, so if it happens with those, I’ll have to look for another cause. I have never had a light strike on any of my 9MM loads. The brass is all mixed, but it was all once fired factory ammo. I have had probably 15 splits. All Nickle case. And these loads were mild too. Forget the grains off hand, but they were very middle of the road Loads. 158 grain LSWC over Red Dot.

As for cleaning primer pockets, I deprime and resize my brass first, then dry tumble. Then I clean the tumbled brass in a sonic cleaner and rinse, then let dry. Pockets look pretty clean to me.

As other's have said, when the case develops a crack/split-it is discarded. I am still reloading cases from my PPC days, although not as much, not as often. I deprime and wet tumble all my brass, primer pockets are always clean. Even when I didn't wet tumble, I always cleaned my primer pockets. That's just me... I will agree that nickel cases seem to split sooner, even with light loads. But, before I discard the case, I will see if the case can be/needs trimmed and if the split can be trimmed away. That's being "frugal", right?? LOL :-) Otherwise, it goes into the scrap bucket.

I usually "retire" a batch once it get around 30 reloads. That doesn't mean I toss the brass, just reload it and set it aside for a rainy day.

I have 'legacy' brass gifted to me by my father-in-law 15 years ago, and it wasn't new then. 38 special 2.8 grains of Bullseye under a LWC, it will last ?indefinitly? I load hotter loads in new to me (starline mostly) brass, but at standard/ barely +p pressure, its sure to be around quite a while.

My record setters are some ppu .38s&w brass. They came to me as factory loads and have been reloaded 31 times to date (2.7 grains of unique under 145 or 150 grain lead RNFP or RN). No casualties.

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Certified Curmudgeon

I will chuck any case that is cracked or looks "funky". Since I only reload for Target Shooting I don't shoot too many Magnums - maybe a 150 or so per year. Those are loaded to less than maximum pressure and seem to last a long time. The Nickel cases are usually the ones to split first - just keep an eye out when reloading.

Straight case revolver cases are easy to tall by looking at them that one needs retiring. Bottleneck cartridges, however, take close inspection with a feeler to try to detect case wall thinning where they stretch.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Some say cartridge cases don't have proper neck tension after repeated loadings. I don't know, but for the shooting most of us do, it's little cause for concern unless accuracy suffers and/or a bullet isn't firmly held in place by a combination of neck tension and as light a crimp as practical.

There may always be exceptions, but after loading many different handgun and rifle cartridges for more than fifty years, I've never seen a need to clean primer pockets. If a primer doesn't fully seat, I've found it to be my fault. Never have I seen buildup in a primer pocket that would prevent proper seating, but I suppose it's possible. Cleaning primer pockets may not help, but it hurts nothing. I guess that's a definition of busy work.

I've never cleaned primer pockets on handgun cases either. Rifle cases, yes. As far as longevity goes, I do track how many times each 25-round box of cases is loaded and have so much brass that it might be six months between times a box is reloaded. I have five boxes of Fiocchi .38 Special Wadcutter factory loads that I bought when new brass was hard to procure. Those cases have been fired 22 times so far with no sign of weakening. I'm curious to see how far they will go.

I use the discontinued IMR 4756 powder in my revolver cartridges (.38, .357 and .44) and AutoComp in my .38 Super and .45ACP loads but the few times I've used WW 231 I've not noticed any extra fouling in the primer pockets.

Ed

I'm still using .38 Special and .357 Magnum cases my grandfather was loading with a 310 tool in the 80's . Couldn't even try to guess how many times some of them have been loaded . I just use these for lighter loads and have newer brass for carry and hunting rounds . Nickle will usually split long before the unplated brass cases . Throw them away as they split .

Eddie

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Grumpy Old Man With a Gun

I'm guilty of hanging onto brass until it splits. I do all my loading with a single stage press, it is interesting to 'feel' the differences in the brass as you expand or seat bullets. Each brand is a bit different and every now and then you get a real tight one and a real loose one. I generally pitch out the real loose ones.
As far as cleaning primer pockets, my ultrasonic with enough time submersed does a great job on the primer pockets so I do not have to follow up on that anymore
Karl

None of my pistol brass has ever retired. They die, or run away.

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"from my cold dead hands" C.H.

How many times do you reuse your bullets? And who catches them for you?

You jest, but I built traps for exactly this purpose.

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Certified Curmudgeon