How can you tell when brass

[BSkerj]

I just reloaded and fired first box of 38 spl. Everything went perfect. I have just one question. Before I started to reload, some friends that did reload only recommended using fired brass 2 or 3 times. How many times can you reuse the brass in a safe manner if you load to specs.?
Thanks

 

[BSkerj]

I just reloaded and fired first box of 38 spl. Everything went perfect. I have just one question. Before I started to reload, some friends that did reload only recommended using fired brass 2 or 3 times. How many times can you reuse the brass in a safe manner if you load to specs.?
Thanks

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

I use my brass over and over until I start getting splits at the mouth then I throw them away. In my case the splits mostly occur with 45 LC and 357 mag.. My 38 brass has been used dozens of times.

 

[john traveler]

The advice to reload a cartridge case only two or three times is probably good and safe for magnum or high intensity cartridges. It's also good advice for avoiding "kah-BOOMS" in calibers and pistols such as the .40 caliber Glock series, where unsupported chamber feed ramps can weaken a case head.

For most everything else, you nominally get dozens or even hundreds of reloads from the same case. Pistol cases such as .38 Special and .45 ACP normally fail when the primer pocket loosens and won't hold a primer securely, or the case mouth cracks.

 

[Bruce51]

I have .38 spl cases I have been loading since the eighties. I'm not sure how many times they have been reloaded. As long as the primers are snug and the mouths don't split I'll keep on reloading them. Same with .45Acp. The 9MM seems to be good for about 5 reloads then the primers get loose and the cases get ugly. Bruce

 

[G-ManBart]

Originally posted by john traveler:
It's also good advice for avoiding "kah-BOOMS" in calibers and pistols such as the .40 caliber Glock series, where unsupported chamber feed ramps can weaken a case head.

Glocks have fully supported barrels and have been that way for a long time. They do have generous chamber mouth dimensions to promote feeding reliability while dirty, but the case is still touching steel as much in a Glock chamber as in the very best custom barrels made.

This is a picture of a Glock 22 barrel (on the right) from a gun I bought new in either 93 or 94. My newest Glock 22 (issued to me as a replacement two weeks ago might have a tiny bit more support, but it's thousandths of an inch, if that). The barrel next to it (on the left) is a Schuemann Classic AET .40 which is in my .40 1911. Scheumann makes what many feel is the best 1911 barrel, bar none. You'll note the amount of case support is virtually identical....just a sliver of the case, well behind the web, is not supported....and all barrels have a similar moon shaped section that's like that.

KaBooms are almost always found in law enforcement situations where an individual bullet has been chambered repeatedly over time, which causes bullet setback (chamber a round a couple of times and measure it before and after...many will get shorter after as few as three times). This skyrockets the pressure in what is already a fairly high pressure cartridge and boom....the case blows out through the web and it would have done so in any gun made. Being a firearms instructor in the LE world, I'm familiar with this one and it's why we make our folks shoot their carry ammo every quarter.

 

[ricks1]

I have reloaded brass 40 timesbut that is rare. Most the primer gets loose. 44 mag abot 6 or8 and case will split. As for glock Yes they are a pain. It has been said that case is not supported ,but the chamber is larger . A fired glock brass will not chamber in a colt gold cup, if I dont "deglock it" A 40 glock brass will not chamber in a S&W 610

 

[Paul5388]

I looked at a Glock .40 S&W tonight and compared it with an Springfield XDM and there was an obvious difference in the amount of case support that even the owner conceded was less in the XDM. I also showed him some Glock range pick up brass, with the Glock marked primer and the bulge just ahead of the web.

You can look at the picture posted and see the different angle on the feed ramps, which is where the support is lacking.

 

[Ignatz]

38's like everyone said, get used until they split. You will find that belling too much or crimping too much might accelerated the time the case slilts. But you are likely to be using the same 38 brass for years to come. I've got a vintage batch of RP brass thats spliting on me right now. After a match when I remove the cases from my moonclips, rattle them in my hand, and the bad cases sound like "broken bells". They are easy to sort out. I use newer brass in "important" matches. With reloading my 9mm Glock 34, I just chamber check my reloads with the barrel out of the gun. As long as the round falls in below the top hood...I'll fire it. Most people agree 38 spl, and 45 acp get fired until they split. I not counting how many times I fire my 9mm stuff out of my Glock, but I am chamber checking it.

 

[NFrameFred]

Can't add anything to the good information given about most pistol/revolver rounds given thus far, but pertaining to rifle rounds, I use a 'tool' made from a paper clip straightened and small "hook" or bend in the end of it to feel the side inside of the case from the bottom up. If you feel a 'catch' or a 'ring' it is the sign of an impending case head separation and the case should be crushed and discarded immediately. After the second or third loading, I check all my rifle shells being reloaded in that manner.

Because of everything involved, chamber variations from gun to gun, case lengths, crimp pressure, minute variances in one set of dies to the next . . . . most of the time it's a non-issue, but as with most 'accidents' it's usually a combination of a number of random factors coming together at one unfortunate time instead of a single precipitating cause. And one of the best reasons to always wear safety glasses when shooting any kind of a firearm.

 

[dennis40x]

No case has an indefinite usage life span. That said there are some that last longer than others. Why mainly because of the threshold operating pressure. The 38Spl, 44Spl and the 45ACP as examples usually have a long useful lifespan. If one decides to make the cartridge more than what it is than the useful life span diminishes.

Case support or the lack of is often mentioned. The usual suspect is the 40S&W and the Glock series pistols for that chambering. The Glock pistol is designed as a service pistol. Handloader / Reloader was and isn’t part of the design criteria.

As for the 9MM Luger and 45ACP there are varying degrees of chamber tolerance and support. The application of the 9mm Luger is rather limited for my usage is in comparison to the 45ACP. I believe that one on causal observation could not distinguish between a 9mm Luger case fired in a Glock 17 or an S&W MP. I have both and see no reason to rid myself of the Glock 17 and no reason not to acquire the S&W MP. Once again I use the same reloads in both pistols with no functionality problems. In regards to the 45ACP I have various pistol design configurations from different manufactures. There are varying degrees of case support. That said I reload for the entire range of pistols not segregating cases one from the other.

 

[Jeb Stonewall]

Originally posted by NFrameFred:
Can't add anything to the good information given about most pistol/revolver rounds given thus far, but pertaining to rifle rounds, I use a 'tool' made from a paper clip straightened and small "hook" or bend in the end of it to feel the side inside of the case from the bottom up. If you feel a 'catch' or a 'ring' it is the sign of an impending case head separation and the case should be crushed and discarded immediately. After the second or third loading, I check all my rifle shells being reloaded in that manner.

Because of everything involved, chamber variations from gun to gun, case lengths, crimp pressure, minute variances in one set of dies to the next . . . . most of the time it's a non-issue, but as with most 'accidents' it's usually a combination of a number of random factors coming together at one unfortunate time instead of a single precipitating cause. And one of the best reasons to always wear safety glasses when shooting any kind of a firearm.

Been reloading for over 30 years and this trick is new to me.I'll have to give it a try.
Thanks for the info.

 

[johnhiram]

Interesting, I had to go look at the barrel of my XD 45, the case support looks like the barrel on the left of G-Mans pic.

Maybe Springfield modified the feed ramp of the XDM's to facilitate feeding?

 

[Bullseye Smith]

Not shooting it in Tupperware will double the life span I bet

.

 

[flash60601]

Originally posted by NFrameFred:
but pertaining to rifle rounds, I use a 'tool' made from a paper clip straightened and small "hook" or bend in the end of it to feel the side inside of the case from the bottom up. If you feel a 'catch' or a 'ring' it is the sign of an impending case head separation and the case should be crushed and discarded immediately. After the second or third loading, I check all my rifle shells being reloaded in that manner.
.

Fred, that is the sure way to check for imminent case head separation.

I might add that it is most applicable to cases which are full-length resized, and especially to RIMMED, tapered, bottle-necked rounds, like the 30-30, 303 Brit, etc.

Flash

 

[TSQUARED]

For high pressure cartridges such as 9mm and 40 S&W I reload the brass four times before consigning it to the scrap heap. For low pressure cartridges such as 38 Specail and 45 ACP i use the brass until the necks strat to fray or split.

Originally posted by BSkerj:
I just reloaded and fired first box of 38 spl. Everything went perfect. I have just one question. Before I started to reload, some friends that did reload only recommended using fired brass 2 or 3 times. How many times can you reuse the brass in a safe manner if you load to specs.?
Thanks

 

[Grayfox]

I've got some .38 Special brass thats been loaded so many times the nickle plating is worn off of them.