When do you stop reloading brass?

[quigley257]

Lol... People have asked me what the proof loads are like that we fire in every gun that we build. They are extra spicy. SAAMI has guidelines for the exact percentage over maximum that proof rounds are loaded to and there is no doubt when you fire them. We use a recoil absorbing fixture to clamp the barrelled actions into during firing for safety purposes. Here are a few pics of 7 PRC proof rounds that I have fired recently. I find it funny that the warning label says to not reload the casings. The case head flows into the ejector and extractor holes in the bolt face and gets sheared off when the bolt is opened and the case head swells above the rim where it is unsupported by the barrel. The primer pockets almost invariably open up to the point that the primer falls out. I frequently have to use a dead blow hammer to open the bolts on many rifles after proofing.

 

[victor3ranger]

wow

 

[cape cove]

Do you know what the actual pressure of these loads are..

 

[quigley257]

Do you know what the actual pressure of these loads are..

This will give you an idea of the pressures for various cartridges. Transducer proof load pressures start on page 357. (This list isn't updated very frequently so the PRC isn't included yet.) https://saami.org/wp-content/upload...99.4-CFR-Approved-2015-12-14-Posting-Copy.pdf

 

[xsn10s]

Lol... People have asked me what the proof loads are like that we fire in every gun that we build. They are extra spicy. SAAMI has guidelines for the exact percentage over maximum that proof rounds are loaded to and there is no doubt when you fire them. We use a recoil absorbing fixture to clamp the barrelled actions into during firing for safety purposes. Here are a few pics of 7 PRC proof rounds that I have fired recently. I find it funny that the warning label says to not reload the casings. The case head flows into the ejector and extractor holes in the bolt face and gets sheared off when the bolt is opened and the case head swells above the rim where it is unsupported by the barrel. The primer pockets almost invariably open up to the point that the primer falls out. I frequently have to use a dead blow hammer to open the bolts on many rifles after proofing.

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It's been almost twenty years but done that. Check headspace, proof fire, check headspace and test fire. Good times.

 

[Allen Kitts]

I inspect after every firing and if there are no cracks and the primer still seat the brass gets used. Some of my stuff has 6-7 firing's on it. I think it depends on how hot your loads are. If you are shooting hot hot loads you may not even get three but if your shooting a middle of the road load there is no reason to discard the brass as long as it doesn't shown any major signs of wear and tear and the primers still seat. JMO.

 

[Frank in the Laurels]

....when the price goes above $2.00 a shot and we've already achieved that with some cartridges, sad..the reloading and components industry has made the anti's greatest dream come true..

 

[Taylorbok]

I read a post from a guy who had stress tested a piece of ADG brass, IIRC it was a 300 WSM. He loaded it up with a max book charge like 25 times before he lost the primer pocket. This load was hot enough to leave ejector marks.

 

[memtb]

Lol... People have asked me what the proof loads are like that we fire in every gun that we build. They are extra spicy. SAAMI has guidelines for the exact percentage over maximum that proof rounds are loaded to and there is no doubt when you fire them. We use a recoil absorbing fixture to clamp the barrelled actions into during firing for safety purposes. Here are a few pics of 7 PRC proof rounds that I have fired recently. I find it funny that the warning label says to not reload the casings. The case head flows into the ejector and extractor holes in the bolt face and gets sheared off when the bolt is opened and the case head swells above the rim where it is unsupported by the barrel. The primer pockets almost invariably open up to the point that the primer falls out. I frequently have to use a dead blow hammer to open the bolts on many rifles after proofing.

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Yep….'bout what my hunt'n loads look like …..always carry my little "dead blow" hammer with me! Especially when hunt'n in griz country!

On a serious note…..that's quite a bit more pressure than I've ever developed in a cartridge!

Gives a pretty idea of the insane pressures that quality firearms can handle! memtb

 

[quigley257]

The customer will remain anonymous, but this is the result of mistakenly loading IMR4198 into a 300WSM while thinking he was loading IMR4350, which both have brown labels. This is a prime reason that I am not a fan of the new Western and Accurate Powder labels which are all identical except for the powder number. We have some of the strongest actions in the industry as proven by destruction testing to failure. The bolt was set back into the receiver lug abutments so hard that it left imprints. The barrel swelled in the receiver so badly that we had to cut it off forward of the recoil lug and then machine out the barrel tenon. This fellow was lucky to say the least.

 

[xsn10s]

The customer will remain anonymous, but this is the result of mistakenly loading IMR4198 into a 300WSM while thinking he was loading IMR4350, which both have brown labels. This is a prime reason that I am not a fan of the new Western and Accurate Powder labels which are all identical except for the powder number. We have some of the strongest actions in the industry as proven by destruction testing to failure. The bolt was set back into the receiver lug abutments so hard that it left imprints. The barrel swelled in the receiver so badly that we had to cut it off forward of the recoil lug and then machine out the barrel tenon. This fellow was lucky to say the least.
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Thanks for posting! I made it a habit to do triple checks on components when reloading.

 

[victor3ranger]

Wow

 

[QuietTexan]

I read a post from a guy who had stress tested a piece of ADG brass, IIRC it was a 300 WSM. He loaded it up with a max book charge like 25 times before he lost the primer pocket. This load was hot enough to leave ejector marks.

I didn't go that far, but I ran a piece of 243 brass through my AI 11 times in a row to make sure they'd last after fire forming. I still have the case and it still holds primers fine. Put the myth of cases not lasting to rest of me.

Best part was the group stayed under 1" at 100 yards, from fire forming to neck sizing to FL sizing, with no annealing and zero load tuning using a fairly stout charge. More powder than I ended up using after tuning. Good brass is good and won't cause problems.

 

[Hudge76]

I load until I get loose primer pockets. I go off feel usually and when there it little to no resistance seating a primer, I break out the pocket primer gauge. I've only had 2 split necks so far and that was on once fired .338 WM Winchester brass, which is garbage anyways.