This is how long you can shoot revolver brass.

[madmo44mag]

Retiring old friends after 30 years.
Yep, I’m retiring my 357 brass after 30 plus years of shooting it.
I remember the day at the gun show I bought 5000 rounds of brand new 357 brass back some time in early 1985.
I was set for a lifetime of shooting my 357 revolvers as far as brass was concerned.
Over the years some was lost to the range, some lost at deer camp, some damaged from stupid re-loading mistakes.
Over the years I added to the brass from various sources but after 30 plus years that 5000 rounds of brass slowly got whittled down to just over 1000 rounds.
In 30 years I only had to trim the brass twice just to clean up the cause mouth so they crimped evenly.
The last two times I loaded 357 ammo I had new primers fall out of some loaded brass when loading a revolver, (yep, insert loaded round and primers fell out and jammed the cylinder) some brass would not even hold a primer and found when boxing the ammo up. Some primers blew back when shot.
I have 250 loaded rounds left to shoot of this old brass and as I shoot it I dump it in the re-cycle brass bin.
So if ya ever wondered how long you can shoot straight wall pistol brass I’d say until the primers fall out - lol!

Last year I started retiring 44 mag brass.
Same time frame 30 plus years on the brass.
Primers never gave me a problem but brass started splitting when shooting full bore magnum loads. So I bought 1000 rounds of new Star-line brass for full bore magnum loads and the old brass is for light plinking loads.

I have no idea how many times this brass has been re-loaded. My best guess is over well 10k times or more. From 1985 - 1995 I would shoot close to a 1k rounds a weekend during the summer and several hundred rounds during the winter months. My two favorite guns at that time to shoot were my Ruger SBH in 357 - 44 mag. Those were the days when re-loading supplies were cheap and plentiful.

Well so long my old friends, the journey finally ends.
To toss ya to the recycle bin to be melted down so ya can start all over again.

[Bayou]

I shoot them til they begin to split. Splits/cracks usually start at the neck. At that point, they get culled.....

[Salmoneye]

Still shooting some .44 and .357 brass from early eighties...

I either don't work it hard enough, or live right, as it has yet to start splitting on me...

[SARuger]

This is good news for a new reloader!

I pick up at least a 1000 rounds a week of once fired range brass from the private range I belong to, mostly .223, .357, 9mm, and .38spcl. But I find all kinds of mixed brass that I trade off and pay forward to other reloaders.

Something i never find is .44mag brass. Seems everyone of us that shoots it, reloads it!

Being I'm more than halfway to my predetermined expiration date, my brass should outlast me.

[mikld]

R.I.P. old friends...

[Nick_C_S]

Yep, I’m retiring my 357 brass after 30 plus years of shooting it.

I'm curious if it was nickel plated; or just brass brass?

[T. O'Heir]

"...new primers fall out..." After two loading and you didn't pitch 'em? Mind you, 30 years of shooting the same brass is a testament to the quality of the stuff. You may want to make a wee shrine over your bench.

[Mike38]

Back when I started shooting Bullseye competitively (circa 1998), an elderly gentleman let me use his M1911 in my first match, along with enough loaded ammo. I offered to at least pay him for the ammo, but he refused. When the match was over, I returned his pistol and empty brass, and he handed me back the brass telling me that I'd need it when I bought my own 1911. Some of it was military brass with a "69" head stamp. I asked him about that and he said as far as he could remember, he bought it new back then and has been reloading it ever since. I recently examined all my .45acp brass to discard all bad / split brass, and found one of the "69" head stamps. It was the last one. Hard telling how many times it's been reloaded? I put it away in remembrance of the guy that got me started in Bullseye. Thousands of dollars later, and it's all his fault.

[qrz]

That's a good story. The only thing missing was cowboy boots and a John Wayne yeehaw!

[stagpanther]

Back when I started shooting Bullseye competitively (circa 1998), an elderly gentleman let me use his M1911 in my first match, along with enough loaded ammo. I offered to at least pay him for the ammo, but he refused. When the match was over, I returned his pistol and empty brass, and he handed me back the brass telling me that I'd need it when I bought my own 1911. Some of it was military brass with a "69" head stamp. I asked him about that and he said as far as he could remember, he bought it new back then and has been reloading it ever since. I recently examined all my .45acp brass to discard all bad / split brass, and found one of the "69" head stamps. It was the last one. Hard telling how many times it's been reloaded? I put it away in remembrance of the guy that got me started in Bullseye. Thousands of dollars later, and it's all his fault.

Nice

[44 AMP]

I have some brass in .38/.357 & .45acp that I have been loading since the 70s

I have a couple cases in my 45 auto cache headstamped RA 18, that I have been reloading since the 70s. I have some nickel plated brass that has brass stripes on it from wear through the sizing die and chambers.

Once in a while, they fail, otherwise, they just seem to keep going and going. Have not (yet) reached the point of primers falling out. Maybe someday...

[higgite]

I have no idea how many times this brass has been re-loaded. My best guess is over well 10k times or more.

You reloaded well over 1000 pieces of brass 10,000 times? Really? If I've told you once, I've told you a million times, don't exaggerate!

30 years on the same brass is still impressive, though.

[indie_rocker]

I have .38 spl brass dated 67 and 73. It has probably not been loaded anywhere near 10k times, but it's cool to know that it is still being used after all these years. I think they were given to me after my uncle passed away.

Sent from my 0PJA2 using Tapatalk

[madmo44mag]

It's amazing just how long pistol brass can last.
None of this brass was nickle plated because any that I had did not survive multiple re-loading before cracking and having to be tossed.

[jetinteriorguy]

Let me be sure I'm reading this correctly, your saying each case has probably been loaded 10000 times. I'm not doubting what you say at all, I'm just not quite sure if that's what you meant. I'm still waiting for any of mine to wear out, and some of them are pretty old and who knows how many times I've reloaded them, enough that the cost of the brass definitely does not factor in to the cost of loading each round.

[rtpzwms]

Quote:

I have no idea how many times this brass has been re-loaded. My best guess is over well 10k times or more.
You reloaded well over 1000 pieces of brass 10,000 times? Really? If I've told you once, I've told you a million times, don't exaggerate!

30 years on the same brass is still impressive, though.

How many fisherman reload?

[madmo44mag]

Doubt all ya want as to how many times this brass has been reloaded. I'm just saying based on how much I use to shoot and how much I still shoot this brass has seen thousands of reloads.

[higgite]

How many fisherman reload?

At least one.

[Hammerhead]

I'm starting to get more and more split cases in my old Win 357 brass from factory ammo, I know much of it is over 20 years old.
They're all splitting in the middle, between the web and crimp area. Always figured the mouths would split first from the crimping and flaring.

[reddog81]

10,000 reloads would mean it has been fired and reloaded every single day for the last 27 years. I'm not going to say that's impossible but...

Regardless of how many times they have been reloaded it is impressive none the less to last 30 years.

[deerslayer303]

There's one in every crowd.

[Overkill777]

This makes me feel better about going to the store and buying new starline 357 magnum brass. Eventually I will get my money's worth out of it.

[TimSr]

Almost all of my brass is 25-35 years old. Age doesn't affect it nearly as much as the number of times its reloaded. I don't think I've ever had any revolver brass last beyond 20 reloadings, though I still have a lot of it that it's end of life is yet to be determined. I don't think I'll live long enough to find out if any of my lots of brass last for 10,000 reloads, but I'm pretty sure most if it will die before I do. I think something has been misstated or misinterpreted, as 10,000 reloads miracle brass could only be found in a rifle in a scabbard on a unicorn.

[madmo44mag]

Like all brass casing work hardening is you worst enemy.
I bell case mouth just enough not to shave lead or plating. If the bullet is copper jacketed I bell just enough to get the bullet started.
Now that is SOP reloading.
I did trim this brass at least twice to prevent case mouth splits. The starting of cause mouth splits is easy to see under a good magnifying glass.
Most 357 loading were range loads or hot 38 spl type loads.
I keep my magnum brass separate from my "every day" brass.
This way I can track how many times the magnum brass gets reloaded because when I load magnum rounds they are full bore max loads so I see this brass fail much sooner.
Anyway I wish rifle brass would last as long as pistol brass.
When it comes to 5.56 I can never pick up enough range brass to make me happy.

[zeke]

Just as a matter of personal interest, have started to sort out some older 45 acp brass that have used for quite awhile. Got it in lot of commercial reloads, almost 25 years ago.

It is wcc 41 and wcc 42