450b Brass

[Stealthshooter]

I am still somewhat amazed the people are buying brass at around 75 to 80 cents per round, to which you have to add the cost of the bullet, powder, and primer - plus the time you will spend reloading, when you can buy 20 rounds of 450b from Palmetto State for a dollar a round and save the brass for free after you shoot it.

Or have I missed something?

Jim, some folks use for the 450b do not require such a heavy projectile and they would realize no benefit from having to shoot them first to gain use of the brass. That's my guess.

Hoot

And some are wanting heavier

[Colohunter]

I am still somewhat amazed the people are buying brass at around 75 to 80 cents per round, to which you have to add the cost of the bullet, powder, and primer - plus the time you will spend reloading, when you can buy 20 rounds of 450b from Palmetto State for a dollar a round and save the brass for free after you shoot it.

Or have I missed something?

That's what I've been doing so far Jim, I like the accuracy of the factory ammo and it makes sense to buy it all together when the price is so close. All my brass so far has come from once fired facotry in the 450, most other calibers I shoot with I buy brass for.

[Hoot]

I have gone as far a 6-fired on my brass. Most of which started life as factory 1-fired I got from other folks. With a little over 1k rounds down the pipe now, I've mainly been buying new factory brass when it's on sale. I tried my hand at using .284 brass, but wound up getting a couple of bags that had particularly thick walls and it was a devil of a time. I eventually gave up until BD1 produced some brass with thinner walls and they work like the cat's meow. If I could get a reliable source for guaranteed thin walled, new .284 brass that wasn't too dear, I would probably convert to it entirely. It does involve a lot of initial preparation, but it's worth it to be able to start them longer then spec, so that after the first firing or two, when they shrink, they actually shrink into spec and don't shrink significantly afterward. I've had new factory brass actually shrink after the first firing to out of spec. Experience being the best but most expensive teacher, light loads yield cases that shrink more than normal or heavy loads. That gets back to the initiating pressure locking them into the chamber tighter until the pressure wave subsides. At least that's my theory. Now, if someone comes up with a non-destructive means of stretching brass back to spec, I'll be on that like spots on dice.

Hoot

[Stealthshooter]

I have gone as far a 6-fired on my brass. Most of which started life as factory 1-fired I got from other folks. With a little over 1k rounds down the pipe now, I've mainly been buying new factory brass when it's on sale. I tried my hand at using .284 brass, but wound up getting a couple of bags that had particularly thick walls and it was a devil of a time. I eventually gave up until BD1 produced some brass with thinner walls and they work like the cat's meow. If I could get a reliable source for guaranteed thin walled, new .284 brass that wasn't too dear, I would probably convert to it entirely. It does involve a lot of initial preparation, but it's worth it to be able to start them longer then spec, so that after the first firing or two, when they shrink, they actually shrink into spec and don't shrink significantly afterward. I've had new factory brass actually shrink after the first firing to out of spec. Experience being the best but most expensive teacher, light loads yield cases that shrink more than normal or heavy loads. That gets back to the initiating pressure locking them into the chamber tighter until the pressure wave subsides. At least that's my theory. Now, if someone comes up with a non-destructive means of stretching brass back to spec, I'll be on that like spots on dice.

Hoot

What are you doing with the .284 brass that had the thick walls?

[Hoot]

I have gone as far a 6-fired on my brass. Most of which started life as factory 1-fired I got from other folks. With a little over 1k rounds down the pipe now, I've mainly been buying new factory brass when it's on sale. I tried my hand at using .284 brass, but wound up getting a couple of bags that had particularly thick walls and it was a devil of a time. I eventually gave up until BD1 produced some brass with thinner walls and they work like the cat's meow. If I could get a reliable source for guaranteed thin walled, new .284 brass that wasn't too dear, I would probably convert to it entirely. It does involve a lot of initial preparation, but it's worth it to be able to start them longer then spec, so that after the first firing or two, when they shrink, they actually shrink into spec and don't shrink significantly afterward. I've had new factory brass actually shrink after the first firing to out of spec. Experience being the best but most expensive teacher, light loads yield cases that shrink more than normal or heavy loads. That gets back to the initiating pressure locking them into the chamber tighter until the pressure wave subsides. At least that's my theory. Now, if someone comes up with a non-destructive means of stretching brass back to spec, I'll be on that like spots on dice.

Hoot

What are you doing with the .284 brass that had the thick walls?

They're sitting in a marked ziploc bag in my brass drawer in case I ever choose to order a reamer for them. That was over $70.00 worth of brass.

Hoot

[Jim in Houston]

A question arises to this new reloader - how do you keep track of the number of times you have fired a case? I have some that are on their second time around and others that I have reloaded once. Not much to be concerned about at this time, I suppose, but it sounds like I should start keeping track.

Also, what is the indication of a case that has been reloaded the maximum amount of times - case length below the minimum? Will I see the case split during reloading, or will I have problems during shooting?

[Hoot]

A question arises to this new reloader - how do you keep track of the number of times you have fired a case? I have some that are on their second time around and others that I have reloaded once. Not much to be concerned about at this time, I suppose, but it sounds like I should start keeping track.

Also, what is the indication of a case that has been reloaded the maximum amount of times - case length below the minimum? Will I see the case split during reloading, or will I have problems during shooting?

I have a cute method, but no image at work here to show you. I took a spring loaded push punch and changed out the spring with one from a ball point pen, albeit a stiff one from a ball point pen. At the range. To kill time while the barrel cools, I take the spent case and punch a micro-dot in the extraction groove, usually below some identifiable marking on the head, like "450". Each subsequent firing, I put another dot next to the last one. They're quite viewable and don't have any particular detrimental impact upon the case. Emphasis on micro-dot. Tumbling does not efface them. Just don't use the full strength spring. Those punches screw apart to access the spring. I keep it in my range bag right next to the stapler.

Hoot

[Jim in Houston]

Thanks for the tip. Home Depot nearby has a an automatic center punch with adjustable spring strength for under $10. Think I will make an investment.

[BD1]

For cases where I feel it's important to track the number of times loaded, .223, .270WBY. stout .44mag, I keep the brass in individual boxes of 20 or 50 and label them each time I reload them. Other cases like .45 acp, .450B, 6.5x55, .38 spec, I just throw them all together and don't worry about it at all. However I do look at them each time I load them and sort out those with defects. If I notice a split mouth, that I can't get a decent crimp, or a primer pocket feels loose when I seat the primer I just pitch that case and grab another.
BD

[pitted bore]

With some cartridge types and rifles, I keep track of things a bit more .



Above is a photo I posted on an early thread (LINK) on 8 June 2009. The red colored letters on the case heads are how I keep track of individual cases' loading histories.

The colors in the headstamp letters are fingernail polish. When a batch of cases arrives here, I'll divide them into groups of 5 or 10 cases each, if they are a group I'd like to track carefully. Each group gets a unique mark. For example, the red ST indicates the 8th group of five cases that I got in a purchase of 100 Hornady cases in May 2009 from MidSouthSS. The red BUSHMA indicates a case from the 7th group of five cases.

I use a separate 3x5 card to record the loads of each group. The card travels with the group of cases to the range so I can see what in a particular group is loaded with.

In the reloading room, the card provides a history of the loads. It also is number keyed to my notebook of reloading information. For example, the ST group has now been reloaded six times; the last time was on 9 July, when it held 51 grains of Enforcer with a 160-grain bullet.

The red letters associated with "Hornady" are used to identify individual cases in each group. So, the red O indicates the second case of the group of five. I don't individually label the cases for all the groups, but it's used, for example, when I will be putting a series of increasing powder charges in a group of cases. The individual cases can be listed with case head measurements before and after firing, for example.

I started to use the fingernail polish after I dumped a box of 100 reloads on the ground one day at the range. Although some were labelled with Magic Marker/Sharpie information, getting them all sorted out was a nightmare. The fingernail polish is tough enough to withstand more than 20 firings, which is the max I've ever used on a tagged case so far.

The cards say I'm up to 11 reloads on some groups of 450B cases from 2009. No neck splits or other failures so far, and most of my loads were far from light.

--Bob