How many reloads are you getting from .223 brass?

mulegunner

mulegunner

New member
Just curious....I just started to reload for .223 Remington using winchester brass from a box of factory ammo. My load books indicate that 5 to 8 trips through the dies is the limit.
 
I typically get a little over ten. There are a lot of variables. How hot of loads are you running, do you neck size, how much do you bump the shoulder when you FL resize, what brand of brass...ect.
 
I have some LC brass and a 20 yard range in the basement for pressure testing lopads. I obtained the brass as once-fired from a fully automatic. I had to full length resize with a small base die and swage the primer pocket. I have loaded one of these cases 8 times with 24.5 grns of Bench and 55 grn V-Max. That would be 9 loads. I see no signs of wear. When I put it on the trimmer I get no shavings; in other words I do not see any case stretching. The primer pocket is still tight. I am shooting it out of an FN TSR XP in .223.
 
LC brass should give you more reloads than Win. Weigh a few of each empty and see if there is a weight difference.
 
I anneal every couple of times and probably 95% of my .223 brass gets reloaded at least 10 times. I've also got 22-250 that has been shot 10+ times, but to keep groups tight on that requires more work.
 
I only load about 5 times then put it in the brass recycle bucket. Not that I could not get more loadings from them. I just chose to do it that way. I have 2K or more rounds of new and once fired brass and as often as I get to shoot any P-Dogs it will last me a very long time.

I shoot a lot of Sage rats but that don't take an AR to do it. I have more fun with my 17 HMR's trying to make the difficult and easy shots. I did use it (AR 15) one time. I shot 83 rounds and made 80 kills,and quit using the AR. Where is the challenge to that?

DAB
 
I'm doing a full length resize every time and my loads are right in the middle between min and max. It sounds like I shouldnt have any issues up to 5 or 6 reloads.
 
I have some that have 20 loads on them. Some even have the head stamp gone. The only problem I have had with .223 brass is losing the primer pockets.

5 or 6 loads I would have to buy new brass every month!!
 
Right or wrong I resize until I get case neck splits, case head separations or it appears that a case head separation is about to happen or primer pockets get really loose. I think I have some 223 Norma that's been loaded 20+ times over many years. It seems that neck sizing makes cases last longer and I suspect that the tighter the chamber is, the more loadings you will ultimately get.
 
Im one that will also load till I see splits or the head fractures. My brass has 25-30 loads on them. I have 4k in reserve and replace when I see bad ones.
 
ive had all my 223 brass for about 3 years, its seen single shot, AR and a bolt action. im finally starting to get some loose primer pockets in some of my winchester stuff. i cannt tell you how many loads but easy 30 times and i dont load them light either.
 
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