Have not kept track of # of Rounds thru the Brass...

[MMH]

I have a bunch of 308 brass that has been reloaded multiple times. I have not kept track of how many times but am guessing that it is somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 or 7 times. The brass has not been annealed. It still looks good, but should I toss it? What is the worst that will happen - case head separation? Is this dangerous to the shooter? How difficult is it to remove the broken case w/ an extractor?

Should I just toss the cases or keep reloading them and if so how many more times, or, what signs do I look for.

 

[J!m]

I usually see neck cracks first. Unless you are loading max pressure, I doubt you will see head separation before neck cracks on cases that have never been annealed.

Do you full-length size? Trim? Any other prep besides cleaning?

Some of my .308 cases are easily 50 years old. reloaded unknown number of times. When the neck crack, I toss them. I don't anneal and I only neck size (cases are fire-formed). I also keep length of cases at print maximum, so I mic them every time they cross the bench and trim when OAL is over print.

 

[MMH]

I usually see neck cracks first. Unless you are loading max pressure, I doubt you will see head separation before neck cracks on cases that have never been annealed.

Do you full-length size? Trim? Any other prep besides cleaning?

Some of my .308 cases are easily 50 years old. reloaded unknown number of times. When the neck crack, I toss them. I don't anneal and I only neck size (cases are fire-formed). I also keep length of cases at print maximum, so I mic them every time they cross the bench and trim when OAL is over print.

I FL size. I set the die for minimal resizing (can feel slight drag on the bolt when chambering a round). I have only had to trim the cases once. The loads are not super hot but not exactly mild either. I run 43.0 grains of Varget or 4064 under a 178 grain bullet.

 

[GhengisAhn175]

Send them off to killshot to get annealed.

https://www.snipershide.com/shooting/forum/...for-sh-members


you can keep reloading for it as long as primer pockets are good, no signs of case head separation (google image it so you know what to look for) and cracks anywhere on the body.

Get them extremely clean so you can inspect all your cases

 

[gigamortis]

I anneal necks every firing, so the cracked neck rule doesn't apply to me. I usually toss my cases when the primer pockets loose tension. Another test I use is the bent paper clip test. Straighten out a paper clip and bend a small 90 degree bend at one end. Insert this bent end into your cases and feel for a thinned case wall just above the extractor groove. If you can discern a step in wall thickness there, toss them.

 

[TripleBull]

you can keep reloading for it as long as primer pockets are good, no signs of case head separation (google image it so you know what to look for) and cracks anywhere on the body. Get them extremely clean so you can inspect all your cases

What he said. You didn't specify who made the cases. Like many other calibers, 308 brass is highly variable brand to brand. It's kind of eye opening to see the variation in internal volume among my 308 brass, presumably due to different wall thickness, so you might want to segregate by head stamp too.

 

[supercorndogs]

I FL size. I set the die for minimal resizing (can feel slight drag on the bolt when chambering a round). I have only had to trim the cases once. The loads are not super hot but not exactly mild either. I run 43.0 grains of Varget or 4064 under a 178 grain bullet.

Hot loads done cause CHS. Too much shoulder bump does. It sounds like you have that under control. I would anneal them myself or send them off to killshot.