Expected Case Life for 243 Win

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Expected Case Life for 243 Win

Post by Col » 01 Jul 2018, 10:52 am

I have a general query regarding expected case life for 243win brass.

Background is Winchester Brass with a a light load of 36.0 gn AR2208 pushing Sierra 80gn SPBT or 39.0 gn AR2209 pushing Hornady 95gn SST.
All from the same T3.

I have reloaded these cases 3 times FSL and 7 neck resizes. They still close in the bolt no probs. I am only using them for hunting/vermin control. I don't intend to trim them as I have more brass than time.

What are other people getting from their brass, how many reloads?

I know the specifics are wide and varied, just want a rough idea of how others go with their 243 brass.

Thanks

Col
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Re: Expected Case Life for 243 Win

Post by No1_49er » 01 Jul 2018, 11:18 am

Col wrote:I have a general query regarding expected case life for 243win brass.
Background is Winchester Brass with a a light load of 36.0 gn AR2208 pushing Sierra 80gn SPBT or 39.0 gn AR2209 pushing Hornady 95gn SST.
All from the same T3.
I have reloaded these cases 3 times FSL and 7 neck resizes. They still close in the bolt no probs. I am only using them for hunting/vermin control. I don't intend to trim them as I have more brass than time.
What are other people getting from their brass, how many reloads?
I know the specifics are wide and varied, just want a rough idea of how others go with their 243 brass.
Thanks
Col


You've managed to get 10 reloads so far, including with 3x FLS. If you are only using the cases in the one rifle, I'd be inclined to neck size only - they've already been fire formed in that chamber - and keep going till you find it hard to chamber or some obvious failures start to show such as neck splitting.
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Re: Expected Case Life for 243 Win

Post by AZZA'S HJ47 » 01 Jul 2018, 1:09 pm

Ive had 10 loads out of some of my 243 cases and loaded alot hotter than what you are using I personally try not to overwork the brass so far all good.
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Re: Expected Case Life for 243 Win

Post by Cooper » 01 Jul 2018, 4:12 pm

Col wrote:I have a general query regarding expected case life for 243win brass.

Background is Winchester Brass with a a light load of 36.0 gn AR2208 pushing Sierra 80gn SPBT or 39.0 gn AR2209 pushing Hornady 95gn SST.
All from the same T3.

I have reloaded these cases 3 times FSL and 7 neck resizes. They still close in the bolt no probs. I am only using them for hunting/vermin control. I don't intend to trim them as I have more brass than time.

What are other people getting from their brass, how many reloads?

I know the specifics are wide and varied, just want a rough idea of how others go with their 243 brass.

Thanks

Col


You mention you don't intend to trim them? But are you measuring them?
After 10 firing I image the case length will be over max.
I've had to trim 243 brass after 3 firings and that's with neck sizing only.
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Re: Expected Case Life for 243 Win

Post by Col » 01 Jul 2018, 11:11 pm

I know it maybe obvious to some but...
If you reload them with the case over max length what are the ramifications? Pressure signs or unable to close bolt , hard to eject case?

Thanks Col
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Re: Expected Case Life for 243 Win

Post by YoungBuck » 02 Jul 2018, 11:32 am

I've currently got about 30 x .243 cases that have been fired 5 times (mixed PPU and Buffalo river brass) and all have no damage on them. Neck resize only. I do need to check the lengths on them though. Haven't been shooting the .243 long enough to have any brass with more shots than that but then I am loading them with only 33gr of 2208.
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Re: Expected Case Life for 243 Win

Post by RoginaJack » 02 Jul 2018, 11:37 am

basically, all of the above
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Re: Expected Case Life for 243 Win

Post by Rod_outbak » 02 Jul 2018, 4:26 pm

I find both our .243's should get 8-10 reloads minimum out of each case.
One is a Mauser 98 action (Parker Hale 1200), and seems to get the best life overall.
The other is a Krico M603, which seems to be a slightly 'looser' action, and so brass tends to fail a bit quicker?

I also expect it will vary greatly, depending on the particular rifle, and the brand of brass.
We have one batch of Sako brass here for the Parker Hale, which would have to be on it's 25th+ reload, and is over 35 years old.

Conversely, I have some Federal .308 brass here that I re-sized for my Tikka T3 (7mm-08), and I note that at reload number 6, I have a significant number of cases in that batch which have the bright line around the case; about a half-inch up from the base.
It looks like it might be time for me to get serious on a home-made annealing machine...

If I am getting ~10 reloads from my cases, I'd be pretty happy with that. Realistically, they've well and truly paid themselves off.
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