Remington Brand Case Life

[aramarine6]

How many reloads are you guys getting with Remington brand brass? I've got a 338 RUM and yesterday when I was priming the cases I noticed the pockets were very loose. And by loose I mean I barely had any resistance putting the primers in using an RCBS hand primer. I know it's time for new brass when this happens but I've only gotten 4 loadings out of them. The other interesting thing is that I havent needed to trim them yet so I figured they were still good to go. I'm alittle confused by this. Any info would be great.

 

[Deleted member 46119]

Yup. That's pretty consistent.

 

[aramarine6]

So the significantly added expense of Nosler custom brass might be worth it in the long haul. Rem brass is $60 for 50, while Nosler is $60 for 25.

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

I shot a 7rum tired on a hundred casings and re-necked them to 30 cal. Most are still going. If you are loosing pockets you need to tame your load down a bit. Modern magnum casings don't show any distress ( ejector marks, etc.) until you get up to the 75 Kpsi range, but you'll stress your pockets by then. Continued use of heavy loads wears everything more than sensible loading. Often a powder switch is enough to get the same speed at lower pressure.

Btw, I've got some nosler rum brass and it runs neck and neck with the rem stuff. Nosler may actually be a bit softer.

 

[aramarine6]

I'll admit I have a hot load. I haven't had any pressure signs in the brass or rifle with the load I'm using. I just didn't expect such a short life expectancy. I could probably afford to drop back 2-3 grains of powder but the load I'm using with H1000 is so accurate its hard to make the switch. I'm finishing up the last of my Hornady 285gr bthp's this weekend. Then I'll be making the switch to 300gr smks and working up a load from there. Might try retumbo or RL 33.

 

[Erik Kiser]

I'm getting 3 firings in my Edge before the primer pockets are shot. 91 grs H1000 and a 300 gr Berger at 2800-2810. Bullets are .008 in the lands now. Gonna try some RL33 and jumping the bullets to see if it helps with pressure.

 

[Sully2]

You MIGHT try a different brand of primer. Even though the dimensions are supposed to be identical..very minor deviations in primers can make a difference in "fit".

Buy 100 each of several brands and see if it makes a difference