I had a partial case head separation using a 1.8oz buffer

[LRRPF52]

Thanks grayfox. Klem posted the article earlier. The problem with it is that it is still inconclusive. And the commentator posts make sense, BUT...they are mostly only talking about the permanent deformation properties of metal and the other factor to consider are the temporary deformation properties. When an alloy gets harder and has higher yield strength, it can also get more brittle or inelastic. This is why Young's modulus and shear modulus are other important parameters in addition to hardness and yield strength. This is why I want the hard numbers of everything. Chemical composition only gives partial information.

In short, the article helps to a degree, but it still doesn't provide conclusive proof that Lapua brass is "better". Hence, that big disclaimer you quoted from it.

When seasoned, older reloaders who put high load counts on brass say, “This one gets up to 50 reloads and others don’t even approach that.”, that’s a pretty huge indicator of the quality of one brass over others.

Early-on with 6.5 Grendel, we had guys on the forum who got 20 or more loads with Lapua brass, shot the headstamps out. No other brass that I’m aware of has achieved that many loads.

When I have shot and reloaded Federal 6.5 Grendel brass, for example, I lost primer pockets within 2 loads when shooting through the AR-15.

Interestingly, this did not happen when shooting and loading it through the Howa Mini bolt-action rifle. Even with me loading well over 1-2 grains higher than book loads in the AR-15, the primer pockets stayed nice and tight in the Howa with Federal brass.

Hornady brass has been the next-best performer for me in terms of longevity, number of reloads.

Other seasoned reloaders here on the forum have reported as many as 8-12 loads. Depending on what dies, pressures, gas system lengths, and chambers are used, you might see that brass become unusable at 5 loads.

This catastrophic failure happened with new Lapua brass on his first firing of that batch, #41 of 50 hand-loaded cartridges.

That brings me to the question, can we see the heads of the 40 other fired pieces of brass if we haven’t seen them already?