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Old March 11, 2013, 03:21 PM   #1
Reich
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Join Date: February 26, 2012
Posts: 8
Case trim questions

I have been reloading for over a year now, but I still consider myself a novice. When I reload, I follow everything to the T that was written in the Hornady Handbook of Cartridge Reloading 8th edition. I have been reloading .223 remington, 9mm Luger, and .40 S&W. Upon searching the forums I found out that most people don't trim handgun loads unless it is over the max case length, Whereas I trim all my cases down to the case trim length which takes quite some time.
Here are my questions. I have once fired factory ammo cases that are shorter then the trim to length data listed in my book. Are these cases still usable?
With a different case lengths. All of them shorter than the max case length listed in my book. Will they not mess with the settings of my dies? For example will the expander die expand too much or too little? Will then the cramp placed by the Seater die crimp the projectile too much or not at all because of the different case lengths?
Any help in this matter will be greatly appreciated. I do not want to hurt or damage my firearm, myself, or others. Thank you for your time.
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Old March 11, 2013, 03:49 PM   #2
AllenJ
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Join Date: December 11, 2009
Location: Northern California
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Quote:
I have once fired factory ammo cases that are shorter then the trim to length data listed in my book. Are these cases still usable?
Yes they are still usable. I have seen the very same thing a number of times and have not had issues using the brass.

Quote:
For example will the expander die expand too much or too little?
No, or at least I've never seen that. Same goes for the crimp, every round looked and fired fine.
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Old March 11, 2013, 03:56 PM   #3
William T. Watts
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Join Date: January 20, 2010
Location: Central Arkansas
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Are the cases shorter than min trim length's before sizing or after? I wouldn't worry unless they have already been sized.. I do trim rifle every time, never trimmed a pistol case yet.. The one variable is when your crimping your pistol rounds, you will have to develope a feel for when enough is enough when crimping. I never could quite master crimping & seating in the same operation.. William
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Old March 11, 2013, 04:51 PM   #4
Bart B.
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Join Date: February 15, 2009
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Most bottleneck cases get shorter when fired anyway. They expand to chamber dimensions and that sucks brass from the neck up the shoulder and back onto the body. But they don't shrink back all the way so the case length is shorter. typically about .001" shorter.

Full length sizing them makes them longer by a bit more than they shrunk when fired. Most cases grow about .0005" to .0010" each fire and resize cycle. Which is why they have to be trimmed once in a while.

There's no good reason to crimp .223 cases onto bullets anyway, so that's not an issue. One exception; you're making ammo for military guns that'll be used in combat and the bullets have to stay in place from mishandling or weapon malfunctions and still shoot reliably.
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Old March 11, 2013, 05:38 PM   #5
chiefr
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Join Date: January 27, 2010
Location: AR
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Like most responses so far, I to have never trimmed pistol cases. Even when shooting competition. Never worried about length either.

Exception: Many years ago, I needed 44SPL brass and trimmed down 44Mag brass. Seems 44Special has made a resurrection over the years and it is available.

Exactly opposite with rifle. Even when using new brass, I always set trimmer to "trim to" length & process new brass. Seen variation as much as .010.
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